Most tradies did not get into this for the paperwork, and a business plan sounds like the worst kind of homework. The good news is you can do this on one page in under an hour, and it will change how you price and what work you take.
Why one page is enough
A plan you never open is worth nothing. Banks and accountants have their own forms when you need them. What you need is one page you look at every few months that says what you are aiming at and how you will get there.
business.govt.nz keeps its guidance short for exactly that reason, and it has templates you can start from if you would rather not begin with a blank page.
The seven things on the page
1. What you actually sell. Not "plumbing". The jobs you want more of: hot water repairs, bathroom renovations, maintenance work for rental properties.
2. Who buys it. Homeowners in your area, property managers, builders who sub to you, or a mix. Be honest about the towns and suburbs you can serve without losing the margin to travel.
3. What it costs you to run. Your hourly cost once the ute, fuel, tools, insurance, phone and quoting time are counted. Plenty of tradies have never worked this out, and it is why they feel busy but not paid.
4. Your revenue target. A yearly figure split into months, then how many jobs that means at your average job value. It is a shorter number than you think.
5. Your three biggest problems. Usually something like missed calls, quotes that never get answered, and not enough of the good work. Write them in the plainest words you can.
6. What you will do about them. One action each, with a date. Not "improve marketing", but: reply to every missed call, follow up every quote after seven days, ask every happy customer for a review.
7. Your 90 day steps. Three or four things you will finish in the next three months, each small enough to actually finish.
Keep it where you will see it
Print it. Ute glovebox, or on the wall by the bench. The point is not to file it, it is to look at your week and check whether what you are doing lines up with the page.
Review it twice a year
Businesses change. You take on a bigger job, you hire someone, a main contractor stops calling. Twenty minutes in June and again in December is plenty. Change the numbers and carry on.
Where the missed calls fit
Most tradies who write this page honestly find their biggest problem is the work they never got to quote for. If calls are on your list, Swoopd answers the ones you miss. It replies to the caller on WhatsApp within seconds, finds out what the job is, how urgent it is and where it is, then books it into your calendar and dashboard and sends you the details.
It works with the mobile number you already have, catches website form and email enquiries, and connects with Xero for invoicing and payments on the Pro and Business plans. Swoopd is live across New Zealand now, from NZ$97 a month, with a 14 day free trial.