r/Aussietradies

I don’t mind working hard, but lately I’ve been thinking about how much time disappears before and after the actual job. Loading the ute, picking up materials, driving around, quoting, phone calls and sorting paperwork all take time but don’t always feel like they’re being accounted for. For the self employed tradies here, how do you actually make sure all that time is covered in your pricing?

Hi All,

I'm considering leaving my sales job for concreting, which I will go in depth shortly on why I am wanting to specifically make this change, and will discuss all the relevant background info and my overall thought process.

I'd love to hear everyone's take, but I'm especially interested in hearing from the concreters themselves.

To give a bit of background on my work history.

I've been in my current Sales Rep role for roughly 2 years, and prior to that I worked for a small business doing customer service for about 7 years (I'm 30 years old now).

The customer service role was with a small family run business, and there was absolutely no corporate culture. It was a high paced job, and stressful in ways, but relaxed in the sense that it was just like working for your Aunty or Uncle.

Since moving into my current Sales Rep role, I've realised how much I do not want to continue in this unbearable corporate environment, as it's something I just cannot get used to. And secondly, the pressures and stresses that come with a sales job (hitting targets, dealing with angry managers, negotiating with pissed off customers, etc.) is just not worth it in my opinion, as I am constantly stressed everyday, and I know it will be the same no matter what company I go to.

I am also on decent money (105k a year), meaning there is no other white collar industry I can get into where I can make the same money with no experience.

One of the main reasons I'd like to get into concreting, is because it's a higher paying trade that requires no apprenticeship and minimal experience (from what I understand - please correct me if I'm wrong).

Another reason, is because I have always wanted to do a physical job, and like being outdoors. I am also very mentally exhausted, and want to do something where there is a set task, and it's essentially the same process every time.

I'm completely aware that it's a very tough job, that's taxing on the body - 4 of my good mates used to be concreters, and only one of them is still doing it (two of them stopped for personal reasons, and the other because he injured himself). I have never done a trade/physical job before, but have on many occasions helped out with renovations, spent days doing intensive gardening (cutting down trees, shovelling dirt, etc.), and have spent a lot of time doing various strenuous jobs. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm not afraid of hard work, but again I haven't ever done it 5 days a week for potentially years on end.

I am not naive to the fact that it's one of the most physically exhausting jobs, and that a lot of people don't last. That's why I am just wanting some feedback to see if people think it's stupid, worth a shot, or anything else.

In saying all of this, is there another job that pays similar that required no apprenticeship that's a similar fit?

Looking forward to everyone's responses.

Just curious how other people look at this.

Say you're normally $300 a day (or whatever your rate is) and you've got nothing booked Thursday and Friday next week.

Someone rings with a job that'll pretty much fill both days, they're ready to go, but they're trying to get the price down.

Would you take say $250 a day just to get $500 through the door rather than earn fuck all for those two days?

Or is it more a case of once you start dropping your rate you're just devaluing yourself and you'd rather leave the days empty?

Obviously if you're stacked out for the next 6 weeks it's a different question. I'm more thinking about those random gaps where you've got nothing else coming in anyway.

I reckon I'd rather have something coming in, within reason anyway. But I've had this argument before where people are adamant they'd rather earn fuck all than work below their normal rate 😂

Just wondering what people actually do in real life rather than what we're all supposed to say we do.

I'm in Sydney, doing a renovation. Most shops charge for the materials and labor. Anyone know how the labor component cost?