Turn your struggling business in to one you love. Husband and wife team, Angela and Andy Smith of Dr. Drip Plumbing, were the perfect couple with the perfect business. Then things started to unravel. Fortunately, through some smart questions, tough decisions and a will to succeed they’re back, bigger and better than ever. Andy now works one hour a week, and they spend the rest of their time enjoying life and showing other business owners how to do the same. It’s a confronting yet inspiring episode 510 of The (award-winning) Small Business Big Marketing podcast that shows you how to turn your struggling business in to one you love.
A little bit more about Andy & Angela Smith of Dr.Drip …
Owners of Dr. Drip Plumbing and co-founders of the Lifestyle Tradie, Andy and Angela Smith are down-to-earth business founders, authors and educators, whose story takes them from rock bottom to a total business and life transformation. At Dr.Drip’s peak, they had a team of 17 tradies, with eight vehicles on the road, but the headaches of running a growing business caught up with them and their lives fell into complete chaos. They climbed out the hard way to turn Dr.Drip into a profitable, systemised business, learning their biggest lessons through expensive trial and error. Today they still own and operate Dr.Drip (with Andy only working in the business 1 hour a week) plus they share these lessons with other trade business owners through their award winning education company, Lifestyle Tradie. This is a seriously honest chat with a couple who have been through the wringer and come out the other side happier and wealthier than ever. I kicked things off by asking them to describe the Dr. Drip business before the shit hit the fan [Hit play above].
Timbo’s Top 3 Attention Grabbers from his chat with Dr.Drip’s Andy & Angela Smith …
- I loved how, when the shit hit the fan and they were in a mountain of debt, one of the first questions they asked was “Where can we save dollars?”. The reality is, I believe, in both business and life generally, we accumulate way too much of things we just don’t need.
- I can’t remember which one of them said it, but the idea of owning up to not knowing everything when it comes to running a business is a damn good one! Acknowledge your strengths, and get others to stand up in those areas where you’re just no good.
- I love the idea of helping others within your industry. Andy & Angela have taken that to an extreme, but it begs the question, “Who can you help in your industry, and how?”
Links & Resources Mentioned In Episode 510
Buy Timbo’s popular marketing book – The Boomerang Effect
Lifestyle Tradie’s official website
Interviews with other owners of trade businesses:
Joshua Nichols of Platinum Electricians on how to create a 21-step customer manifesto
Tas Moulis of QPaint on how to avoid discounting
Brent Hutchinson of Terrain Tamer 4WD on how to use a spokesperson in marketing
Join The Small Business Big Marketing Tribe on Facebook
Last week’s episode – How invisible marketing drives brand discovery with Jeff Lotman of Global Brands
This week’s Monster Prize Draw winner
Wellness Coach Glenn Hanson of Vector Health
Thanks for tuning in. Now get out there and take action.
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2 thoughts on “Turn your struggling business in to one you love | #510”
My wife and I enjoyed listening to this podcast. What I took the most from this podcast was (other than having a ‘headland’ moment when you need to get out into nature and make a big decision) was the importance of including your significant other in your business decisions. Andy & Angela are a power couple but that’s because they do things together. A good inspiration for us to always include each other in on decisions to do with our business. Thanks Tim.
Thanks Colin. And I totally agree … communication and inclusiveness is everything when working alongside one’s significant other.