Working 7 Days a Week and Still Broke? Here’s How Jay Fixed It
Most tradies find out the hard way they’ve built themselves a job, not a business.
Jay Tough found out when his accountant told him he’d worked six–seven days a week… to finish the year minus $20,000.
No systems.
No pricing structure.
No real profit.
Just grind.
Fast-forward: Jay’s built Fusion Electrical into a growing, systemised business with stronger margins, an ops lead, fast quoting, and control over his numbers.
Here’s what he changed (and what you can steal before you burn out).
The Apprentice Trap: Busy, Broke, and Still on the Tools
Like most, Jay’s first move when things got “busy” was to hire an apprentice.
Then another.
Two apprentices on, Jay still on the tools, quotes and invoices done at night, no time to think.
He was:
Supervising all day
Admin-ing all night
Guessing pricing
Chasing cash only when the bank balance hurt
End-of-year reality check: –$20K.
Lesson: An apprentice doesn’t create capacity if you’re still the only one who can run jobs, price work, and make decisions.
Cheap help without structure just multiplies your workload.
The Subby Safety Net That Wasn’t
Before going all in, Jay tried the “secure” option: three days a week subbying back to his old boss at a slightly higher rate.
It felt safe. It wasn’t.
No idea of his real costs (van, fuel, tax, super, insurances)
No time left to grow his own client base
No margin, no momentum
First BAS bill = all his “profit” wiped out
Lesson: If your “safety net” stops you building your own pipeline and pricing properly, it’s not security. It’s a ceiling.
The Real Capacity Shift: Hire Capability, Not Just Hands
The big turning point?
Bringing in someone who could actually run work.
Jay teamed up with Josh — an experienced electrician he trusted — first as a subcontractor, later as a hybrid operations + on-the-tools role.
That one move:
Took pressure off Jay
Put leadership on the ground
Let Jay get off the tools long enough to quote fast, follow up, and win better work
Turned “always behind” into “we’re on the front foot”
Lesson: Your first real capacity hire should be someone who can own jobs, not just carry tools.
Capability creates space. Space lets you sell, lead, and grow.
From Notebooks & Guessing to a Real Pricing System
Early on, Jay priced like most tradies:
“Yeah mate, I reckon it’ll be about this…”
Every quote made from scratch
Notes in random notebooks and phone photos
Quotes delayed for days (or weeks) → jobs lost
No idea which jobs made money
Inside the Academy, he built a Shopping List Pricing System in his job management software.
Now:
Standardised bundles and rates
Quotes built on-site in minutes
Clients see clear, consistent pricing
Jobs approved and deposits paid on the spot
No more guessing, no more “I’ll work it out later”
Lesson: A real pricing system turns chaos into consistency.
Faster quotes = higher win rates. Consistent pricing = protected margins.
Cost of Ops: The Punch in the Gut (That Fixed Everything)
When Jay ran his Cost of Operations, he realised:
His hourly rate was too low
Travel, wholesaler trips, and non-billable time were chewing his margin
He was effectively subsidising jobs out of his own pocket
He lifted his rates to match reality.
Result:
No exodus of clients
Stronger profit on every hour worked
Way more confidence in saying, “This is our price.”
Lesson:
If you haven’t done your Cost of Ops, you’re guessing.
And when you’re guessing, there’s a good chance you’re working hard for nothing.
Systems Over Stress: How Jay Actually Got His Life Back
The wins didn’t come from hustling harder.
They came from changing how the business runs:
📋 Ops support: Josh in a defined operations role to run jobs + lead the team
💻 Job management: Everything in ServiceM8 instead of random notes
🧮 Cost of Ops + pricing system: Clear numbers, clear margins
⚡ Faster quoting: On-the-spot or same-day → more accepted work
📈 Right rates: Charging what it actually costs to do the job properly
Jay stopped relying on effort and started relying on structure.
If You’re Where Jay Was (Here’s the Shortcut)
If any of this feels uncomfortably familiar:
Busy every week, nothing stacking in the bank
Apprentices on, but you’re still chained to every job
Pricing from the gut instead of real numbers
Invoices going out when you “get time”
Feeling like there has to be a better way
Take Jay’s lessons:
Don’t hide behind “secure” work that stops you building your own business.
Hire capability (tradies / ops) before stacking apprentices.
Build a pricing system so your team can quote without you.
Know your Cost of Ops and charge accordingly.
Use systems, not scraps of paper, to run your jobs and cash flow.
You don’t have to grind for years to figure this out the hard way.
👉 Listen to the full episode of the Tradies Success Podcast with Jay Tough (Fusion Projects) to hear exactly how he turned things around — and map the next moves for your business.
