Off The Tools with Wayne and Andy 🔥

Wayne Bettess and Andy Jones

Welcome to the Off The Tools Podcast, where two of the UK's best trade business coaches, Wayne Bettess & Andrew Jones, deliver tons of free value week in week out to help trade business owners level up their business and more importantly themselves. Wayne Bettess & Andrew Jones are passionate entrepreneurs & trade business owners themselves who are committed to personal and professional development. on this channel, Wayne & Andy share their wisdom on mindset, self-development, and offer glimpses into how to create a life that is one of choice and freedom.

  1. #13 Written Off at School 📚 How Tradesmen Still Win at Business

    5 DAYS AGO

    #13 Written Off at School 📚 How Tradesmen Still Win at Business

    Ever feel like school told you you’d never be anything… and you carried that into adult life? 😤This episode is going to hit hard. Wayne and Andy dive deep into the link between school, self-worth, pricing, confidence and business success — and why so many incredible tradesmen are massively under-earning because of beliefs formed when they were kids. This isn’t about GCSEs.It’s about mindset, value, and knowing what you’re really worth. 💷 Inside this episode: 🏫 Why the school system is designed for girls — not lads 🧠 ADHD, energy, movement & why tradesmen never fit in classrooms 🛠️ Why being “bad at school” often means you’re perfect for the trades 📉 How school failure turns into low pricing and low self-belief 💷 Why plumbers & sparkies can earn more than solicitors 📈 The supply & demand shift happening in trades right now 🏠 Why new homeowners can’t even hang a shelf anymore 🔥 Why skilled trades are becoming more valuable every year 📚 Why education doesn’t stop when school ends 💭 How limiting beliefs keep you stuck charging £60 when you should be charging £150+ 🧮 Why if you haven’t raised prices in years… you’re actually earning less every year 🦁 Why confidence is the real superpower in business Wayne shares his own story of being written off at school…Andy explains why the world is flipping in favour of skilled tradespeople…And both of them hammer home one brutal truth: 👉 Your lack of GCSEs does NOT decide your income.Your mindset does. They also talk about: 📖 The books that changed their lives (Rich Dad Poor Dad, Winning Through Intimidation) 💬 How to stop folding when customers try to beat you down on price 🧱 Why you need to build a business that pays you what you deserve 🚀 Why tradesmen who step up now will dominate the next 10–20 years If you’ve ever thought: “I’m not clever enough” “I can’t charge that much” “That won’t work in my area” “My customers wouldn’t pay it” …this episode will challenge every one of those beliefs. 🔥 🎧 Hit play.🧠 Shift your mindset.💷 Start charging what you’re actually worth.3

    44 min
  2. #12 From British Gas to Buying a Rival 🔥 Lee Davis’ Relentless Rise in the Trades

    4 FEB

    #12 From British Gas to Buying a Rival 🔥 Lee Davis’ Relentless Rise in the Trades

    This episode is a masterclass in what’s possible when a tradesman stops playing small. 💥 Wayne and Andy sit down with Lee Davis, founder of Innovative Heating Services, to unpack his full journey — from 17 years at British Gas, to starting with just one van and a mate, surviving COVID with zero government support, making every mistake in the book… and then finally buying out a local competitor and becoming one of the biggest heating companies in his area. 🏆 This isn’t theory. This is the real trenches. Inside this episode: 🧰 17 years at British Gas → Why Lee finally took the leap into business 😬 Starting with nothing but a van, a mate & a mobile number 🦠 How COVID nearly crushed the business — and how he survived anyway 📉 Working insane hours for less than minimum wage in the early days 📞 Running everything through WhatsApp, paper job sheets & chaos 💸 The shock of the real cost of employing engineers (NI, vans, tools, merchant bills) ⚠️ The “Success Trap” — looking busy, but making no real profit 🧠 Joining Off The Tools & the mindset shift that changed everything 📊 Moving to proper job management software + Xero 💷 Doubling prices and learning to charge without guilt 📵 The power of getting off the phone and using a VA 🏢 Opening a showroom and hiring his first real office manager 🧾 Why receipts, bookkeeping & real reporting changed his profit overnight 🔁 Dropping bathrooms, builders & low-value work 🔥 Moving into boilers only and scaling installs from 20 a year to nearly 80 🏗️ The bold move: buying a rival gas fire & heating company 🚀 Instantly doubling vans, engineers, apprentices & market share 👩‍💼 Now running multiple engineers, office staff, service plans & automations 🎯 The 2026 target: more engineers, more office staff, more expansion And most importantly… 💬 Lee breaks down exactly what he would do differently if he started again today — including systems, pricing, mindset, accountants, software, staff and community. This episode is for you if: you’re stuck in survival mode 😮‍💨 you’re busy but broke 💸 you’re scared to hire 😬 you feel trapped answering every call 📞 you want a business that runs without you 🧑‍💼 you want something to sell one day 🏦 Lee proves this: 👉 You don’t need to be special. 👉 You don’t need investors. 👉 You don’t need luck. 👉 You need systems, pricing, mindset & the right people around you. 💬 Want help building your business properly? Visit offthetools.co.uk and book a free chat with Wayne or Andy. Or jump into the Off The Tools Facebook community and get around people who are actually doing it. 🦁🔥 https://www.facebook.com/groups/offthetools/

    1h 13m
  3. #11 Don’t Miss These Webinars 🚀 The Tools That Will Transform Your Trade Business

    28 JAN

    #11 Don’t Miss These Webinars 🚀 The Tools That Will Transform Your Trade Business

    If you’re serious about making more money, running a smoother business, and finally feeling in control — this episode is for you. 🧠💷 Wayne and Andy break down exactly why the new Off The Tools webinar series is a game-changer for tradesmen who want to stop guessing and start running their business properly. These aren’t fluffy Zoom calls.They’re hands-on, practical, screen-shared walkthroughs of the exact tools Wayne and Andy use in their own multi-van heating businesses every single day. And best of all?👉 You don’t need to be on camera.👉 You can sit there with your AirPods in.👉 And you can ask questions live in the chat. Inside this episode: 📊 Why the Pricing for Profit webinar blew people away 🧮 How Wayne’s Pricing Calculator shows you what you should be charging 📝 Why Quotient is the best quoting software in the trade game ⚡ How to send quotes in minutes — not days 🖼️ How customers can choose upgrades, options & quantities themselves ✍️ Digital signing, T&Cs and protecting yourself from disputes 🧾 Why professional-looking quotes help you charge more 🛠️ What ServiceMate does for job management, certificates & diaries 📱 Why engineers love the mobile app on site 📆 How booking confirmations, reminders & “on-the-way” texts reduce no-shows 🧠 How SalesLion puts your marketing & follow-ups on autopilot 🔁 Boiler service reminders, review requests, referral asks & repeat work 🤖 AI chat widgets, website enquiries & centralised customer comms 📈 Why this software stack puts your business on steroids They also explain the full webinar schedule: 📅 Pricing for Profit – On-demand now 📅 Quotient (Quoting & Sales) – 10th February, 7pm 📅 ServiceMate (Job Management) – 10th March, 7pm 📅 SalesLion (Marketing & CRM) – 7th April, 7pm If you’re still: sending quotes days late 😬 chasing customers for answers 📞 missing calls and losing work ❌ doing admin at night instead of being with your family 😮‍💨 or guessing what you should charge 💷 …these webinars will change the way you run your business. 🎯 No fluff.🛠️ Just tools that work.🚀 And systems that scale. 👉 Register now at https://offthetools.co.uk/webinars and get yourself on the webinars before everyone else in your area does. 🦁🔥

    39 min
  4. #10 New Year, New Targets 🎯 How Tradesmen Should Set Goals That Actually Work

    21 JAN

    #10 New Year, New Targets 🎯 How Tradesmen Should Set Goals That Actually Work

    New year. Fresh head. Big opportunities. 🚀 In this episode of the Off The Tools Podcast, Wayne and Andy kick off 2026 by diving into one of the most important — and most ignored — skills in business and life: 👉 Setting real targets… and actually hitting them. This isn’t fluffy “New Year, New Me” nonsense.This is about visualising, planning, and executing so you don’t end up in December thinking “how did another year just disappear?” Inside this episode: 🎯 Why targets beat vague “goals” every time 🧭 Why you need a destination before you can plan a route 🧠 The power of visualisation (and Wayne’s real £90,000 debt story 😳) 📄 Why writing things down massively increases your chance of success 🛠️ How tradesmen get stuck just “fighting fires” all year ⏳ Why lack of planning keeps you broke, stressed, and stuck 💷 How year-end reflection exposes pricing & profit problems 🏋️‍♂️ Body, Business & Balance — why all three must move together 🧒 Time with family, holidays, fitness, freedom — it all starts with targets 📆 Why now (January) is the best time to reset and raise your standards Wayne and Andy also share their personal 2026 targets, including: 👨‍👦 Training Wayne’s son to become a qualified engineer 🔁 Growing service plans for long-term security 📵 Getting stricter on phone boundaries and family time 🏋️ Building the best physical shape of their lives 🥋 Andy’s jiu-jitsu, marathon training & dive instructor goals 🏢 Scaling their heating businesses and Off The Tools Alliance Plus… 🎁 Wayne explains how you can get access to a free goal-setting workbook inside the Skool app to help you map out your own year. If you want 2026 to be: more profitable 💷 less stressful 😮‍💨 more structured 🧱 more family-friendly 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 and actually heading somewhere instead of nowhere… This episode is your starting line. 🏁 🎧 Hit play.🎯 Set your targets.🔥 Let’s make this your best year yet. FREE ACCESS TO SKOOL COMMUNITY APP

    31 min
  5. #9 Scaling Your Trade Business 🚀 The Truth About Staff, Salaries & Doing It Properly.

    14 JAN

    #9 Scaling Your Trade Business 🚀 The Truth About Staff, Salaries & Doing It Properly.

    Want to scale your trade business… but keep telling yourself “I make more on my own”? This episode is going to blow that story to pieces. 💣 Wayne and Andy dive into the real, practical side of scaling a trades business — not the Instagram version. We’re talking engineers, office staff, wages, vans, tools, hidden costs, pricing, risk and mindset… all the stuff most lads avoid until it bites them. Recorded in early December 2025 (while Wayne’s freezing down south and Andy’s even colder up north ❄️😂), this one goes deep on what it actually takes to grow beyond “just you in a van”. Inside this episode: 🔧 Why “I make the same money on my own” = a pricing & setup problem 📊 The real cost of putting an engineer on the road (and why it’s NOT just their wage) 💷 Salary vs true cost — PAYE, pension, van, tools, insurance, tyres, breakdowns, sick days & more 🧮 Why you MUST factor in “phantom costs” (repairs, fuck-ups, training days, overruns) 💣 How lads end up turning over £1m and earning less than a good employed engineer 💰 Why an engineer should be a profit centre, not just “keeping customers happy” 🪣 The “two buckets” analogy — why you can’t catch more water with one bucket 🧱 Foundations first: pricing, systems, software, back-end support… THEN scaling 🧠 Mindset: fear of risk, bad past experiences, and why most owners stay stuck small 🔄 Why the first hire is the hardest — and why every one after gets easier 🏗️ What a real business looks like vs just being self-employed 🧓 Future you: why staying solo gives you nothing to sell or pass on at retirement Plus: Wayne breaks down why your van, tools and gear MUST be priced into your hourly rate (not paid for out of your back pocket) Andy explains why most horror stories about staff come from lads who were undercharging in the first place They both hammer home why scaling done properly = more profit, more security, more options — not just more stress If you: feel capped out and knackered 😮‍💨 are scared to take on your first engineer 😬 have tried staff before and “it didn’t work” ❌ or want a business you can sell or step back from one day 🏡… …you need to listen to this. Sort your numbers. Build the foundations. Then scale properly. 💬 Got questions about pricing, hiring, or using the Off The Tools Pricing Calculator? Hit up Wayne at wayne@offthetools.co.uk or Andy at andy@offthetools.co.uk, or jump into the Off The Tools / Plum Chat Facebook groups and get involved. 🦁🔥

    36 min
  6. #8 Get Off the Phone 📞 How Answering Your Own Calls Is Killing Your Trade Business

    7 JAN

    #8 Get Off the Phone 📞 How Answering Your Own Calls Is Killing Your Trade Business

    In this episode, Wayne and Andy tackle a brutally honest topic most tradesmen don’t want to hear: 👉 If you’re still answering your own phone… you’re holding your business back.Full stop. End of. This week’s conversation dives deep into why taking calls yourself destroys productivity, kills your pricing confidence, and keeps you trapped as the “local guy who does everything” instead of a real business owner. Inside this episode: 📵 Why answering your own phone instantly caps your growth 💁‍♀️ Why women outperform men in admin, customer service & call handling (stats don’t lie) 🧠 The emotional bias that makes YOU terrible at quoting — and why office staff fix it 💼 How a female voice on the phone elevates your brand, reputation, and perceived value 🔧 The difference between a tradesman mindset and a business owner mindset 🕒 How many hours you’re wasting every week flicking between jobs and admin 🤯 The hidden lost revenue when you miss calls or call customers back “later” 📈 Why outsourcing your calls isn’t a cost — it’s one of the best investments you can make 🧩 Why you MUST have a job management system before getting admin support 🔥 The real reason customers won’t pay your new prices… and how admin staff fix it ☎️ How missed calls sabotage every pound you spend on marketing (listen to last week’s episode!) This is a big wake-up call for tradesmen who: want to charge more 💷 want to appear more professional 🧑‍💼 want to scale a real business 🚀 want more time back with their family ❤️ want to stop being chained to the phone like a 24/7 emergency hotline ☎️🔥 If you want less stress, higher profits, and a business that grows without you doing everything… Get off the phone.Get someone in the office.Grow like a real business. 💬 Got questions about hiring, systems, or call handling?Drop Wayne or Andy a message or jump into the Off The Tools community on Facebook. 🦁🔥

    24 min
  7. #7 “I Don’t Need to Advertise” 🚫 The Marketing Lie Holding Tradesmen Back

    31/12/2025

    #7 “I Don’t Need to Advertise” 🚫 The Marketing Lie Holding Tradesmen Back

    If you’re still saying “I’ve never advertised and I’m doing fine” — this episode is for you. 🔥 Wayne and Andy rip into one of the biggest myths in the trade game: that word of mouth alone is enough to grow a modern business, charge properly, and stay ahead of the competition. Spoiler: it isn’t. ❌ They break down the difference between primitive marketing (cards, mags, leaflets, vans, local presence) and new age marketing (Google Ads, Checkatrade, platforms, SEO, CRMs) — and why the smartest businesses are doing BOTH. 🧠🚀 Inside this episode: 🧯 Why “I don’t need to market” usually means you’re too cheap 📉 The brutal truth about relying on word of mouth in 2025 🪓 Primitive marketing vs new age marketing — and where each one wins 📬 How to use leaflets, A6 cards, local mags & sponsorships properly 🔌 Why most trades switch off marketing at the worst possible time ⏳ Marketing for the future, not just for “when it’s quiet” 🌐 How Checkatrade and lead gen sites actually work (once you stop expecting 60% conversion) 🥶 Why cold leads are different – and what’s a realistic win rate 💷 How marketing and pricing are linked (more leads = more confidence = higher prices) ⚠️ Why chasing turnover without foundations is a fast road to burnout 📈 The slow, boring, compounding marketing most lads are too impatient to do If you want to: stop depending on luck and “hoping the phone rings” ☎️ attract better customers 🤝 raise your prices without shitting yourself 💰 and build a business that grows every year instead of yo-yoing 📊… …then you need to get serious about marketing. Properly. Consistently. Long-term. 💪 💬 Got a question about your marketing or want us to break down your current setup on a future episode?Drop Wayne or Andy a message or join the free Off The Tools community on Facebook and get involved. 🦁🔥

    45 min
  8. #6 AI in the Trades: The Tool That Will Leave Old-School Businesses Behind

    24/12/2025

    #6 AI in the Trades: The Tool That Will Leave Old-School Businesses Behind

    AI isn’t coming.It’s already here.And the trades who ignore it are going to get smoked by the ones who adopt it. In this episode, Wayne & Andy dive into the truth about AI in the plumbing, heating, and electrical world — stripping out the sci-fi nonsense and showing exactly how real tradesmen can use AI TODAY to save time, win more work, and look more professional than 90% of their competitors. Inside this unfiltered episode: 🔥 How Wayne went from “AI’s a novelty” → to fully embedding it in two businesses🔥 Why AI won’t replace tradesmen — but WILL replace slow, old-school businesses🔥 The biggest game-changer: AI phone answering (live demo included)🔥 How AI can answer calls, book jobs, send links, collect customer info & upsell… all while you’re under a boiler🔥 The shocking increase in online bookings once AI handles your first contact🔥 Why customers prefer AI speed over human small talk🔥 How AI helps single-man bands COMPETE with companies that have full offices🔥 Why the older generation actually prefer AI more than you think🔥 How AI + automations can reduce your office workload by 50–80%🔥 Why manual call handling is losing you customers every single day🔥 The one mindset shift that stops tradesmen sabotaging their own growth🔥 How AI protects your business from “giving away the diagnosis” over the phone🔥 Using AI for website chat, content creation, customer service & more🔥 Why “not answering the phone” is the #1 reason customers leave their old tradesman🔥 The harsh reality: customers want SPEED, not excuses PLUS:Real examples from inside Wayne’s business — including a live walk-through of his AI call handler and chat bot, how it collects data, how it routes calls, and how it pushed online bookings up by 50%+ almost overnight. If you’re a one-man band, small team, or even a growing company with office staff — you NEED to hear this. AI isn’t a threat.It’s a tool.And the ones who pick it up will dominate the next decade of the trades. Want us to build your AI call handler or chatbot?Email Wayne or Andy — links in the description.

    45 min
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4.9
out of 5
69 Ratings

About

Welcome to the Off The Tools Podcast, where two of the UK's best trade business coaches, Wayne Bettess & Andrew Jones, deliver tons of free value week in week out to help trade business owners level up their business and more importantly themselves. Wayne Bettess & Andrew Jones are passionate entrepreneurs & trade business owners themselves who are committed to personal and professional development. on this channel, Wayne & Andy share their wisdom on mindset, self-development, and offer glimpses into how to create a life that is one of choice and freedom.

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