The Trade Traction Podcast with Dennis The Apprentice

Dennis The Apprentice
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Management
  • Biweekly

The Podcast that helps plumbing and heating contractors stop working for free and actually make a profit!

  1. 4d ago

    How to Afford Your First Apprentice by Building Them Into Your Price

    Send us Fan Mail 👇 Take the Trade Traction Score Assessment and discover what to focus on next in your business:  https://tradetraction.scoreapp.com You can’t afford an apprentice because your price doesn’t include one. You’re trying to fund the future of your plumbing company out of whatever happens to be left over, and for a lot of owners, nothing is. Dennis says the one-man shop is hurting the industry for three reasons, and it starts with a locked door between young people who want in and companies that won’t hire them. This breaks down the three problems: nobody is training the next generation, prices that don’t support training, and what happens to you after 20 years of doing every job yourself. You’ll hear why the customer pays for everything including training, how to turn an apprentice’s phone into free local marketing, and the harder question to ask when you’re afraid they’ll leave: what can they become if they stay? Topics discussed: (00:00) - Why the one-man shop is hurting the plumbing industry (00:36) - Why the comments said “you’re wrong” instead of asking how (01:26) - Problem one: nobody is training the next generation (02:03) - The locked door between young people and plumbing jobs (03:05) - Problem two: why you can’t afford an apprentice (04:30) - Why the cheaper plumber isn’t automatically the better deal (05:31) - Problem three: what happens to you when you do all the work (07:46) - How to turn an apprentice’s phone into free marketing (10:13) - “Won’t they just leave?” What happens if they stay (12:29) - Who taught you the business side of plumbing? Want to learn the business side of plumbing? Watch Dennis’s free seven-part series This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique The Podcast that helps plumbing and heating service contractors stop working for free and actually turn a profit.  Connect with Dennis: Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dennis-hamon/?skipRedirect=true Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dennistheapprentice/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064205912242 Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@dennistheapprenticeSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3LAHQrt3tYgfO60vasMZcW?si=9afc53dfaeba477e Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/the-trade-traction-podcast-with-dennis-the-apprentice/id1648541208 Thank you once again for your support and don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this podcast with your peers! Stay tuned for more exciting content coming your way every week.

  2. Oct 20

    Busy Trucks, Empty Bank Account: What Plumbing Owners Get Wrong

    Send us Fan Mail 👇 Take the Trade Traction Score Assessment and discover what to focus on next in your business:  https://tradetraction.scoreapp.com If your plumbing company doubled in size tomorrow, would things get better or twice as hard? Twice the calls, plumbers, trucks, payroll, and problems. Dennis learned the hard way that growth doesn’t automatically create freedom. Sometimes it just creates a bigger job for the owner. This is part six, the final part of the Plumbing Business Apprenticeship, and it puts the whole series together into one game plan for your first profitable $3 million year. You’ll hear the five-part blueprint recapped, why the owner eventually becomes the bottleneck, and why business is a trade you have to learn just like plumbing. Dennis also shares what he wishes he’d had during his 25 years of trial and error, plus a quick one-to-ten scorecard that shows you the next thing to fix in your own company. Topics discussed: (00:00) - Why growth doesn’t automatically create freedom (00:58) - Why revenue stopped impressing him (02:12) - Putting the whole series together into one game plan (05:22) - The last piece: when the owner becomes the bottleneck (07:34) - Why business is a trade you have to learn (08:31) - What Dennis wishes he’d had from day one (10:39) - Why Trade Traction exists (11:24) - The five-area scorecard: rate yourself one to ten (13:14) - The next step: how to become Dennis’s apprentice (14:19) - What a profitable plumbing company can actually give you This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique The Podcast that helps plumbing and heating service contractors stop working for free and actually turn a profit.  Connect with Dennis: Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dennis-hamon/?skipRedirect=true Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dennistheapprentice/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064205912242 Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@dennistheapprenticeSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3LAHQrt3tYgfO60vasMZcW?si=9afc53dfaeba477e Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/the-trade-traction-podcast-with-dennis-the-apprentice/id1648541208 Thank you once again for your support and don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this podcast with your peers! Stay tuned for more exciting content coming your way every week.

  3. Oct 18

    The Five-Mile Rule for Growing a Profitable Plumbing Company

    Send us Fan Mail 👇 Take the Trade Traction Score Assessment and discover what to focus on next in your business:  https://tradetraction.scoreapp.com You’re probably paying to introduce yourself to a stranger 30 miles away, then paying your plumber to sit in traffic to get there. Dennis does almost the opposite. If he owned a small plumbing company again, he wouldn’t try to dominate three counties, and he’d start with five miles. This is part five of the Plumbing Business Apprenticeship, and it’s all about marketing. You’ll hear why your job is to get the best calls, not just the most, what a 45-minute drive really costs your business, and why competing against bigger Google budgets is a losing game. You’ll also learn how one completed service call can become the center of your next marketing effort, why everyone on your team is a marketer, and how purpose-driven marketing gives a small plumbing company something a giant corporate competitor can’t copy. Topics discussed: (00:00) - Why you shouldn’t market to your entire service area (01:19) - Why your job is getting the best calls, not the most (01:33) - What a 45-minute drive really costs your plumbing company (01:57) - Stacking your calls inside one five-mile radius (03:13) - Why outspending bigger companies on Google is a losing game (04:02) - Turning one completed call into a whole neighborhood (04:50) - Why everyone in your company is a marketer (05:57) - Purpose-driven marketing: purpose first, marketing second (08:26) - The warning: become part of the circle, don’t just buy ads (09:59) - Your homework: draw your five-mile circle This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique The Podcast that helps plumbing and heating service contractors stop working for free and actually turn a profit.  Connect with Dennis: Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dennis-hamon/?skipRedirect=true Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dennistheapprentice/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064205912242 Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@dennistheapprenticeSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3LAHQrt3tYgfO60vasMZcW?si=9afc53dfaeba477e Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/the-trade-traction-podcast-with-dennis-the-apprentice/id1648541208 Thank you once again for your support and don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this podcast with your peers! Stay tuned for more exciting content coming your way every week.

  4. Oct 13

    The Plumbing Shortage is a Myth

    Send us Fan Mail 👇 Take the Trade Traction Score Assessment and discover what to focus on next in your business:  https://tradetraction.scoreapp.com You keep saying there aren't enough good plumbers. Dennis agrees they're hard to find, but he thinks that's not your real problem. The real problem is that you're trying to find plumbers instead of build them, while every other company in town fights over the same handful of people. This is part four of the Plumbing Business Apprenticeship. You'll hear why whoever has the plumbers owns the market, what you actually win when you hire someone else's plumber, and how a simple Wednesday code class turned into a training culture that attracted better people. You'll also hear the story of an apprentice nobody wanted on the job site who became a general manager, why one high producer isn't worth your whole culture, and how a small plumbing company can win without outspending anyone. Topics discussed: (00:00) - What's really keeping your plumbing company from growing (01:58) - Why whoever has the plumbers owns the market (02:37) - What you actually win when you hire someone else's plumber (03:59) - How a simple Wednesday code class started changing everything (04:52) - Training meeting vs. training culture (05:32) - The apprentice who became a general manager (07:15) - Why one high producer isn't worth your whole culture (08:03) - Your plumber is your primary customer (09:51) - How a small plumbing company wins without outspending anyone (12:30) - Your homework: are you finding plumbers or building them? This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique: https://www.podcastboutique.com The Podcast that helps plumbing and heating service contractors stop working for free and actually turn a profit.  Connect with Dennis: Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dennis-hamon/?skipRedirect=true Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dennistheapprentice/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064205912242 Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@dennistheapprenticeSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3LAHQrt3tYgfO60vasMZcW?si=9afc53dfaeba477e Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/the-trade-traction-podcast-with-dennis-the-apprentice/id1648541208 Thank you once again for your support and don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this podcast with your peers! Stay tuned for more exciting content coming your way every week.

  5. Oct 6

    Stop Turning Your Plumbers Into Salesman

    Send us Fan Mail 👇 Take the Trade Traction Score Assessment and discover what to focus on next in your business:  https://tradetraction.scoreapp.com If you're pushing your plumbers to sell more, stop. They didn't sign up to be salesmen, and your customers didn't call expecting to be sold. In this video, Dennis breaks down the 80/20 sales process, a way to grow revenue without turning good plumbers into pushy closers. He walks through the two failed extremes he lived through, high pressure selling and the opposite, doing only what the customer asked for, and explains why neither one worked. From there he introduces the decision hallway, the idea of "stocking the shelf" with real options, and why the plumber should never be the one deciding what a customer can afford. Topics discussed: (00:00) - Why selling more isn't the answer (01:04) - The two extremes: high pressure selling vs doing the bare minimum (05:38) - The decision hallway: trust, company, diagnosis, timing (07:13) - Stocking the shelf: giving customers real options (10:57) - Why average ticket isn't the goal, service is (12:32) - What's coming in part four (13:36) - Homework: how many options are you giving customers? This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique The Podcast that helps plumbing and heating service contractors stop working for free and actually turn a profit.  Connect with Dennis: Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dennis-hamon/?skipRedirect=true Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dennistheapprentice/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064205912242 Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@dennistheapprenticeSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3LAHQrt3tYgfO60vasMZcW?si=9afc53dfaeba477e Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/the-trade-traction-podcast-with-dennis-the-apprentice/id1648541208 Thank you once again for your support and don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this podcast with your peers! Stay tuned for more exciting content coming your way every week.

  6. Sep 29

    Why More Revenue Won't Fix Your Plumbing Business

    Send us Fan Mail  👇 Take the Trade Traction Score Assessment and discover what to focus on next in your business:  https://tradetraction.scoreapp.com You keep thinking you just need more calls, more plumbers, more trucks, more revenue. Dennis believed that too, for years. Here's what he eventually learned: if the math underneath your plumbing company doesn't work, more revenue doesn't fix the problem. It can make it worse. This is part two of the Plumbing Business Apprenticeship, and it's all about profit. You'll hear the five lessons it took Dennis years to learn, starting with the uncomfortable truth that revenue isn't profit and the customer pays for everything, including your mistakes. You'll also get the one-man-truck exercise that exposed exactly why a $3 million company can still feel broke, and why he'd rather teach you to stock the shelf than turn every plumber into a salesman. Topics discussed: (00:00) - Why "I just need more" doesn't fix a broken plumbing business (01:42) - Why nobody taught you the business side, only the trade (03:38) - Lesson two: the customer pays for everything (05:57) - The one-man-truck exercise that exposed the real cost (08:01) - Lesson four: sellable hours matter more than billable hours (10:33) - Lesson five: profit can't be whatever's left over (12:38) - Recapping the five profit lessons (15:59) - Why stocking the shelf beats turning plumbers into salesmen  This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique  The Podcast that helps plumbing and heating service contractors stop working for free and actually turn a profit.  Connect with Dennis: Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dennis-hamon/?skipRedirect=true Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dennistheapprentice/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064205912242 Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@dennistheapprenticeSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3LAHQrt3tYgfO60vasMZcW?si=9afc53dfaeba477e Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/the-trade-traction-podcast-with-dennis-the-apprentice/id1648541208 Thank you once again for your support and don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this podcast with your peers! Stay tuned for more exciting content coming your way every week.

  7. Sep 22

    Why the Next Million Never Fixes Anything (In Your Trade Business)

    Send us Fan Mail 👇 Take the Trade Traction Score Assessment and discover what to focus on next in your business:  https://tradetraction.scoreapp.com You keep telling yourself things will get better at the next revenue milestone. A million, then two million, then somehow there's still no money left over. This is part one of a six-part series built around one very specific destination: your first profitable $3 million a year, not a number with nothing left over, not one you can't sleep on, and not one built on salespeople you'd be afraid to send to your own friends. This kicks off the Plumbing Business Apprenticeship, the blueprint Dennis wishes someone had handed him more than 20 years ago. You'll hear how he went from starting Gene Johnson Plumbing at $88 an hour to charging over $500, why hitting $3 million still didn't feel like a business he was proud of, and how the 2008 recession nearly wiped it all out. You'll also hear the seminar line that exposed his company as "breakeven," the moment giving customers options changed everything, and the exact order he'd build a plumbing company in if he were starting over today. Topics discussed: (00:00) - Why the next revenue milestone never actually fixes anything (01:42) - Welcome to the Plumbing Business Apprenticeship (04:40) - Starting a mom-and-pop shop at $88 an hour (05:53) - The toilet that became the first flat-rate price (09:06) - You can't grow your way out of bad math (09:51) - Hitting $3 million and still not liking the company he'd built (11:07) - The 2008 recession and losing half the company overnight (13:19) - The seminar line that exposed a breakeven company (13:48) - Discovering the power of giving customers options (16:26) - Why "whoever has the plumbers owns the market" This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique The Podcast that helps plumbing and heating service contractors stop working for free and actually turn a profit.  Connect with Dennis: Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dennis-hamon/?skipRedirect=true Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dennistheapprentice/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064205912242 Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@dennistheapprenticeSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3LAHQrt3tYgfO60vasMZcW?si=9afc53dfaeba477e Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/the-trade-traction-podcast-with-dennis-the-apprentice/id1648541208 Thank you once again for your support and don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this podcast with your peers! Stay tuned for more exciting content coming your way every week.

  8. Sep 15

    If Your Plumbing Business "Can't Afford It", Your Prices Are Wrong

    Send us Fan Mail 👇 Take the Trade Traction Score Assessment and discover what to focus on next in your business:  https://tradetraction.scoreapp.com Can't afford the new truck. Can't afford another plumber. Can't afford training, coaching, health insurance. Sound familiar? Here's the uncomfortable truth: that's not a cash problem, that's a pricing problem, and doing more work at the wrong price for another year will only make it worse. This breaks down the one lesson that completely changed the way Dennis looked at money in his own plumbing business: your customers are supposed to pay for all of it, not you. You'll hear the real math behind why a $1,000 decision isn't actually about the $1,000, what he calls the plumbing business whirlpool and how it slowly pulls contractors under, and the better question to ask yourself the next time you hear "I can't afford it." Topics discussed: (00:00) - The lie behind "I can't afford it" (02:41) - Who actually pays for your trucks, tools, and training (04:06) - The real math behind a $1,000 decision (06:44) - What the plumbing business whirlpool actually is (07:01) - How the whirlpool slowly pulls you under (12:58) - The question you should be asking instead (13:30) - Charge less than cost vs. charge more than cost This episode was produced by Podcast Boutique The Podcast that helps plumbing and heating service contractors stop working for free and actually turn a profit.  Connect with Dennis: Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/dennis-hamon/?skipRedirect=true Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dennistheapprentice/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064205912242 Tiktok:https://www.tiktok.com/@dennistheapprenticeSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3LAHQrt3tYgfO60vasMZcW?si=9afc53dfaeba477e Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/the-trade-traction-podcast-with-dennis-the-apprentice/id1648541208 Thank you once again for your support and don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this podcast with your peers! Stay tuned for more exciting content coming your way every week.

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The Podcast that helps plumbing and heating contractors stop working for free and actually make a profit!

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