Working like a Dog! Is an antiquated work culture destroying lives in construction?
Are You Racing Against Time? Balance your business and play to your strengths
Marketing – Perception over Logic
Simple strategies for adding more value
More on Project Bank Accounts Subcontractors Alliance
Happy Mothers Day!
www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au
CONTRIBUTORS • Amanda Dutt Sharma • Angela Smith • Caroline Miall • Jim Baker • Leo Babauta • Les Williams • Monroe Porter • Robert Bauman
From the Editor Hi Everyone, Well Easter has been and gone, and now everyone is looking towards the end of financial year. I hope everyone had a break for a few days? It’s important to find something to do to have the break with family and friends. In the last couple of months, Aussie Painters Network has started becoming more involved with the Subcontractors Alliance. They are a group working towards helping subbies get paid and looking out for builders etc. that go into insolvency leaving little to no way for those that have done work for them getting paid. There is a major problem within the culture of the building industry that it’s ok for this to happen. Well its not. Its time that the government stepped up and did something about it. Subcontractors Alliance are lobbying government on all levels state and federal, and have our full support. Other organisations involved are the National Fire Industry Association, Master Electricians Australia, Master Plumbers Association of Qld, Air Conditioning and Mechanical Contractors Association and Subbies United. If you have any problems with builders not paying on time let us know and we will see if we can assist you.
EDITOR Nigel Gorman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Caroline Miall GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Don’t forget its Mother’s Day on the Sunday the 14th May, pamper them as best you can on their day!! Until next month,
Happy Painting!!
J. Anne Delgado Nigel Gorman
nigel@aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au
07 3555 8010
Contents Are you racing AGAINST TIME?
6
10 MARKETING AND BRANDING Is More About PERCEPTION THAN LOGIC The Main Reason CHANGING YOUR LIFE IS TOUGH Change Your Strategy, SAVE YOUR BUSINESS
13
16
Subcontractors Alliance APPRENTICES worth it or not? Working like a dog
19 20 24
Are outdated work cultures destroying lives in construction?
End of Financial Checklist
29
Huge response to Paint Disposal Scheme Glossary of Paint & Painting Terms
31 34
Industry Idiots
38
Important Contacts
39
Guide to surviving EOFY
Opinions and viewpoints expressed in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine do not necessarily represent those of the editor, staff or publisher or any Aussie Painters Network’s staff or related parties. The publisher, Aussie Painters Network and Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine personnel are not liable for any mistake, misprint or omission. Information contained in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine is intended to inform and illustrate and should not be taken as financial, legal or accounting advice. You should seek professional advice before making business related decisions. We are not liable for any losses you may incur directly or indirectly as a result of reading Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine. Reproduction of any material or contents of the magazine without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.
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Are you racing
AGAINST TIME?
Over the past two months we have talked about whether or not your business is saleable and some ideas to help improve that. Here are some numbers that would scare you: With only 10% of strategies being executed, business owners who want to work on their business are clearly running out of time somewhere.
Therefore, to run your business successfully you must focus on all three things together. I know from my experience of working with business owners that most of us get caught up in doing what we are good at or like, but are putting off the things we don’t do well or don’t like. Worst case scenario, some things don’t get done at all.
MARKET RESEARCH
What % of business make a profit? 39% What % of strategies are executed ? 10% What % of employees are engaged? 31% Percentage of business owners that successfully 21% sell their business?
Copyright MAU5 Business System
So let’s talk about the ‘Three Legged Stool’ metaphor and how this analogy can represent your business: Getting the work, doing the work and collecting the money, or in other words, Sales & Marketing, Production and Finance. If any one leg is out of balance the whole business can topple, just like a stool that’s got three uneven legs.
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How are you doing? Do you know what your strengths and weaknesses are? Do you know where you spend most of your time and what your biggest time wasters are? To get a good handle on this you can look at your business using
this ‘Three Legged Stool’ analogy (Sales & Marketing, Production and Finance). Start by listing the strengths and weakness that you think you have in each category. The next thing you need to do is keep a timesheet for a month. Make sure you list exactly what you spend your time on. When you have both types of data, you can start devising a plan to delegate those tasks that will free up some time for you to work ON your business, so you can start to implement growth strategies or introduce efficiencies to save costs. Create a detailed action plan with steps you need to take before you can delegate a particular task or job area. This may include writing up a position description for a new staff member or contractor, documenting related processes and devise a system that anyone can follow. Once you know what you want done you can start looking for the right help.
Working ON your business is such an important aspect for any business owner, but what you need is time. Without it your business can easily get stuck in a rut, lose touch with your customers or miss many development opportunities to increase your bottom line. I hope you’ll start thinking about this now and taking some action, as imperfect as it may be. Always remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. As long as you’ve got a vision and a plan you can stick to, you’ll move your
business forward and will reap the rewards. If you are stuck for tools or templates to do this, just contact our office on 07 3399 8844 and we can help you out. If you have any questions on how to increase your profits or prepare
your business for sale, feel free to arrange a FREE No-Obligation Meeting with me. Visit our new website, www.straighttalkat.com.au and complete your details on our Home page for an appointment. Copyright © 2017 Robert Bauman.
Call Us: (07) 3399 8844
2017 May Issue | 7
䤀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 昀漀爀
倀䄀䤀一吀䔀刀匀 䄀爀攀 礀漀甀 挀漀瘀攀爀攀搀㼀
䐀漀 礀漀甀 眀愀渀琀 琀漀 搀攀愀氀 眀椀琀栀 愀渀 椀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 挀漀洀瀀愀渀礀 琀栀愀琀 栀愀猀 琀栀攀 戀攀猀琀 愀瘀愀椀氀愀戀氀攀Ⰰ 挀漀猀琀ⴀ攀û攀挀琀椀瘀攀 椀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 昀漀爀 琀爀愀搀椀攀猀㼀
䄀甀猀猀椀攀 倀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀 一攀琀眀漀爀欀 栀愀猀 渀攀最漀琀椀愀琀攀搀 琀栀攀 戀攀猀琀 瀀漀猀猀椀戀氀攀 挀漀瘀攀爀 昀漀爀 礀漀甀爀 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀⸀ 䌀漀渀琀愀挀琀 甀猀 搀椀爀攀挀琀氀礀 昀漀爀 洀漀爀攀 椀渀昀漀爀洀愀琀椀漀渀 愀渀搀 琀漀 最攀琀 礀漀甀爀 挀漀瘀攀爀 琀漀搀愀礀℀
吀栀攀 猀攀挀甀爀椀琀礀 昀漀爀 琀栀椀猀 瀀爀漀搀甀挀琀 椀猀 瀀氀愀挀攀搀 瘀椀愀 䰀氀漀礀搀猀 漀昀 䰀漀渀搀漀渀 愀猀 眀攀氀氀 愀猀 漀琀栀攀爀 䄀甀猀琀爀愀氀椀愀渀 愀甀琀栀漀爀椀猀攀搀 椀渀猀甀爀攀爀猀⸀
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2017 May Issue | 9
Marketing and Branding Is More About
PERCEPTION THAN LOGIC
Ok, boys and girls, the word for the day is praxeology. The belief that individuals engage in mindful actions for a specific goal. Ludwig Von Mises, an Austrian economist, developed the idea. Huh? What? Let’s keep it simple. Have you ever seen a rat that chooses the Starbucks dumpster over others? Does a bird collect one unique seed because there is only one seed in the world like it and value it as art? People have the ability to apply physiological value to what they covet. Our brain helps us decide what is valuable and our brain is more than a human calculator. We have desires, emotions, preferences, happiness and other immeasurable thoughts running through our head. We derive pleasure from buying certain things and such pleasure drives value. Numerous studies have shown that the price of wine influences what people think regarding its value. If it costs more it has to better. People pay more for certain brands of cloths, cars, shoes, beer etc. Buying is an emotional process. Every contracting experience is made up of two components. The actual technical part of the job and the service or psychological part of the experience. Most of your customers don’t understand the craft side of what you are going but they do understand the service side of the equation. They know if you are on time, polite, clean cut, etc.
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Restaurants are a good example of what we mean by both the technical part and the service. The actual food is the technical component and the service covers everything else. A local restaurant can have great food but if the bathroom and floors are filthy, you will question your dining experience. (Remember, the same guy probably cleaned both the bathroom and kitchen.) A restaurant can buy more expensive food but more value might be created with inexpensive white table clothes or nice looking menus. No matter how good the steak is, a greasy spoon diner has a hard time selling a $30 steak. A contractor with poorly dressed crews that are not polite will have a hard time generating referrals. Rarely does anyone receive personalized service any more. If we do, it is some poorly trained airline and auto follow up dealer person
calling to interrupt us with a question regarding their service. Really. No one cares. Oh, yes what about those wonderful emails that are sent to us, thanking us and letting us know how we are appreciated when they can’t even spell our name correctly. You can buy better building materials but such purchases are expensive. It may be more much more effective and less costly to upgrade the service side of your business. What can you do to create value outside of the actual craft part of the job? Remember, value is as much psychological as tangible. Branding is the process of creating a unique image of your company in the consumer’s mind. Truck lettering, job signs, crew appearance and practices all play an important part of this. Advertised leads cost money but referrals are free. Make your effort personal and real.
Send a confirmation of your appointment prior to the sales call. Google the customer’s name so you know something about them. Following a sales call, consider sending a handwritten thank you note following your visit but make sure you mention something unique that was discussed. It takes two minutes to do while sitting in the truck. When the job is awarded, knock on ten doors in each direction. Give each resident a business card. Tell them you will be working in the area and if there are any concerns about your trucks or crew regarding parking or set up to let you know. This is a great way to build value while generating leads. Have your foreman knock on the door and introduce himself prior to starting
the job. He or she should look professional and ideally would have a badge with a photo of them for ID. Make sure they are in a company shirt and dress accordingly. If they are subs, you may have to use a product shirt or generic shirt that says crew. If they have your name on them, they will be considered employees by tax and wage hour authorities. The foreman should ask where to park the truck, are there any pets to be aware of, etc. (It is always good to find out about the Doberman prior to starting the job.) Always have the foreman walk the job, preferably with the customer, prior to leaving. This can prevent call backs and back charges. The crew should look for tools, job trash, etc. Use this opportunity to be polite and drive psychological value.
Think about it. What small inexpensive things can you do in your company that sets you apart and builds value? Years and years ago, I set up an image program for a company called Rose Plumbing. We left a rose at the end of each and every job. We had a rose painted on the truck. The entire concept was a huge success. Remember, if all else is equal, people will pick price. Work harder to make your company standout.
Monroe Porter
is president of PROOF Management a firm that teaches seminars and runs networking groups for painting contractors. Several Aussie painting contractors travel to the US each year to participate in his programs.
www.proofman.com
2017 May Issue | 11
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The Main Reason Changing Your Life is Tough Many of us have things we’d like to change: our exercise and diet habits, procrastination and productivity habits, patience and mindfulness habits, quitting bad habits, decluttering and finances, reading and learning and doing all the things we want to do in life.
Why We Get in Our Own Way
But very often we fall short of our hopes.
The reasons we go to the patterns mentioned above:
What’s the problem? Why do we struggle with these changes? There are lots of reasons, some of them external ... but the main reason that it’s difficult to stick to these changes is actually internal.
The main reason changing our lives is hard: we get in our own way.
How? Our thinking is the problem. See if you’ve done any of these: • You mess up or procrastinate on your habit changes, and then are harsh or critical on yourself. • It’s time to do what you set out to do, but then you put it off and look for something easier. You go to distractions. • You are doing something uncomfortable but then look for a way out, tell yourself you can’t do it. • When you’re doing something hard, you stress out about it, setting unreasonable expectations and agonizing about whether you can do it. • You fantasize about how this will turn out when you meet your goal, but then worry and stress out about whether you will hit that goal. • You feel bad about yourself, doubt yourself, beat yourself up ... and this prevents you from even taking action. I think most of us have done these at some time or another, often without even being aware of it. We get in our own way, make things more difficult than they already are.
Why do we do this, if we’re just making things harder? These are old patterns, built up over the years, that are coping mechanisms for dealing with difficulty.
• We have lots of uncertainty or discomfort about the task or project, so we look for a way out, and start to rationalize and look for something easier. • We create high expectations (our goals, ideals, fantasies) and then fear not meeting those expectations (more uncertainty). • We don’t believe in ourselves because we doubt whether we’re good enough to do it (uncertainty about ourselves). • Being harsh on ourselves for procrastinating or messing up is a way to deal with the uncertainty that arises when we do these things. So some kind of uncertainty arises: about ourselves, about how we just procrastinated, about how this project will go, about how to go about doing this task, about whether we’ll meet our goal. Then we react to this uncomfortable feeling of uncertainty by being reactive: by being critical of ourselves, stressing out about it, procrastinating and seeking distraction, rationalizing why we should quit. These are old patterns, how we cope with the discomfort of uncertainty. It doesn’t feel good to take these actions, but it’s a natural reaction to the scary feelings of uncertainty. There’s more comfort and certainty in our distractions, running away, self-criticism, harshness, stories about not being able to do this. The discomfort of uncertainty is what we want to get away from. We get in our own way by trying to get away from feelings of uncertainty.
2017 May Issue | 13
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Getting Out of Our Own Way So how do we stop getting in our own way? By getting out of our way. When we notice that we’re procrastinating, seeking distraction, being harsh or critical, rationalizing quitting or putting something off, stressing out about not being able to do something ... we should pause. Just notice what we’re doing. Then think about how we’re just making things harder. We can make things more effortless by not reacting to the uncertainty. Instead, notice the feeling of uncertainty in your body. See that it’s there and that you want to get away from it or get control of it. Stay with it and
see that it’s just a feeling, nothing to panic about.
what happened and starting afresh without stress.
In fact, by practicing the mindfulness of staying with discomfort and uncertainty, we can learn to be comfortable with uncertainty.
If we are stressing out about not meeting a goal or expectation, we can notice that we have uncertainty about this goal, and just stay with it. Then just take action on the goal without worrying about the expectation.
As we do this, we can just turn back to the task and act. Just simply be with the task, and just take action. Just do. If we’re procrastinating with a writing task, we can just stop running and instead allow ourselves to feel the uncertainty. Then just start writing, without worrying about running from uncertainty. If we are beating ourselves up because we haven’t done a good job sticking to a plan, we can notice that we’re being harsh, and instead allow ourselves to feel the uncertainty about ourselves. Then just start again on the plan, letting go of
Notice the uncertainty and our desire to run. Stay with it and don’t run. Then act, with gratitude and a smile. We don’t have to get in our way, things can be no big deal.
Leo Babauta
a successful ‘simplicity’ blogger and author from California, the creator of top 25 Blog,
ZEN HABITS
2017 May Issue | 15
Change Your Strategy,
SAVE YOUR BUSINESS
Business owners are all in search of the same thing – a business they can grow, sell or that gives them freedom. When this dream doesn’t become reality, they’re left financially burdened, overworked and extremely time deprived. They feel stuck and unsure of what to do! Anthony Robins (life coach) says, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten”. This couldn’t be truer for you… If you aren’t getting results, you need to change your strategy ASAP. The numerous successes of the tradies we educate have come from them challenging their existing business practices and hence making the necessary changes to result in a better outcome. There existing practices had them; ‘Wearing all the hats’ Struggling to find customers Lacking business growth
Do you ‘wear all the hats’? If you wear the hat of the painter, administrator, bookkeeper, marketer
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etc. you’d agree that you’re in a terrible trap. Taking responsibility of means increased burdens and zero time off because you’re running a one-man show. Suggestion: Outsource!
Do you struggle to find customers? No customers = no business. If you struggle to find customers you need to rethink your approach to marketing (and no, I’m not about to tell you to spend more money). Suggestion: Balanced marketing! Marketing needs to be consistent and balanced. A balance strategy involves ‘pre-love’ (getting new customers), ‘present-love’ (increasing average dollar sale onsite) and ‘postlove’ (encouraging repeat business).
Pay someone to do tasks that aren’t your forte or that take longer than it would take a professional (a perfect example here is bookkeeping. It takes them less than half the time it takes you to do the same job and I’d question if you REALLY love it anyway). This will give you time to focus on profitable activities (or to take a break!). Outsourcing costs money BUT the return on investment is higher.
In the painting trade it may seem irrelevant marketing to customers after the job is done as repeat business isn’t as important as it would be in a maintenance trade. However, marketing to customers after they have had a positive experience with your business (with informative emails, social media etc.) will keep you front-of-mind for referrals and repeat business when they’d otherwise have forgotten your business altogether.
Has your business stopped growing? So you have a great work-life balance and a consistent stream of customers BUT your business is stagnant, it simply won’t grow! What do you do? Hire more painters and increase your marketing budget? Nope! Well at least not yet… Suggestion: Reduce costs and overheads. Streamline your supplies and reduce wasted materials and overheads. This will increase your profit margin giving you more money to invest other growth activities such as marketing. Suggestion: The real question I would be asking myself here is – ‘who or what is the bottleneck?’ I would be interested to hear your answer to this one… If you feel stuck always remember, “If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten”! We’ve seen tradies have huge successes from making the slightest business changes and we know you can too! If you would like some more education on how you can change your business, come along to OUR LIVE EVENT! CLICK HERE for details.
Angela Smith
www.futuretradie.com.au
2017 May Issue | 17
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Subcontractors Alliance
The collapse of Walton companies was the catalyst for the formation of the Subcontractors Alliance in late 2013. The collapse cost QLD subcontractors around $30 million, a considerable number were painters. Finishing trades are vulnerable when the contractor phoenix’s out or simply decides to help himself to your money.
We also sought a commitment from the cross-bench senators to support introduction of minimum federal security of payment legislation so that the peak groups, like those taking out newspaper paper ads all over Queensland running a scare campaign can’ t use their backdoor influence and get the legislation watered down.
We lobbied the state government prior to the last election to implement Project Bank Accounts to secure Qld subcontractors revenue. They gave us that commitment and the trials will begin shortly. We have had significant input into the formation of the legislation.
We got the commitment from the cross bench senators. Senator Xenophon managed to get federal Security of Payments legislation added to the ABCC Bill as a result. The recent advertising blitz is simply rubbish. PBA’s are used successfully
in Canada, Great Britain and were successfully trialled recently in Western Austalia. John Goddard, from Subbies United, spoke recently to a Brisbane builder who is using PBA’s already. He confirmed they were a breeze to use, no extra redtape and inexpensive to establish. They just want to be free to use and abuse your money. It is not in your best interests to listen to the lies they are pedalling. Our web-site is currently being reconstructed but tune in to our facebook page support your subbies. Les Williams – Spokesperson
www.facebook.com/Support-Your-Subbies-225748630918964/
2017 May Issue | 19
APPRENTICES
worth it or not? By the time this article is published, my eighth apprentice will have been signed off as a fully qualified tradesperson. It is always a proud moment for me when this happens as I know I have taught them something which will have a significant impact on their future life. You can’t predict the future though so there is no guarantee they will continue working for you, or if they choose to leave and start up their own business. They may even go on a different track and learn a completely new career altogether. This is exactly what happened with one of my apprentices. Justin finished his apprenticeship with me in 2008 but always had the passion to work in the airline industry like his father (who is a Virgin Airlines pilot). He decided to take 12 months off to study for an Aeroskills Course (Certificate 4 Level) to become an Aircraft Maintenance Engineer. He contacted me a few weeks ago saying that after years of applying for positions in the airline industry (and getting knocked back each time) his application for a job with REX Airlines was accepted. In all the time he was applying for those positions, he continued working in his trade as a painter. I was so proud of him as his commitment and determination, eventually paid off.
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Many of you may think though, ‘Is it really worth training someone? It will cost me time and money and then they may leave when the apprenticeship is completed.’ Well I must disagree with anyone that taking on apprentices is not worth it to their business. If I thought that, I wouldn’t be training my ninth apprentice now. Even so if they did leave your employment (and you have treated them well in that time) you may find they will come back. Even if they started up their own business, you can use them as sub-contractors. This has been the case with many of my past apprentices. You know what their work is like and you can use it to your advantage.
person, state you live in, Government incentives and many other factors that are too numerous to mention. Below is an average hourly wage based over a 52 week period. The actual training of an apprentice is one of the main reasons why employers do not want to employ them. They don’t want the responsibility or they feel there is too much effort involved. I believe there is a total misconception of this. In the first few months the apprentice is only doing basic things. These are simple tasks to pick up and not really time consuming for the employer to teach and it also saves you having a qualified tradesman doing the work.
This is an estimate only.
So let’s break it down on what it approximately costs you as an employer. I’ll start with the wages which have been sourced from the ‘Queensland Fairwork Ombudsman’ website. Please note, these are only approximate rates as there are many factors to take into consideration, such as the age and education of the
With the Government Incentive of $4,000 ($1,500 given to you at the 3 month probation period and $2,500 at the end of the apprenticeship), it literally pays for their first 6 weeks of their employment. You could even be entitled to other incentives which is another bonus to help go towards their wage.
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If you manage your apprentice correctly, you should see a monetary benefit within a very short period. When they are into their 3rd and 4th years, they should be at the stage where they are nearly doing the same work as a tradesperson. If you look at the wage graph above (and below) compared to what you are charging per hour, you are making a nice little profit on them. Admittingly when it comes to their ‘Apprenticeship Training’, you will lose them for approximately 15 weeks over the four-year apprenticeship. If you live in Queensland though, you have a choice to send them for the ‘Aussie Painters Network’ Training. Much of the training is performed ‘online’, where the apprentice is required to answer multiple type questions from prepared video presentations. As proof that they are answering these questions themselves and not having someone else do it for them, they are required to have a ‘webcam’ so the ‘marking trainer’ can actually see them at their computer. This reduces the urge for them to cheat. There have been occasions where the trainer has noticed a different person at the computer so the whole unit was marked incorrect. I feel myself by answering questions from these videos, you can actually ‘take in’ a lot more information. Because there are ‘multiple’ answers, if the apprentice gets one question wrong, it takes them back to another set of questions. This keeps happening until they answer correctly; therefore, they may have to watch the video multiple times to fully understand the question. The apprentice is also required to attend ‘practical training’ for 3-4 days of the year in the APN ‘Mobile
Training Wheels’. This is where they will be taught tasks that are not taught by you, as the employer, such as wallpapering, lead abatement, scaffolding, special effects, texture coating, etc. The ‘online’ work can be performed if you have ‘rained out days’ or need to send them home because of lack of work or finished the job early. If this only happens rarely, then you are required to set aside time for them to do the tasks in working hours. In many cases though, the apprentice is so keen, they will do it in their own time. It is a benefit to them to do this as if the tasks are completed early (and you feel they are competent) they can be progressed to the next level of their apprenticeship, which means a higher wage for them.
Now you may think that with all the training, how much does it actually cost you per hour to employ an apprentice? Through a program I developed, (My Hourly Rate Calculator) I came up with some approximate costings. Again, these are only estimated amounts and will vary with the particular circumstances of the apprentice and the ‘State’ of which the employment is held. In the costings, I have allowed for their Holidays, Sick Days, Rostered Days Off, Superannuation, 17.5% Holiday Loading, Travelling Time, Workers Compensation and RTO Training. There is no allowance for their ‘on-site’ learning by the employer.
This is an estimate only.
By taking on a new apprentice, you will be training them your methods and the way you want. Maybe they will stay with you as long as my second apprentice who has been with me for 17 years now. He does all the physical, operational running of my business, while I do the bookwork, quoting and generally spending time away on holidays. This type of training does not suit everyone but you have a choice.
Jim Baker www.mytools4business.com 2017 May Issue | 23
Working LIKE A DOG Are outdated work cultures destroying lives in construction? So, there’s been a lot of talk about skills shortages, how to attract young people into the trades, creating a more gender balanced sector and of course the rate of suicide in construction in Australia with it being double the national average. There seems to be a great many serious issues to be tackled in the industry, with attempts to rise to the challenges afoot mostly missing the mark. Could that be because what is being overlooked is a generally accepted culture of struggle that needs addressing before we can go about improving the industry? Like, you have to acknowledge you have a problem in order to fix it, maybe? A recent Sydney Morning Herald article, Construction is the last frontier for women at work, by Louise Chappell and Natalie Galea of University of NSW, comes to the somewhat surprising conclusion that to increase the number of women in Australia’s construction sector, we must firstly change the working conditions for men. They found that given women’s priorities may understandably be their families
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and children and a staged return to full time work, they are less likely to put up with the current status quo of outdated and unproductive working conditions. A range of professionals were shadowed who “design and manage construction sites” and across varied work environments; on site, off site, head offices, large onsite operations, they consistently found that a slavish workplace culture prevailed that was remnants from a decade long past. “..a core issue, we believe, is a workplace culture stuck in the 1950s. Australia’s construction industry remains dominated by a male single breadwinner model that assumes men have little responsibility beyond bringing home the bacon and expectations that female workers will either leave to have children, and not return or will also have “home help”. Source: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/ construction-is-the-last-frontier-for-womenat-work-20161205-gt4par.html
For academics who were seeking to study women in construction, they
go on to report instead some sad and alarming observations from their encounters with men suffering grave work stress, along with the personal and health related issues that follow. Scratch the bravado and humour on the surface, however, and we soon discovered that many men in construction are also struggling. It’s 2016 and many men have partners with their own careers, and both want and are expected to participate in family life. For men, not just for women, the 1950s model does not fit. We discovered entrenched expectations of extremely long working hours, 60 to 70 hours was considered normal, plus regular Saturday and, increasingly, Sunday work. We found significant pressure on construction workers to get jobs done ahead of schedule, even if that sometimes meant consecutive 14-hour days. And, most significantly, we discovered a culture of “shaming” anyone who didn’t “live to work” or couldn’t, or wouldn’t, hack it.
In Australia, more men succumb to suicide than they do to skin cancer, liver disease, heart failure or car accidents. The statistic worsens when focusing on the building industry. Suicide among young construction workers, predominantly male, is more than double the rate for other young men according to the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention. Is it any wonder women and young people are shunning the trades? So interestingly, it appears it’s not a youth thing, or a gender thing, it’s a work/life balance - quality of life issue that needs to be fixed in the sector; not only to attract more professionals to these areas of work but to improve the lives of the millions already dedicated to them, but who are currently paying a high price for the privilege.
the overwhelm is huge and the hole can seem deep. The financial pressures can quickly give rise to relationship break down and family divide, then the isolation worsens. There are some great organisations coming to the aid of some of those who might fall victim to the pressures, like Mates in Construction and HALT – Hope Assistance Local Tradies. These groups are helping to raise awareness of support and practical information regarding mental health services, well-being advice, financial counselling and small business training.
Ultimately though, it’s got to be time to focus on the root causes of this devastation by addressing unreasonable expectations and the dismissing of the importance of family life or work/life balance. After all, there’s not many of us who live to work. Its well past time for construction workers to expect better conditions and reasonable expectations, so they can work effectively, to live better, rather than live (and die) to work). ----------------------------------------------
Caroline Miall
caroline@aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au
An insidious work culture that consistently imposes outdated, inflexible working conditions can really grind an individual, and their family, down. Add to the mix cash flow problems, non-payers, debt and bankruptcy,
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2017 May Issue | 27
End of Financial Checklist ;
A small business guide to surviving EOFY
End of financial year. These 4 little words can strike a mixture of emotions in any business owner. It is a busy time. There are so many things that need to be done. Payment Summaries, BAS, Reportable Contractor reports not to mention having your bookkeeping up to date for the accountant to do their magic. It can be overwhelming, scary and stressful. It’s completely normal to have these moments. Most business owners at some stage go through these emotions and come out the other side. Not always better for it but you will survive. It’s all about getting your sh#t together now and being prepared. Why now you ask ? It’s pretty simple. If you have a tax problem and need some serious tax planning your accountant can’t help you after June 30, unless of course you would like the tax department to take even more money than they already do. It takes time. We have a tried and tested step by step checklist that we use each year and we really want to share it with you. We want money in your pocket not the ATO’s so
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you can stop stressing about business and enjoy the better parts of life ( fishing , camping, holidays etc) All you have to do is come along or send your significant other to our “Tradies Supporting Tradies” lunch on the 10 May at the Aussie Painters Network and we will step you through it. For $47 (tax deductable) you will leave with an organised action plan to help you with tax planning and set you on the front foot for next year. One of my favourite quotes is by an unknown author “Prepare and Prevent, don’t repair and repent”. With a little bit of preparation, you can save yourself time money and stress. Seats are limited so make sure you don’t waste any time registering. - www.eofylunch.eventbrite.com.au -----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandra Price www.pbks.com.au
2017 May Issue | 29
吀栀攀 瀀漀爀琀愀戀氀攀Ⰰ 椀渀攀砀瀀攀渀猀椀瘀攀 洀攀琀栀漀搀 琀漀 瀀爀攀瘀攀渀琀 瀀愀椀渀琀 眀愀猀琀攀ⴀ眀愀琀攀爀 瀀漀氀氀甀琀椀渀最 琀栀攀 攀渀瘀椀爀漀渀洀攀渀琀⸀
Trace My Business Keep a record of ALL your clients • • • •
•
Where the referral came from
The quote success and failure rates
•
Suburb comparisons
The different advertising campaigns
•
(what (wh works and what doesn’t) First projects vs repeat business
New vs existing revenue and projects
•
Yearly and overall client revenue
•
Growth analysis
Projects, who referred them, and the referrals they subsequently provided
Written and Developed by Jim Baker
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HUGE RESPONSE TO PAINT DISPOSAL SCHEME A world-first Australian initiative to keep waste paint out of landfill has been an immediate success. The industry-run Paintback® scheme collected more than a million kilograms of unwanted paint in its first year: equivalent to about 320,000 four-litre paint tins. 47 depots have opened accepting waste paint and packaging from trade painters and households. The sites cover all capital cities and major regional centres, with more to be established over the next two years. Already 60% of Australians are no more than 20 kilometres from a Paintback collection point. “Our goal is to make it normal for people to want to take their paint back, rather than stockpile it or throw it away into the environment, and the response has been quite overwhelming,” said Karen Gomez, the Chief Executive of Paintback Ltd. “It’s estimated Australians throw away approximately 7 million litres of unused paint every year. In our first year, we’ve been able to collect about 20% of that amount for responsible disposal. Our aim is to divert a total of 45 million kilograms of paint and packaging from landfills by 2021.”
and Resene to add 15c-a-litre to the wholesale price of their products to fund it. Rust-Oleum has since signed up to the scheme, increasing Paintback’s coverage to over 95% of architectural and decorative paint sold in Australia. The scheme has the support of the Commonwealth Government and of all States and Territories, which have amended regulations to allow trade painters to use the same system as DIY painters. “The trade previously could not use governmentrun schemes, which target households, and so to dispose of paint safely they had to use commercial disposal services, which can cost as much as $4 a litre,” Ms Gomez said. “The alternative is stockpiling or illegal dumping.” Paintback also is investing in research to identify technol-ogies that will better capture valuable resources from un-wanted paint, reduce its environmental impact or turn it into something new and useful, such as building material. The aim is to recover 90% by volume of all unwanted paint and packaging collected.
It is the first unified national scheme anywhere in the world to be developed and voluntarily implemented by industry.
The companies that participate in Paintback produce over 30 leading brands, including Dulux, Taubmans Endure, Haymes, Resene, Spacecote, Wattyl and Rust-Oleum.
It was made possible by the ACCC giving regulatory approval for Dulux Group, PPG Industries, Valspar, Haymes
Amanda Dutt Sharma
Marketing and Communications Manager info@paintback.com.au
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䴀礀 䠀漀甀爀氀礀 刀愀琀攀 䌀愀氀挀甀氀愀琀漀爀
眀眀眀⸀洀礀琀漀漀氀猀㐀戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀⸀挀漀洀
Glossary of Paint & Painting Terms COLOURANT
A concentrated agent that may be added to paints to make a range of colours.
COLOURFAST
Non-fading in prolonged exposure to light.
COMPATIBILITY OF A PRODUCT WITH THE SUBSTRATE
The ability of a coating material applied to a substrate to give a dry adherent film without causing undesirable effects either on the properties of the product or the nature of the substrate.
CURING
The process of condensation or polymerisation of a material by heat or chemical means resulting in the full development of the desired properties.
CURTAIN COATING
Curtain coating is a process that creates an uninterrupted curtain of fluid that falls onto a substrate.
CUTTING-IN
Careful painting of an edge such as wall color at the ceiling line or at the edge of woodwork.
The product obtained from polymerisation of two different monomers.
Dd
CRACKING or FLAKING
DE-NIBBING
CRATERING
DEGREASING
CONSISTENCY
The apparent viscosity of a paint under application of a shearing force.
COPOLYMER
The type of paint failure characterized by breaks in irregular lines wide enough to expose the underlying surface. Residual effect of burst bubbles. (See also cissing.)
CRAWLING
Varnish defect in which poor adhesion of varnish to surface in some spots causes it to gather up in globs.
CRAZING
The formation of minute criss-cross cracks on the surface of a paint film.
CROCODILING
The formation of wide criss-cross cracks in a paint film.
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Removing, by rubbing with fine abrasive paper, any small particles of foreign matter that stand proud on the surface of a paint film. The removal from a surface, prior to painting, of mineral oils, greases and similar substances by means of a solvent, such as trichloroethylene, or an emulsifying agent.
DE/SCALING
The removal of mill scale or laminated rust from steel or other ferrous substrates.
DISCOLORATION
Any change in colour of an exposed film caused by chalking, dirt collection or fading, darkening or tonal changes in the original colour.
DRAG
The resistance to the brush encountered when applying a coating material.
DRY FILM THICKNESS
The arithmetic mean of a series of dry film thickness measurements.
DRYING
The change of a coating material from the liquid to the solid state, due to the evaporation of solvent or physico-chemical reactions of the binding medium or a combination of these processes.
DURABILITY
A measure of the ability of a coating system to withstand the environment in service.
Ee EFFLORESCENCE
A deposit of salts that remain on the surface of masonry, brick or plaster when water has evaporated.
EGGSHELL FINISH
A coated surface that exhibits diffuse reflectance, which is intermediate between a semigloss finish and a matt finish.
ELASTOMER
A macromolecular material that, after substantial deformation by a weak stress at room temperature returns rapidly to its initial shape and dimensions when the stress is removed.
Cc
ELECTROSTATIC SPRAYING
A method of spraying in which an electrostatic potential difference is applied between the article to be coated and the atomised coating material particles whereby the latter are attracted to and deposited on it with minimal loss of overspray.
EMULSION
A stable suspension of fine particles or globules of one liquid in another.
EMULSION PAINT
A coating material in which the medium is a dispersion of an organic binder in water.
ENAMEL PAINT
Pigmented organic polymeric binders that simulate the appearance, flow, smoothness and gloss of fused inorganic coatings.
EPOXY PAINT
A coating material based on an epoxy resin.
EPOXY RESIN
A synthetic resin containing epoxide groups and in which the final polymer is formed as a result of a reaction taking place substantially at the epoxide groups. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Any Terms that are identified within the painting & decorating industry as “defects”, images; possible cause; solution and prevention methods are provided. --------------------------------------------------------------
More of “E” next month... Glossary of Paint & Painting Terms 2017 May Issue | 35
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www.lead.org.au
圀攀 愀爀攀 倀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀 眀漀爀欀椀渀最 眀椀琀栀 倀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀 琀漀 椀洀瀀爀漀瘀攀 琀栀攀 椀渀搀甀猀琀爀礀⸀ 夀漀甀 爀攀挀攀椀瘀攀 椀渀昀漀爀洀愀愀漀渀 搀攀猀椀最渀攀搀 琀漀 愀猀猀椀猀琀 椀渀 愀搀瘀愀渀挀椀渀最 礀漀甀爀 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀 瀀爀愀挀挀挀攀猀 愀渀搀 洀愀椀渀琀愀椀渀椀渀最 愀 栀椀最栀 搀攀最爀攀攀 漀昀 瀀爀漀昀攀猀猀椀漀渀愀氀椀猀洀⸀ 圀攀 欀攀攀瀀 瀀愀椀渀渀渀最 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀攀猀 甀瀀 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀攀猀 甀瀀 琀漀 搀愀琀攀 漀渀 琀栀攀 氀愀琀攀猀琀 最漀瘀攀爀渀洀攀渀琀 氀攀最椀猀氀愀愀瘀攀 挀栀愀渀最攀猀 眀栀椀氀猀琀 愀猀猀椀猀猀渀最 礀漀甀 椀渀 爀甀渀渀椀渀最 礀漀甀爀 戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀 眀椀琀栀 瀀猀 愀渀搀 琀爀椀挀欀猀 琀漀
匀䄀嘀䔀 夀伀唀 䴀伀一䔀夀℀
2017 May Issue | 37
The Industry
Idiots
38 | Aussie Painters Network
Important Contacts Aussie Painters Network www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au
Ph. 0430 399 800
National Institute for Painting and Decorating www.painters.edu.au
Ph. 1300 319 790
Australian Tax Office www.ato.gov.au
Ph. 13 72 26 / Ph. 13 28 65
Award Rates www.fairwork.gov.au
Ph. 13 13 94
Fair Work Building & Construction www.fwbc.gov.au
Ph. 1800 003 338
Mates In Construction www.matesinconstruction.com.au
Ph. 1300 642 111
Workplace Health and Safety Contacts Comcare WorkSafe ACT Workplace Health and Safety QLD Victorian WorkCover Authority WorkCover NSW SafeWork SA WorkSafe WA NT WorkSafe WorkSafe Tasmania
www.comcare.gov.au www.worksafe.act.gov.au www.worksafe.qld.gov.au www.vwa.vic.gov.au www.workcover.nsw.gov.au www.safework.sa.gov.au www.commerce.wa.gov.au/WorkSafe/ www.worksafe.nt.gov.au www.worksafe.tas.gov.au
1300 366 979 02 6207 3000 1300 362 128 1800 136 089 13 10 50 1300 365 255 1300 307 877 1800 019 115 1300 366 322
www.actcancer.org www.cancercouncil.com.au www.cancercouncilnt.com.au www.cancerqld.org.au www.cancersa.org.au www.cancervic.org.au www.cancerwa.asn.au
(02) 6257 9999 (02) 9334 1900 (08) 8927 4888 (07) 3634 5100 (08) 8291 4111 (03) 9635 5000 (08) 9212 4333
Cancer Council Australia ACT NSW NT QLD SA VIC WA
2017 May Issue | 39