This was published 7 years ago
Working smarter not harder: How to avoid small business trends in western Sydney
Like many tradies, Allen Cetinic was tired of a small business lifestyle that was rigid. So he changed it.
By Bhakthi Puvanenthiran
A new study has found western Sydney-based small businesses appear to work harder than most in the city. No surprises there.
The study by NRMA Business Insurance found that business owners in the west take fewer leave days, feel more stressed and don't sleep as well at night.
Allen Cetinic on a home site that he has been managing between the tradies and builder.Credit: Steven Siewert
So how do you escape that cycle and still stay a small business person? Northmead tradie turned agent, Allen Cetinic found a way out.
"Yes that used to be me," the former renderer told Fairfax Media.
Allen Cetinic found a gap in the tradie services market.Credit: Steven Siewert
"I used to work eight hours as a tradie and then three hours in the afternoon or evening doing invoicing, chasing money, doing website and legal claims and throwing emotional energy into that. I used to work weekends. My quality of family life was really deteriorated," he said.
Twelve months ago Cetinic left rendering, which he had been doing for 15 years, after spotting a gap in the market.
"I've carved out a bit of a niche in contract and sales between customers and finishing trade services like painting, rendering, tiling and plastering," he said.
"Customers are so often unhappy with the customer service they are getting from the trades, and we know that most tradies hate that marketing, quoting, liaising, invoicing part of the job, they would much rather just be painting rendering or tiling."
This stacks up against the findings of the business owner sentiment study which found that tradies are more likely than most small business owners to want professional help for business advice but least likely to actually get it.
Now Cetinic's role of middle man means his own life is much more flexible, and he is enjoying the part of life that 66 per cent of small business owners say they value: being your own boss.
"To be completely honest, I'm now working between 9.30am and 3pm, so I'm doing the school run while my wife has been able to go back to work," he said. "Then because I work mainly from my computer, I carry on with my work later at night. Plus, I've got full control of how far I want to scale the business up or how many leads a week I want to follow up."
Following up on those leads and making sure he is meeting work targets is, what Cetinic says, the hardest part of the job, but by and large he is thrilled with the change.
"It was a big step to leave rendering full-time but to be honest it was getting me down.