Off The Tools with Wayne and Andy 🔥 cover art

Off The Tools with Wayne and Andy 🔥

Off The Tools with Wayne and Andy 🔥

By: Wayne Bettess and Andy Jones
Listen for free

About this listen

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.Wayne Bettess and Andy Jones Economics
Episodes
  • #14 Pricing for Profit 💷 Why Most Tradesmen Are Busy… and Still Broke
    Feb 18 2026

    If you’re working flat out, knackered every night, and still wondering where the money went…
    This episode will hit you like a brick. 🧱

    In this special Pricing for Profit session, Wayne and Andy break down the exact reason most tradesmen are under-earning — and show you how to fix it using real numbers, not guesswork.

    This isn’t theory.
    This is the system Wayne uses in his own multi-van heating businesses and the same one Andy used to go from a £65 boiler service to running a fully systemised, highly profitable company in just a few years. 🔥

    Inside this episode:

    • 🧮 Why guessing your prices is destroying your business

    • 📊 How to calculate what you must charge just to survive

    • 💷 How to work out what you should charge to actually make profit

    • 🧑‍🔧 Why most engineers earn the same as employees — but with 10x the stress

    • 💥 The truth about “just bung us £40” jobs

    • 🧱 Why every business has phantom costs (vans, tools, mistakes, breakdowns, sick days)

    • 🚐 Why your van, drills and flue gas analyser must be paid for by the customer — not you

    • 📉 How lads charging £60–£70/hour are slowly going backwards every year

    • 📈 How to use supply & demand pricing (winter vs summer)

    • 🧠 Why mindset is the real reason you’re scared to charge more

    • 🔁 How to phase out low-paying customers without blowing your business up

    • 🧾 Why software, systems and professional quoting let you charge more

    • 🤯 How one decision (like Google Ads or hiring staff) should change your prices

    Wayne also walks you through his free Pricing Calculator — the tool that shows you:

    • what your business really costs to run

    • what you need to charge per hour, day and job

    • how much profit you should be making

    • and what happens when you add staff, marketing or overheads

    Andy explains how he charges £199+VAT per hour in the North of England — and why most lads could be charging way more if they stopped copying each other and started using real numbers. 🔥

    If you want:

    • more money 💷

    • less stress 😮‍💨

    • better customers 🤝

    • more freedom 🏖️

    • and a business that actually works…

    You have to stop guessing your prices.

    🎧 Listen now.
    📊 Use the calculator.
    🔥 Start charging what you’re actually worth.


    https://pricing-calculator.offthetools.co.uk/

    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 3 mins
  • #13 Written Off at School 📚 How Tradesmen Still Win at Business
    Feb 11 2026

    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

    Show More Show Less
    44 mins
  • #12 From British Gas to Buying a Rival 🔥 Lee Davis’ Relentless Rise in the Trades
    Feb 4 2026

    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/



    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 13 mins
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.