The problem, with reference to trades, we tend to see the amount of hard work we put into making the "boss" rich, without understanding the whole big picture.

The company registrations and taxes, how to manage the money and when to spend and not to spend. I started something a couple of months back and it has turned my financial situation around completely. I have moved from always being in an overdraft to almost in the 5 digit plus, hoping by June to have a R100 000.00 available for the rainy days, which by the way comes and go less frequently, but as you learn to manage your finances and stop just spending on stuff that you dont really need, or spending customers deposits. By the way this is one of the biggest downfalls for many small businesses.

Customer relationships, I have it, where people have worked as sub contractors and think because I offer them a small piece of the pie, they get greedy, without understanding that I have 10 years of good standing with the customer. When you get to 30 plus years in business you learn a few things that you will never learn from business school. Customer may not always be right but you need to respect the customer, do what you say you are going to do, finish projects on time and charge what the project is worth. I had a job last year which ran way over budget, like 200 hours over budget, I could have billed the customer for the 200 hours and they would have paid, however when I was reviewing the bill it seemed a little excessive, so I made a few adjustments and submitted the invoice. I might have lost a few bob, but the word of mouth advertising is worth way more. I would rather have 5 good paying customers, who trust me and I can trust, than 50 000 problems.

Like most things in life, people live way above their means and whine all the time about how they cant get through the month, yet they have all the fancy material junk, just like business, when you earn enough to pay cash for that nice 4x4 double cab with all the trims and a range rover for your wife, kids in private schools, then great, if not, dont show off with stuff you cant afford, landing a R10 M contract doesn't make you rich. I see too many contractors, all mouth and bling and too little cash in the bank.