How to Make More Money in Australia

Meet three electricians who’ve diversified their business to bring in revenue from elsewhere. Some revenue streams are directly connected – others less so…

We recently explored how electricians can diversify their income streams – and here we meet three contractors who’ve successfully added a new revenue-generating stream to their bow.

Zac Pepper – the digital marketer

Zac Pepper had been working as a commercial electrician in Melbourne for seven years when he started a digital marketing business on the side. “Being an electrician is quite limited because unless you’re doing ridiculous amounts of overtime, it’s not a particularly scalable model,” he says.

His business, Quantum Leads, helps tradies generate leads and expand their online presence. “I figured I’d be better off specialising in one area, which is organic, so Google and ranking websites,” Pepper says. “I don’t do social media – everything I do is organic.”

An entrepreneurial friend introduced him to digital marketing, and Pepper knew immediately that it was a perfect match.

After six months of early starts and late nights, Pepper, who is a long-term customer at Middy’s, switched to working in Quantum Leads full-time and put his electrical work on the back burner. He’s also launched a side hustle for his side hustle, Set2Charge, installing residential electrical charger stations.

But his experience as a tradie remains at the heart of his success as a digital marketer and business owner.

“I come in through the back door as relatable because I am an electrician. My customers don’t see me as ‘us versus them’ because I’m a tradie, too.”

Peter Sutrin – the industrialist

For Peter Sutrin, who runs Proven Energy in south west Queensland, diversifying revenue streams means exploring ways his business can offer more services to a larger number of customers in a wider geographic area.

“Originally, we began as a domestic electrical company but diversified into solar, air conditioning and a range of other areas,” says Sutrin, who shops at Toowoomba CNW and Sherriff Electrical.

“We expanded from domestic customers into commercial solar and electrical, as well as agricultural solar, and began contracting for larger companies. We started off servicing Toowoomba, before expanding into other regions and now cover an area from Ipswich all the way into western Queensland.”

Rather than a conscious strategy to go big or go home, Sutrin says the expansion of his business happened organically.

“As far as expanding the region of service, someone might know someone else a bit further away and they’d give me a call to see if I was willing to travel the distance. Generally, I’ve always said as long as someone’s willing to pay, I’m happy to do it.”

Sutrin says there’s more admin and hassle than if he were to only sell one product to one group of customers, but the payoffs are greater security and the opportunity to follow his interests. “Doing lots of different things keeps you interested,” he says.

Jamie Small – the podcaster

A chance meeting with an old mate, Rob Brus, who just happens to be an experienced podcaster, introduced electrician Jamie Small to a brave new world of microphones, interview skills and digital content.

“I’ve always wanted to get into public speaking but never really knew how to do it,” says Small, who employs six blokes at Pro Image Electrical in Sydney. “We met up for coffee and he goes, ‘Why don’t we start a podcast and call it The Electricians Co-Op’?

“I’m the electrician and he’s the co-host and we get guests on to talk about business, integrating family with work, how to deal with wholesalers and all sorts of stuff.

More than two years and 70 episodes later, Small says The Electricians Co-Op is the number one podcast for electricians on Spotify. After initially charging subscription fees, Small says the duo has switched to a corporate sponsorship model to generate income.

“Clipsal is our sponsor, and on the back of that, we hope to get more sponsors because they are such a big player, in our industry,” Small says.