Meet Emma and Aaron from Simply Plumbing: Building a team of A-players

Q: How would you best describe Simply Plumbing?

Emma: “We are a family-owned and operated plumbing business. Both Aaron and I work in the business. Aaron’s still on the tools, and then we’re just supporting other people in the trade to build up confidence in their careers.”

Q: How has it grown since the early days?

Emma: “What started off as just Aaron on the tools by himself very quickly turned into me quitting my job and going full-time. I think that was within about three months. And then employing a full-time qualified plumber about nine months after that. And then from there we just kept on growing.”

Aaron: “We’ve gone through four properties as we’ve grown. We started out of our house in New Brighton, then Bishopdale, but the team kept outgrowing the garage. That’s how we ended up here, in a commercial place, about six months ago.”

Q: What’s it like working as a husband and wife team?

Emma: “I wouldn’t have it any other way. We just feed off each other. Aaron’s the ideas guy, he tells me all these ideas and then I implement them.”

Aaron: “They say business is like getting married if you’ve got a partner. So we’ve basically gotten married twice.”

Emma: “There’s no defined line between our marriage and the business; it’s just intertwined. We could go out on a date and say we’re not going to talk about work, and within five minutes we’re talking about some cool idea.”

Q: What are you each responsible for in the business?

Aaron: “Emma runs the day-to-day. I’ve given myself the honorary title of General Manager, but I don’t really manage anything. I’m back out on the tools doing what I love, and I’m our only drainlayer, so every drainlaying job that comes our way, I’m doing the lot.”

Emma: “I’m in the office by half seven, checking emails and the leads that came through overnight, then invoicing the jobs that Brogan [Ops Manager] has pushed through. I’m quoting in between, and constantly getting interrupted by phone calls, because every number people see online comes through to me.”

Q: Tell us about your team. What are you looking for when you build the team?

Aaron: “We’re building a team of A-players, absolute go-getters. They’re all sensible people, which is a bit strange for plumbing, and all great plumbers, so I’m not having to check every single job. You just know the boys are doing a great job.”

Emma: “Our operations manager, Brogan, came on board about two years ago, and now he’s the backbone. He deals with all the guys and all the projects, the restocking, the gear, the vehicles, health and safety. Anything you ask him to do, he just does it.”

Q: How do you look after and develop the team?

Emma: “Aaron came up with winter and summer packs, a fresh uniform with a few goodies in a bucket, just little things to show you care. Tonight we’re all out for dinner and then the casino, and that comes out of our social club fund.”

Aaron: “Every third Monday of the month we bring someone in from outside to train the team. We’ve had shower installers, valve people, mortgage brokers, even a real estate agent on investing in property, just to give the team some financial brightness for the future.”

Q: What’s the secret to a good team culture?

Aaron: “We have core values and operating procedures everyone knows, so it’s a framework for making a decision without having to ring someone. And every Monday we share a learn and a win from the week before. It keeps the ego in check, and the whole team learns the lesson in one go rather than someone holding it to their chest.”

Emma: “I think it’s just that we’re quite naturally caring people. We care about the team, and I try and treat them how I would like to be treated. We’re doing fun things together all the time.”

Q: How did Builderscrack help in the early days?

Aaron: “We didn’t really know anything about business, we didn’t know how to get work. So we were trying everything, looking at newspaper ads, all this sort of stuff. Builderscrack was one of the things we had a look at. In the first year, I think we did about sixty jobs. So it was pretty substantial. It was just Emma and me as well, so that’s more than half of our year’s jobs from Builderscrack in that first year. It really got us started.”

Q: And how do you use Builderscrack now?

Emma: “We still get on there and poke through and choose jobs. We’re not choosing the emergency jobs, we’re looking at the future jobs. We’re currently doing a new build out in Loburn and that came from Builderscrack.”

Q: Does the ROI stack up on Builderscrack?

Emma: “Pretty much at the moment, every job that we go for, we win. So it’s a no-brainer, really, if you put in the work. The hardest part is that you’re starting from nothing. Get the credentials on there to make yourself look official, put your insurance on there, put all your certificates on there, so the homeowner feels like you are the right choice.”

Aaron: “And add a ton of photos too. I was just looking at our account, and the photos are all quite good quality, ones we’d still use today in our advertising.”

Q: Any advice for a tradie just starting out on Builderscrack?

Aaron: “Don’t be scared of the cost. It’s intimidating when you first start, but further down the line, Google’s more expensive, Facebook ads are more expensive, and you’re only paying for the job you get. If you see there are five tradies chasing a job, maybe go pick out some of the less desirable ones and build up your reputation first. Get your reviews off those.”

Emma: “And sometimes those jobs are actually the best jobs and the best clients.”

Q: What do homeowners often misunderstand about pricing?

Aaron: “People think it’s always too expensive, but that’s the minority. We go around to their job, talk them through it, give them a quote, explain the quote, and then they accept it. So usually there are no issues around the price. It’s all pretty upfront.”

Emma: “Even if it’s just going around to fix a leak, as soon as the job gets booked in, they get sent a confirmation of booking, and it has our rates on it as well. We’re really upfront about what our rates are.”

Q: When someone’s renovating a bathroom, when should they bring in a plumber?

Aaron: “If your builder’s switched on, they’ll bring their own plumber and it’ll be smooth. If you’re managing the job yourself, get your plumber in on day one, walk through it and figure out what you can and can’t do and what it’ll cost. Set some realistic expectations off the bat.”

Emma: “And always meet the tradies doing the renovation. Get the builder to bring them in so you’re all on the same page, then go with your gut. If you feel like they’re a good person, go with them”

Q: What should a homeowner look for when choosing a plumber?

Aaron: “Check that they have a plumbing licence, that’s a good start.”

Emma: “It’s really easy to do. You can just search the name on the plumbing board’s website and that’ll tell you if they’re a licensed plumber. And chuck their name in Google, see if anything pops up.”

Q: What plumbing upgrade adds the most long-term value?

Aaron: “A mains pressure hot water cylinder, and if you want long-term value, a hot water heat pump cylinder. Mainly because you get that instant boost in shower pressure, which everyone wants. And then the power savings long term with the heat pump.”

Q: What do you do on site to build trust with homeowners?

Aaron: “The trust is really built from when they call Emma and get everything explained to them. By the time the tradie’s turning up to site, they already like us and trust us. Then it’s just a matter of taking off your shoes and doing a nice job, not tracking mud through their carpet, cleaning up the water if you spill some. Just respect the client and what they want.”

Emma: “And arriving when you say you’re going to arrive. If our team is running late, they’ll let the client know by text, or they’ll let Brogan know and Brogan will ring the client.”

Q: How important are reviews in your line of work?

Aaron: “Massive. The whole game now is pretty much online. You might think someone just wants their tap fixed, but you’ve got construction managers and bigger clients checking out your website and your Google reviews. If you want to get a foot in the door with a bigger builder, they’re going to check online. It’s part of their due diligence.”

Q: How do you stand out from other businesses?

Emma: “We are just ourselves, and we present that online. We’re honest, we’ll do a fair price, and the team we have are very similar to us. Everyone is really driven.”

Aaron: “And branding. We heard branding was important early, so we got a nice logo and we’ve really worked on our reputation, a good website, our ads done by a proper marketer, the vans and the signage.”

Q: What does the future of Simply Plumbing look like?

Aaron: “After three years of grinding it out, our main goal at the moment is to achieve a two-week holiday where we can turn our phones off and leave the business to run on its own. We’d still want to see sales coming in and jobs being quoted and invoiced while we’re away. That would be the big goal.”

Emma: “Further out, I hope we have a couple of divisions of Simply Plumbing, whether that’s covering North Canterbury, or as far as the West Coast or Queenstown. We have people in our team right now who we can see taking over those spots. We’re hobbyist gold miners, so we’d love to live our West Coast dream, do some plumbing and the rest gold mining.”

Q: You’re hiring at the moment. What are you looking for in a plumber?

Aaron: “Somebody who is driven in their career and really passionate and loves it. Of course, we offer good pay, and we have a great social club, but our best thing is that we really want everyone in our company to do as well as us. If you want to be an estimator one day, we’ll see what we can do to help you out with that. We’ll put the time into you.”

Q: What advice would you give a tradie thinking about going out on their own?

Aaron: “Go talk to someone you know who has started a business. Just have a conversation, have a coffee, have a beer, and see what it’s about. I wish someone had told me to do that.”

Q: What advice would you give a tradie before they start their own business?

A: “Go do your research. Proper research on all aspects of your business and the market. Talk to other tradesmen, especially guys who’ve been in the trade a while. If you don’t understand what they say, ask them to explain. And talk to people face to face. Don’t go with what social media says; those guys go for clicks. I’d go to real people.”

Thank you to Emma and Aaron from Simply Plumbing for sharing your story, your time, and delivering awesome results for Canterbury homeowners and the Builderscrack community.