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Wise Up Wednesday – How Not To Fix Your Problems!

Date: 07/10/2021
Category: Contracts

How Not To Fix Your Problems – First Things First.

A great many Specialist Contractors, Trade Contractors and Subcontractors are in business because they are good at fixing problems and getting practical stuff done.

From groundworks to foundations to superstructure and every conceivable trade and specialisation you are good at delivering the most complicated, the most challenging projects.

But, as soon as it comes to the commercial and contractual side of things, a great many of you will struggle, because it’s just not what you do or enjoy. We all have things we are not good at. Amongst the long list of things I am not good at are computers and techy stuff. It just leaves me cold.

And that’s fine, as long as you have someone you can trust to take care of it for you. We have Ash who takes care of all our IT, Will and Kev who take care of our web site, and Rhys who is a wizz at Adwords, so it’s not a problem.

If If I tried to take care of all of that, it would be a disaster and I would actually make things worse rather than better. And that’s the very important point that I would like you to take on board.

You Don’t Have To Go It Alone

I want you to avoid the mistakes that we see an awful lot of Specialist Contractors, Trade Contractors and Subcontractors making, because they think they should be able to take care of these things themselves.

Please don’t make that mistake. You are human, and just because you are the boss does not mean that you have to be good at everything. Especially stuff that is completely alien to you.

Just this week, we have been helping a Specialist Contractor to get his variation account settled because he was getting nowhere presenting the information in the wrong way using their own efforts, and as a result they were getting underpaid by £100,000!

Ouch! That’s a real big headache, and whilst your problem might not be that big why struggle alone?

At the other end of the spectrum we have collected an outstanding retention payment in just 1 day that our buddy had been struggling with for months. That’s right – the Contractor paid the very next day after getting our Consultant’s letter.

Help Is At Hand – It’s What We Do!

This week’s Wise Up Wednesday has a simple message, and it’s one we are very proud to share.

“We fix your problems!”

From the free and subscription based resources on our web site, to providing Consultants to act on your behalf, we work exclusively with Specialist Contractors, Trade Contractors and Subcontractors to fix problems and provide solutions.

Our service is for all trades and specialisations and the individual turnover of our members ranges from £500k to £130million!

If our web based resources don’t fix your problem, our Consultants act on your behalf to help you resolve all manner of issues including;

Payment
Set off
Payless Notices
Extension of time
Liquidated damages
Adjudication
Retention collection
Claims for loss and expense
Variations
Technical issues
Legal issues
Insurance related problems
Health and Safety
BIM and ISO certification
Lead generation
Etc.,etc.

Our Consultants are professionally qualified experts in a whole range of different disciplines including adjudication, quantity surveying, law, planning, health and safety, ISO, BIM etc.

And depending on the type of membership you choose you will benefit from the first hour each month for free and discounted rates. Which makes our service ultra competitive.

We achieve fantastic results for our members!

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT HOW TO FIX YOUR PROBLEMS?

So, there we have it. We are here to provide you with not only great free advice via our ‘Wise Up Wednesday’ emails and our web site, but we also provide practical hands-on help to apply the right strategies, principles and techniques at the appropriate time, to make your business even more successful.

I have been assisting Specialist Contractors just like you, to resolve payment and all sorts of other problems for the last 30 years. And, Streetwisesubbie.com has been providing services to our Buddies (members) for the last 12 years.

We are pretty confident that we can help you, so please feel free to call our friendly team and speak directly to an expert on 01773 712116. Initial advice is free, subject to you being a UK based Specialist Contractor, Trade Contractor or Subcontractor.

You can also contact us using the Contact Form on the website.

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Become a Streetwise Buddy

Construction’s a tough place to do business right now, and Specialist Contractors need all the help you can get. That’s why you will find our resources and expertise are invaluable, whatever the size of your business and whatever your specialisation. We’re here to help you solve all your business problems, including the crucially important contractual ones, such as getting paid.

What Our Buddies Say ...

Linda Johnson, Director, Active Tunnelling

“This toolkit is amazing, I often sit up late at night googling information or reading contractual books from my iphone before going to sleep. On reading the first couple of tabs worth in your beautifully presented and appropriately organised folders I am delighted to have joined the club! I’ve always said that knowledge is power and this really is a powerful resource, there will be a hell of a lot of bed time reading but hopefully this will allow me to retire before I hit the age of 90.”

Mark Grocock, Managing Director, Bespoke Drywall Ltd

"Streetwisesubbies consultant guided Bespoke Drywall Limited through the triple ISO certification process and, with thier assistance, we were certificated to 9001, 14001 & 18001. The consultant supplied assistance and support throughout the process either by email, phone or visits to our Office. He also chaired our inaugural management review and steered us through and also made other positive contributions to our business which has seen us register on the Growth Accelerator coaching programme. We also intend to engage him to carry out our annual internal audits. A consummate professional and we would not hesitate to recommend him."

Ian Radford, Managing Director MIES Building Services Limited

“StreetwiseSubbie provides no nonsense contractual advice that’s easy to understand and their Consultant has been excellent at getting our money for us!”

Gerard Duffy, MD, Enterprise Electrical Ltd

"A company went bump on us owing quite a bit of money. Our Streetwise Consultant) guided us through our options and worked with the end client to re-coup some of our losses ... the moral of this story, get signed up to StreetwiseSubbie and make use of what it has to offer."

Bernard Murray, Fireproof Fire Engineering Sprinkler System Specialists

“I want to express my own and our Directors thanks for your input on our payment problems...and the successful resolution of the matter.”

Sue McIntyre, General Manager, Grantfen Fire & Security Ltd

“We are very grateful to StreetwiseSubbie for helping us to resolve a stressful and potentially disastrous situation“

Stuart Bailey, Managing Director, William Bailey Ltd

"StreetwiseSubbie added to our contractual awareness and helped us improve our marketing...it’s definitely a good deal and very informative!”

Tim Keyes, Managing Director, NWP Electrical and Mechanical Limited

“The initial StreetwiseSubbie induction session provided us with a comprehensive marketing report....and their free consultancy service for copy writing helped us to secure top quality press coverage in our area.”

Karl Bradshaw, Director, B&S Electrical Contractors Ltd

“Sub-Contractor friendly, down to earth commercial and contractual advice and support that has already helped us enormously.”

Trevor Kirby, Anglian Architechtural

“I recommend all Specialist Contractors, whether they nd trading in the present market to be a challenge or not, to get in touch with StreetwiseSubbie; we did - and the monthly fee has been money well spent for advice on both Contractual and Marketing matters. We are a small rm and when we needed Contractual support to ght a claim that was dragging on, Streetwise was there for us and we got paid within a month.”

Reg Burgess, Painting Subcontractor

“Many thanks for your advice regarding our contractual problem and your prompt, straightforward advice regarding applications, dayworks and more.

I feel genuinely re-assured having found your site and the backup provided from you and your team.”

Phil Bradley Jacobs, LES E&I Specialist Sub-Contractors

“I had a particularly difficult contractual position with a client, which could have led to a significant commercial loss on the project, through Barry’s involvement and assistance I managed to work positively and constructively with the client to amicably resolve the issues to the success of the project.

Barry provided a clear and concise contractual position but then set out scenarios from real life experiences that changed the strategy we adopted; this was instrumental in reaching an amicable resolution of a difficult situation.”

Mike Fitzpatrick, Fitzpatrick Mechanical Services Ltd

“I highly recommend Streetwisesubbies Consultants, Foy Certification for their simple step by step approach to achieving an IMS; with thier help we have been able to achieve the three international standards taking our business to the next level”

John O’Connell, Managing Director, O’Connell’s Drywall Contractors Limited

“StreetwiseSubbie helped us to produce more effective advertising that got results”

M Duff, Company Director, R&M Sprinkler Installations

“We had only just signed up for the Gold Buddy Membership when we had issues getting retention monies released from a Main Contractor, with the expert and excellent assistance and advice received from Jo and the team, our retention monies were promptly released. We have since recommended SWS
to other subbies having similar issues. Once again many thanks for your help.”