Let’s talk about the elephant in the room that no one likes to address: your body is keeping score, and eventually, it’s going to present the bill. The question isn’t whether physical trades will catch up with you – it’s when, and what you’re going to do about it.
The Wake-Up Call
Andrew’s story will sound familiar to anyone who’s spent decades in physical work. After 30 years as a carpenter: “I was getting nerve pain in my arms from lifting things over the years. I kept pinching this nerve in my shoulder and my neck when I was lifting things. Once I did that, it would flare up for months on end, and it never got a chance to rest.”
The scary part? “I was really starting to wonder how long I could actually do it, because I was already getting to a stage where I just couldn’t lift the things I needed to.”
Alan felt the toll too, describing his sub-contractor work as “very hard on the body.” The writing was on the wall – their bodies were sending clear messages that couldn’t be ignored much longer.
The Math That Doesn’t Add Up
Here’s the brutal truth about physical trades: your earning capacity decreases just as your expenses increase. You’re getting older, your body is wearing out, but your kids still need laptops, the mortgage still needs paying, and retirement isn’t funding itself.
Alan faced this reality head-on: “When there’s four kids, and it’s getting more expensive as they’re all growing up. I thought it would be nice to have our own home, with some projects and improvements I can make my own.”
The traditional tradie path often means working harder to earn the same money, which accelerates the physical wear and tear. It’s a challenging game.
The Smart Alternative: Working With Your Brain, Not Just Your Hands
What if there was a way to use all that experience and skill you’ve built up over the years, but with less physical punishment? That’s exactly what a mobile chip repair franchise offers – a way to leverage your expertise while giving your body a break.
Andrew discovered this almost by accident. But what surprised Andrew, was not how much easier it was on his body, but how much better the reward versus effort was.
Think about that equation: less physical effort + better financial reward = a sustainable future.
The Numbers That Actually Work
Let’s get specific about what “better reward” actually means. Alan set himself a clear target when he bought an existing territory: $1,000 per day. Not $1,000 per week – per day. And this wasn’t wishful thinking: “After about four weeks we hit our goal. Then we really hit our straps two to four months in.”
Andrew found a similar equation: “The big difference was that with chip repairs, two jobs would cover what I was doing for a whole day in my old business. It was just a no brainer and a lot easier job.”
When you can earn more in less time with less physical stress, you’re not just changing jobs – you’re changing your entire life trajectory.
The “Orchard Full of Apples” Problem
Andrew hit a point that many successful tradies dream of – too much work: “I often used to say I had an orchard full of apples and I can only get 20% of it. I can’t pick all the fruit, you know, I was turning jobs away.”
But here’s the beautiful part of his story: “So that’s been the whole thing with FIX ‘N’ CHIPS – I haven’t needed to work, I could retire at any point. I don’t need to be doing this, but I actually quite enjoy it.”
Imagine reaching a point where you work because you want to, not because you have to. That’s not just financial freedom – that’s life freedom.
The Longevity Factor
One of Alan’s key criteria when evaluating opportunities was simple but crucial: “Am I going to enjoy doing this work at least a certain percentage of the time, for me to want to keep doing it?”
Compare this to the typical tradie trajectory where enjoyment often decreases over time as physical demands increase. With chip repair, Andrew notes: “There was no time frame for how long I could do it, and I could choose which jobs to take on.”
That’s the holy grail – work that gets easier with experience rather than harder with age.
The Flexibility to Actually Live
Remember why you got into trades in the first place? Probably for the independence and decent money. But somewhere along the way, many tradies find themselves trapped by their own success – too busy to enjoy life, too physically exhausted to do anything else.
Andrew breaks this cycle beautifully: “There was two months that I was overseas in the previous year and a half. I’ll work hard but then make sure I take the breaks to enjoy time in the surf or going up the mountain skiing.”
Alan echoes this freedom: “I’m my own boss, I get to set my own hours, I can be a bit more flexible. Sometimes I just wanted to be able to take off.”
The Family Impact
The physical demands of traditional trades don’t just affect you – they affect your family. When you’re exhausted, stressed about money, or worried about how long your body can hold up, that energy flows through to everyone around you.
Alan describes the transformation: “I’m feeling happy about the impact on my family too. For example, all four children need new laptops. Normally I’d just start weeping. But I haven’t had to worry too much… Which is something I’ve never been able to do before.”
That shift from financial stress to financial confidence changes the entire family dynamic.
The Skills Transfer
Here’s the good news: everything you’ve learned as a tradie is valuable in chip repair. The hand skills, the attention to detail, the ability to solve problems on the fly, the customer service skills – it all transfers.
As Andrew puts it: “I think you’ve just got to have a can-do attitude, and a calm approach” – skills that any experienced tradie already has.
Alan needed his expertise with textures and finishes from his micro cement work. Your plastering, tiling, carpentry, or painting background gives you a massive head start in understanding materials, colors, and finishes.
The Reality Check
This isn’t about promising you’ll never work hard again. Both Alan and Andrew work hard. The difference is they’re working smart. They’re building something sustainable. They’re not racing against their body’s expiry date.
Andrew’s advice for tradies considering the switch is telling: “I’ve always said that anyone going from a trade, I think it’s the easiest money you’re ever going to make.”
That’s coming from someone with 30 years of experience who knows exactly what “hard work” looks like.
The Bottom Line
Your body has been good to you, but it’s not going to last forever. The question is: what are you going to do about it? You can keep pushing until something breaks, or you can make a smart transition while you’re still strong enough to learn something new.
As Alan reflects: “I’m actually really happy I made the decision, and I think that’s really quite important… It seems to suit me quite a bit.”
The body you have today is the best body you’re ever going to have for making this kind of change. The question is: what are you waiting for?
