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Business coach for HVAC & refrigeration businesses in Australia
Short answer: The right business coach for an HVAC or refrigeration business is one who has actually run a trade business at scale, not a career coach reading from a book. The Tradie Owner works with Australian HVAC and refrigeration owners turning over $1M+, turning install work and service agreements into real profit, starting with a paid first session that's guaranteed to find at least $100,000 of opportunity or you don't pay.
You didn't get past a million in revenue by accident. But bigger revenue in HVAC and refrigeration doesn't automatically mean bigger profit. More installs, more vans, more techs, more stock sitting in the warehouse, and somehow the bank balance barely moves. A good business coach fixes exactly that. The wrong one hands you a folder of theory that doesn't survive contact with a 42-degree day and three no-shows.
Who this is for
This is for owners of HVAC and refrigeration businesses turning over $1M or more a year. Split systems, ducted, commercial refrigeration, cool rooms, VRV and VRF, service and maintenance, or a mix of the lot. You've got techs on the tools, a van fleet, and enough work coming in. What you don't have is enough profit, enough of your own time back, or a clear plan for the next 12 months.
If you're still a one-man band or under a million, this probably isn't the right fit yet. The money leaks we go after only really show up once you've got a crew and volume behind you.
What to look for in a business coach for HVAC
Answer first: find someone who has run a trade business with techs, vans, quotes and stock, not a generalist who read a book about small business.
- Trade experience, not just theory. Scheduling a refrigeration callout is nothing like running a marketing agency. Your coach should understand why a technician's billable hours matter more than a motivational poster.
- Numbers over vibes. A coach who can't read your P&L, work out your true labour recovery rate, or tell install margin from service margin can't actually help you.
- A focus on recurring revenue. The good ones push you toward service and maintenance agreements, not just chasing the next big install.
- Someone who'll be straight with you. You want a peer who'll tell you the quote's underpriced, not a cheerleader who tells you what you want to hear.
- A plan with numbers attached. Not another stack of frameworks you'll never open again.
Where HVAC and refrigeration businesses leak money
Most $1M+ HVAC businesses are sitting on six figures of profit they can't see. Here's where it usually hides.
- Install-heavy, service-light. Installs are lumpy, competitive and cash-hungry. Service and maintenance agreements are the profit engine: recurring, higher margin, and they smooth out your revenue across the year. Most owners badly under-sell them.
- Technician utilisation. If your techs are billing five hours of an eight-hour day, you're paying for three hours of windscreen time, warehouse standing-around and re-work. Lift utilisation a few points and it drops straight to the bottom line.
- Quoting. Underpriced quotes, no standard markup on materials, and jobs won on price that lose money once the truck rolls out. Refrigeration especially. One gas type or an access problem and the quote's blown.
- Seasonal demand. Everyone's flat out in a heatwave and quiet through the shoulder seasons. Without a plan you overtime your way through summer and carry idle labour through winter.
- Stock and van inventory. Cash tied up in gas, fittings, spare compressors and units sitting on shelves, plus jobs delayed because the one part you needed wasn't on the van.
- The owner bottleneck. Every quote, every hard customer call, every scheduling clash runs through you. That's a ceiling on the business, and it's burning you out.
How The Tradie Owner works
Three steps. No lock-in contract, no 12-week 'program' you have to sit through.
1. The first session
We go through your business properly. Your numbers, your jobs, your team, your service book. By the end you'll have at least $100,000 of opportunity identified, or you don't pay. It's a paid session, but the risk sits with us to find the money first.
2. The 60-Day Game Plan
Ideas are cheap. You get a written 60-day plan: exactly what to change, in what order, with the numbers next to each move. Priced quoting, a service-agreement push, a utilisation target, whatever your business needs first.
3. Ongoing coaching
From there it's a flat monthly rate to keep you accountable and working the plan, month by month. You stay because it's making you money, not because you signed something you can't get out of.
Why an operator beats a career coach
Luke Tadich runs The Tradie Owner. He's an ex-paramedic who went on to build and scale Australia's leading sports-court construction company from the ground up. Techs, installs, quotes, stock, seasonal swings, difficult customers, the lot. In 2023 he was named Melbourne and Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
That matters because HVAC problems are trade problems. Utilisation, service agreements, marking up materials, running a crew flat out in a heatwave. He's lived his own version of every one of them. A career coach will hand you a generic framework. Someone who's actually built and run a trade business at scale will tell you what to do on Monday morning.
Want the full picture first? Read how the [trade business coaching](/trade-business-coach) works, then book your first session and let's find where the money's hiding in your business.
Common questions
How much does a business coach for an HVAC business cost?
We keep the exact fee for your first call, but here's the honest part: it's a fraction of the $100,000 we guarantee to find in that first session, and if we don't find it, you don't pay. Weighed against what it puts back in your business, the investment is small.
Do I need to be a certain size to work with The Tradie Owner?
Yes. This is built for HVAC and refrigeration businesses turning over $1M or more a year. The profit leaks we target only show up once you've got techs, vans and real job volume.
What actually happens in the first session?
We go through your numbers, jobs, team and service book and identify at least $100,000 of opportunity. If we can't, you don't pay for the session.
Can a coach help with technician scheduling and utilisation?
Yes, it's one of the biggest hidden leaks in HVAC. Lifting billable hours per tech by even a few points a day usually adds more profit than winning extra jobs.
Why focus on service agreements instead of installs?
Installs are lumpy, competitive and cash-hungry. Service and maintenance agreements are recurring and higher margin, so they're the real profit engine and they smooth out your seasonal swings.
Is The Tradie Owner only for Melbourne businesses?
No. Luke is Melbourne-based, but The Tradie Owner coaches HVAC and refrigeration owners across Australia. The problems and the plan are the same wherever you're operating.
Want someone to find the money for you?
In our first session I'll go through your numbers and find at least $100,000 of opportunity in your business, guaranteed, or you don't pay.
Book a free 30-minute call