How top plumbing & heating business owners get their time back

⏰ We all get 168 hours a week – Elon Musk, Charlie Mullins, you, me, everyone.

But how do you use those hours? That’s what separates the burnt-out from the switched-on.

Too many plumbing and heating business owners are stuck in firefighting mode – constantly jumping from one job to the next, fixing leaks (literally and metaphorically), chasing team members, and never getting a proper lunch break. If that’s you, you’re not alone.

But if you want to grow a business that gives you freedom, not fatigue, something’s got to change.

This blog is all about one of the biggest lessons in The Systems Handbook – learning to balance time and money so you can get off the tools and back in control of your business.

Are you running the business, or is it running you?

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking you have to do everything yourself – pricing the jobs, ordering materials, managing the team, handling customer issues, sorting invoices, the lot.

At first, it might even feel productive. You’re busy, you’re needed, you’re doing the work. But here’s the truth: if you’re always stuck in the weeds, you’ll never move your business forward.

Because while you’re out there unblocking someone’s toilet, who’s looking at your cash flow forecast? Who’s planning your marketing? Who’s reviewing your profitability across different job types?

If your answer is “no one”, then you’re not running a business – you’re just creating a very stressful job for yourself.

Consider this:

• Could someone else on your team take over certain tasks with the right systems in place?

• Are you still doing things the long way round because “that’s how it’s always been done”?

• Do you even know where your time goes every day?

One powerful exercise you can do is tracking your time with timesheets – just like you’d track job hours on-site. You’ll be surprised where your hours go. Admin, phone calls, chasing suppliers, quote revisions – it all adds up.

Wayne Bettess, who contributed a lot to this section of the book, shares how stepping out of the chaos and into the role of a true business owner was the turning point. His no-nonsense insights show exactly how to get there.

The real balance: time vs. money

Let’s imagine your time is worth £100 an hour. Every time you do a task that someone else could do for £15 an hour, you’re costing your business money – not saving it.

Now, that doesn’t mean you should start throwing cash around or building a huge team overnight. But it does mean you need to understand where your time is best spent.

Here’s a rule of thumb:

• Spend time on tasks that only you can do – strategy, pricing high-value jobs, building key relationships.

• Systemise or outsource the rest – quoting, booking in jobs, basic admin, even parts of job management.

You’ll also need to take a hard look at how you’re quoting. Are you still pulling numbers out of your head? Or worse – pricing to match your competitors out of fear?

That kind of “winging it” doesn’t just hurt your profit margins – it keeps you trapped in the rat race. When you price properly and back it with systems, you get consistency. And with consistency comes growth.

Wayne’s approach in The Systems Handbook flips the typical trade mindset on its head. He talks openly about what happens when you stop saying “yes” to everything and start saying “yes” only to the right things. That’s when the real progress starts.

Get back in control

If you’re ready to stop running your business like a headless chicken and start running it like a proper business owner – The Systems Handbook is a must-read.

It’s not just about saving time – it’s about using your time better. Building systems. Freeing yourself up. And finally, creating the business you set out to build in the first place.

It’s also about taking responsibility. Because no one’s going to do it for you – and time doesn’t magically appear. You have to make space for growth. That might mean getting uncomfortable, making changes, and letting go of the old ways that aren’t serving you anymore.

But once you do? You’ll never want to go back.

For help with pricing, quoting, systemising or simplifying your business, drop us a message at [email protected]. Whether it’s The Quote Handbook, The Systems Handbook, or our all-in-one toolkit, Business in a Box, we’ve got the tools to help systemise your operations and move your business forward. Get your copy of The Systems Handbook today- https://amzn.to/463GL0O