Watt a relief! Discover the admin solution that sparks change for overworked trade business owners

As the owner of a trade business, long days felt like part of the deal for Nathan Douglas. The Watts Needed Electrical director would be on the tools for eight or nine hours a day and follow that with another four or five hours of administrative work.

“I was home, but I wasn’t really present with the kids, and it was starting to take its toll – particularly on my wife,” he says.

“I’ve been in the business almost eight years, so I’ve always been time-poor. But I’d grown weary and it was starting to hit me: I would never get that time back with my family.

“Nothing is worth sacrificing your relationships and your health. But as a business owner, you have responsibilities to your family, your customers and your employees.”

With six employees, Nathan had hit a vulnerable stage in the business growth journey and was experiencing a problem common for small businesses that have reached a certain size.

Overflow Solutions director Jonathon Stapels calls it the “sore spot”, a scalability Catch-22 that usually kicks in from about five employees.

“We find at that point, you’re generating the kind of administrative burden that requires hiring someone to manage it, but that creates a conundrum for most small business owners, because admin is essential to keep the wheels turning, but doesn’t directly generate revenue,” he explains.

“You need to get to 10 staff before you’re making that money back, so essentially, you need to double your staff and do it quickly. It’s why a lot of these small independent trades businesses don’t grow past two or three staff.”

Business owners in the sore spot are Overflow Solutions’ specialty.

Overflow Solutions is a managed administration service with no up-front costs, to take small businesses from “drowning in admin, to growing”, and give their owners their lives back inside of a month.

The organisation offers a “low adoption timeline”, meaning well-trained, highly professional administration experts can slide right into the business with minimal onboarding and no training, equipment or software required and start taking on the administrative burden within a day.

This can include customer liaison, scheduling, payroll, marketing and more so business owners can focus on developing their businesses.

For Nathan, who has more than doubled his revenue since and has enjoyed a return to normal working hours, it’s been a game-changer.

“Having those hours back, being able to come home and put the phone down, has had a big impact on me,” he says.

“The ability to answer phones and book jobs straight away, rather than leaving customers waiting, has had a big impact on my business. Overflow has also started chasing up outstanding bills for me, which is a critical part of cashflow management but isn’t a good use of my time.”

Jonathon used a combined background in sales, systematisation, service management and 11 years of military experience to launch Overflow Solutions in 2024 in response to demand for an outsourcing solution for businesses just like Nathan’s.

“Nathan told me he used to sit bolt upright in his bed in the dead of the night because he’d remember some administrative task or another he’d forgotten to do and just couldn’t switch off at the end of the day. Now he’s talking about going on a mid-week winery tour with his wife, something he hasn’t been able to do since starting his business,” he says.

“To see a transformation like that, as well as the phenomenal growth in his business, is why we exist.

“I know his story is common among business owners like him. They’re drowning in admin, losing sleep, unable to be present with their families, and under immense pressure to keep things afloat, but at the end of the day, they can only do so much. These are problems we can solve.

“We can step in seamlessly, and without interruption. You don’t have to worry about admin staff going on leave and potentially taking your critical services offline – you’ll always have someone answering your phones and setting a professional and friendly tone for your tradies.

“That model is powerful for a small business.”

For more information, contact Overflow Solutions.