To be honest, I was on quite good money.
I was on the books probably on about 45 a year with Holiday, the whole shebang.
So, it was just money isn't everything.
You bang on with that.
Yeah, I was coming home just getting up in the morning.
I just don't want to get to work coming home,
miserable, then obviously miserable to the missus because I wasn't happy.
If you know what I mean.
Yeah. And to be fair, I mean, you tell me, but the way that your business is going
and it's growing with the success that you're having,
do you see them kind of numbers in sight now for your earning capacity being a plaster?
Yeah, yeah, if not more, I'd say now, yeah.
Fantastic. I mean, you're always busy.
You're one of the members on the tribe that are always busy.
The caliber of your jobs look good.
You know, decent quality jobs.
You've done some fantastic external spray court projects.
I've just got a clip of your website up here that I'm showing,
but I'll scroll through, show the lad some of your images in a sec.
Where's your main source of work coming from these days?
Google.
Yeah, it all started at Facebook when I first started Facebook.
I think I've got some really good jobs on Facebook.
A lot of people do diss it, but I don't well on it to be honest.
Time you go for you go through the bad ones.
But this year's been Facebook's been dead to be honest.
It's all Google now, all recommendations from previous customers.
That's good to know.
And your review counts skyrocketed, isn't it?
Try and try and but like you say, you say you ask you ask 10,
you probably, you know, three or four will probably only leave at half
and just forget, don't they?
They do, mate.
Do you see the QR code or the cards or anything?
Or do you just rely on the link?
Just send them a link.
Just ask them and they say, yeah, happy to send them a link.
I'll send them a reminder.
And then, yeah, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.
I got a couple in the last week.
I didn't even ask them once, to be honest.
It's quite a nice surprise.
Well, that proves you're doing something right.
And I mean, going off going off these images, their quality images,
mate, I must say you're doing quite a varied selection of products
and materials at the minute.
I know you're specialising into Spraycork a fair bit.
We've got some skimming images, rendering one and then a Spraycork.
The Spraycork, I think that was your first Spraycork projects on the left.
Is that right?
Yeah, my very first one.
I actually got that direct from Corksale as well.
Brilliant.
If you could use one material all day long, mate,
I suppose you would go profitability as well.
What would that be for you at the minute?
Yeah, Spraycork for me.
I enjoy plastering, it's my bread and butter,
but the thing about Spraycork is nicely something different.
It's also easier in the body.
100 percent.
Is this mostly internals or externals you're talking?
I've never done a Spraycork internal.
Have you not?
No, never done an internal.
Every every one of mine are external.
Oh, OK. And are they normally recodes?
So you've got to look at the next thing.
So I've done a bungalow, not too far from me.
That's one of my first one,
which Wayne Cox assisted with me through the duration.
Most of that, to be fair, he helped me do all the base coat
because I was such a novice to that.
He showed me the way with that.
I then sprayed that.
That came out lovely.
The one in the middle,
Wayne helped me with that one as well.
That was the second one I did.
So that was the one with a lot of hairline cracks in the sand cement.
They had damp coming through, so we had that off render board.
And the customer was that happy with the result.
I ended up overspreading the rest of the whole house.
I remember this job because it's kind of...
Is it built on like a framing that's overhanging the ground?
Yes.
I assumed it was blocked behind it,
but when we had to off it was just plywood
and it was absolutely mouldy to anything.
I've never come across that before, so I gave Wayne a call.
How are you finding,
because you've done a fair few external corp jobs now,
there's a bit of a debate on patchiness.
On some of the finish.
Touch wood, I've been all right.
My first two, I sprayed by myself.
I had Luke Field come over.
OK, yeah.
He came over on two jobs and just oversaw it with me.
Spotted on, she gave me a couple of tricks.
But yeah, he was happy, I was happy.
Touch wood, I've been all right.
And I've just gone two really big corp jobs in the last month,
so that's nice.
Fantastic.
Is this some word of mouth people that have obviously seen you work,
or is it Google again?
Where in the corp leads come in?
Both from Google, one I've got coming up,
which is starting not next week that we go after,
that's a whole house overspray, a few minor repairs.
And then the 1st of October, I've got a five bedroom house to do.
Fantastic, mate.
Just one on the spray cork as well,
because you've done a fair few of these projects now.
Have you got any tips and tricks that you could offer down to the lads
that are tapping spray cork and looking to do these external colour finishes?
Any tips and tricks that you've picked up or things to be careful of?
I've just, it's always nice to have someone that you can trust at the end of the phone.
That's a big thing.
Yeah, yeah.
And yet I just start, starts with all the, like, for example,
the one I've just gone, they pay the deposit a couple of weeks ago,
she is £17,500 overspray.
So for me, that will be, that will be by far my biggest job two days since I started.
And I think it will probably take me two and a half weeks.
I booked it in my diary for a month.
That's amazing, mate.
And while we're on that topic, because I know we spoke about this before,
when you first started setting up your business and your payment terms, etc.
What does your deposit percentage look like now?
Is that increased or is it the same as what it was?
To be honest, it all depends on the vibes I get from the customer
and how expensive the job is.
I change it every time, to be honest.
For example, the job I'm doing at the minute is 4,700 over two weeks.
I've got four stage payments in the middle of that.
Some people might...
As long as you chop it off.
Some people might, I took a deposit,
some people might think it's a bit excessive.
You don't need so many stage payments.
But I've never been queried once about a stage payment.
That I've always been happy to pay it.
I don't want the stress at the end of waiting for a built-up invoice to be paid.
And I've got to pay materials and stress that, why haven't they paid me yet?
Do you know what I mean?
100%. And I've said this before, but I think one of the worst strategies
we can use is when we have this big balloon payments at the end.
And, you know, we've we've parted with our end of the deal.
We've supplied all the materials and finished and wiped down.
The scaffolding has been removed.
And the driveway has been cleaned.
And now you've got, you know, four, five, six thousand outstanding.
You'd like to think everybody's good natured and they'll pay you straight away.
But the amount of times I speak to plasterers,
they always get messed about on the balloon payment at the end.
So you're doing the right thing by...
Yeah, just and if they're not happy with it, I just don't I just don't do it.
I just a red flag to me.
Exactly. If they don't accept those terms and they're not willing to,
you know, respect how you take in cash flow into your business,
and they can easily go and check out all of your reviews that you've built up,
your portfolio, your videos and everything else that you've put out there
to reassure them.
So if they're still and willing to accept those terms after the investment
that you've made and the skills that you've acquired and like you say,
leave the deal on the table and walk away because it's not like you're desperate for work.
You've got I mean, are you booked up now for for the rest of this year
or just a couple of months or what?
Second week in November now.
Fantastic. And as this 2025, has this been your best year to date?
Yeah, most probably most profitable.
I think you've kind of answered this question with the spray cook, but he said
are you niching down right now?
Yeah, I am.
The question that yeah, I'm trying to push the spray cook.
I still need to join your other course and get on that.
I haven't had the time to be honest, to kind of I'd rather do the thing is you don't
you haven't needed to have you know, it's nice to be fair.
It's nice to have that as well.
If you know what I mean.
So I just need to I'd rather do the course, learn the course before I start
advertising something I'm not 100% sure.
Yeah, I understand that, mate.
That's fair enough coming back to the systems and Damien inside the tribe.
You've implemented the cash flow deposit system, which is helping you a lot.
Yeah, I know that you've really worked hard on your Google Business Profile.
How many reviews have you got now?
Is it pushing into like 60 or something?
83, 84. 83.
83. That's quick as well.
83. That's quick.
Started on day one of the mental group.
Fantastic, mate.
So I think by the back end of this year, if not before, you'll be on the hundred,
maybe hundred five star reviews mark.
I mean, you're clearly doing something right, like I keep saying,
and people only leave your reviews if they're happy.
So for people starting up in self employment, they want to follow in Damien's footsteps,
maybe get involved in some of this, you know, spray cork and some of the internal jobs
that you're doing. What tips would you pass down to the new members
to help them get those reviews?
Consistency.
Just consistency.
Like it's little things, I think.
Obviously, I only do domestic.
I don't work for any builders.
The only person contract I work for as a conservatory company.
The rest is all self generated private jobs.
But it's like little things like you think the skirt is clean,
but give it that one more wipe just to be on the safe side.
Oh, you swept the floor, but why not give it a good mop?
Do you know what I mean?
Them little things every time I pick a mop up, they're like, why do you have a mop?
They're like, I wouldn't expect you to own a mop.
Every time, honestly, every single job.
And they're like, oh, no, I'll do it.
And you're like, no, that's fine.
I'll do it. I want to I want it perfect.
Obviously, it's good.
We want to leave here.
Where it's lovely.
Do you think that extra level of cleanliness and service
has helped lock in those extra reviews?
Yeah, 100 percent.
And the the biggest could I do ask kind of thing, you know,
where what are you most happy with and what not?
Where do you find me so I can do that kind of thing?
And nine times out of ten,
they say that's my responsiveness.
OK, that's what they do.
Oh, like, I'm honest.
If someone messing me today, I try and get, you know, I always give them
like, like you've been implemented.
I always give them a ballpark figure the same day always.
Rebecca just says she loves mopping out after doing the plastering job.
It's so satisfying after you finished.
Yeah, 100 percent.
I used to carry one of the spray mops, Damien.
So they've got like a little reservoir on the top of the handle.
And the yeah, is that who I've got?
Yeah, exactly.
Well, yeah, you put in that evidence,
the guy that goes a long way with the customer.
100 percent.
Well, guys, you've got to listen to these tips, Damien's passing down
because he's absolutely smashing it.
And we can all agree on that his marketing is on point, his reviews,
his review count is ridiculous and the quality of his work.
And, you know, the videos that he's putting out and he's an inspiration
for a lot of us on this group who are trying to follow in these footsteps.
So take heed and and take some notes, watch this back, listen to it back.