The
Ideas
Bunker
Our experience creates exclusive strategies and tools to help increase your profit.
The Trades Have a Problem
Nobody Talks About.
Every two days in Australia, a construction worker takes his own life.
Young tradies are twice as likely to die by suicide as their peers outside the trades.
The research tells us why: loneliness, work-life conflict, and financial stress.
And it starts at the kitchen table.
At 9pm.
Doing paperwork while the family goes to bed without him.
Every piece of software ever built for tradies has tried to solve the business problem.
Nobody has tried to solve the human problem behind it.
Tradie Muscle™ is built to do both. Tradie Muscle™ lifts the weight off your shoulders.
The Invisible Invoice.
Every time your phone rings and you can’t answer it, money walks out the door.
Industry data shows that solo tradies miss between 20% and 40% of incoming calls during work hours. After hours? That climbs to 80%. And here’s the part that hurts: 85% of those callers won’t leave a message. They just call the next tradie on Google.
For a plumber, sparky, or any tradesperson doing $400–$600 service calls, that’s $2,500 a week in lost work. Over a year, that’s more than $120,000 in jobs you never knew existed.
You can’t chase what you can’t see. But Liz can catch it for you.
Your Digital Office Manager
Liz is your new front desk - without the desk, the salary, or the sick days. When a customer calls and you’re under a house, up a ladder, or halfway through a job, Liz picks up. She finds out what they need, checks your availability, and pencils in a time for a site visit. Then she lets you know. You call the client back when you’re ready, confirm the details, and take it from there.
Liz makes sure the lead never slips through the cracks. You stay in control of every job.
What Liz Does
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Answers every call, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
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Qualifies the lead - finds out what the job is, where they are, and how urgent it is
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Checks your availability and pencils in a time
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Sends you the details so you can call back and confirm
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Records job details, labour, materials, and expenses automatically against each job.
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Generates Quotes and invoices directly from the app - one press done.
What Liz Doesn’t Do
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She doesn’t commit you to anything.
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She doesn’t quote jobs.
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She doesn’t make promises on your behalf.
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Liz pencils it in - you lock it in.
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Your reputation stays in your hands, where it belongs.
Get Your Evenings Back
You didn’t get into the trades to do paperwork at 9 PM.
But that’s where most tradies end up.
The tools get packed away at 4:30, and then the real shift starts - returning calls, writing up quotes, chasing invoices, updating the diary.
We call it the Sunset Shift, and it’s the unpaid overtime that’s quietly wrecking families across the industry.
Tradie Muscle™ exists to end it. When Liz handles the calls and the lead capture during the day, you’re not playing catch-up at night.
You’re having dinner with your family. You’re watching your kids’ sport. You’re actually switched off for once.
And if there’s a partner at home keeping the wheels on behind the scenes - answering overflow calls, chasing payments, managing the diary -
Liz is here to give them their time back too. Because they didn’t sign up to be an unpaid receptionist either.
Three Steps. That's it.
1. We Set Liz Up For You
One session with our team. We configure Liz for your trade, your rates, your service area, and your availability.
She’s not a one-size-fits-all template — she’s built around how you work.
2. Liz Starts Answering
When a customer calls and you can’t pick up, Liz handles it. She qualifies the lead, checks your calendar, and pencils in a time. You get the details sent straight to you.
3. You Call Back and Confirm
You’re still the one who talks to the customer, scopes the job, and confirms the booking.
Liz just makes sure you never miss the opportunity in the first place.
No app to learn. No data to Enter. No passwords to remember.
Liz works with your phone. If you can make a call, you can use Tradie Muscle™
You Don't Need Another
Filing Cabinet
Most trade software waits for you to type things in. It's a digital filing cabinet - great for storing data, useless at capturing it.
Tradie Muscle™ is different. Liz doesn't wait for you to enter a lead - she catches it from the call before you even know it happened. And when the job is done, every dollar of labour, materials, and expenses is recorded automatically.
One press sends the invoice. No more chasing your own money at midnight.
Already using ServiceM8 or something similar? Good. Keep using it. Tradie Muscle™ catches the jobs that ServiceM8 never sees - the ones that went to voicemail and disappeared. They work together, not against each other.
Try Liz Free for 30 Days
We’re looking for 10 tradies in South East Queensland to be the first to use Tradie Muscle™.
If you’re a solo operator or running a small crew between the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, this is for you.
What You Get
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30 days of Liz answering your calls, completely free
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Bespoke setup for your trade, your rates, and your area (normally $197 — waived)
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Lead qualification and pencil-in scheduling
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Invoicing and quoting tools
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Priority support from our team
What We Ask
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Use Liz genuinely for 30 days
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Tell us what works and what doesn’t
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A short written testimonial if you’re happy with the experience
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A 15-minute check-in call at the end
If You Decide to Stay
Beta participants lock in a lifetime rate of $129/month (+GST) — that’s $20/month less than the standard price, and it never goes up for as long as you’re subscribed.
The setup fee stays waived. This rate is only available to the first 10.
If it’s not for you after the trial, walk away. No charges, no lock-in, no awkward phone calls.
But Wait, there's more in
the Toolbox.
Every Tradie Muscle™ founding member also gets instant access to our complete digital business toolkit -
three standalone products worth $191, included free with your trial.
The Tradie Cash Cockpit ($47 value)
A Google Sheets dashboard that shows you exactly where your money is going. Desktop and mobile versions so you can check your numbers from the ute. Includes a user guide that explains the difference between markup and margin — because getting that wrong is how tradies go broke with a full diary.
The Client Onboarding System ($47 value)
A complete “Velvet Rope” system that filters tyre-kickers before you waste a 45-minute drive to a dead-end quote. Includes email scripts, a site inspection checklist, and a Canva welcome sheet template you can brand with your own logo.
The Field Manual — SOPs ($97 value)
15+ standard operating procedures for trade businesses, delivered as a Notion app your team can access from their phones. Covers everything from generating quotes and chasing invoices to handling client complaints and wet weather protocols. This is the operational brain of a high-end construction company, ready to install in yours.
Total Value $191 - Yours Free as a founding member.
These tools are normally sold separately through our on-line store. Founding members of Tradie Muscle™ get all threee included at no extra cost - because we want you set up to win.
How Much Are You Losing Right Now?
Don’t take our word for it. Plug in your own numbers.
Use the sliders below to enter how many calls you reckon you miss each day, what your average job is worth, and how many days you work. The calculator does the rest - and it’ll show you exactly what Liz catches that voicemail and other platforms don’t.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Tradie Muscle™ doesn't cost you money. It stops you losing it. If Liz catches just one call you would have missed in a month, she's paid for herself three times over. Everything after that is profit you weren't making before.
Keen? Let's Have A Yarn.
Fill in the form below and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.
Or if forms aren’t your thing, just call Tim directly on 0414 326 692.
Tradie Muscle™ is built by The Ideas Bunker - a Brisbane-based communication consultancy that’s been building brands for Australian businesses since 2013. We understand the needs of tradies and their partners.