Episode 16

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Published on:

20th May 2025

The Exit Blueprint — with Tom Howard

In this power-packed episode of TradesFormation Unlocked, Adrian Fadini sits down with industry heavyweight Tom Howard for a raw, humorous, and insightful deep dive into business growth, leadership, and the often-ignored importance of having an exit strategy. Tom shares his unlikely journey from a 15-year-old truck cleaner to scaling and exiting multimillion-dollar trade businesses.

Now serving as VP of Customer Experience at ServiceTitan, Tom reflects on his entrepreneurial path, detailing the acquisitions and exits that fueled his success. He emphasizes the importance of financial literacy, visionary leadership, and building with intention. This is your ultimate blueprint to future-proofing your trade business.

Listeners will discover how Tom used painful lessons to develop financial acumen, why mindset trumps market conditions, and how investing in your team creates massive value. The duo also covers real-world examples of acquisition wins, price objections, and creating a workplace culture that retains top talent. Above all, Tom delivers a wake-up call for trade business owners to think long-term and build with the end in mind.

🧠 What You'll Learn

  • Why every business needs an exit strategy—even if you never plan to leave
  • How to build financial literacy without a degree
  • The cost of NOT knowing your numbers
  • Key mindset shifts to break through growth ceilings
  • How to price for value, not just survival
  • How Tom turned a -$1M profit business into $6M profit in 16 months
  • Why paying your team well is a moral obligation
  • The power of transparent incentives and leadership autonomy

💬 Memorable Quotes

"Your life has a 100% mortality rate. You need an exit strategy."

"Not knowing your numbers will cost you more than learning them ever will."

"Stop selling to your customers. Start creating the conditions where they want to buy from you."

"If you can't pay the highest wages in your area, it's not your team's fault—it's yours."

HowardDeals.com — Tom's acquisitions, podcast, and deal platform

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About the Podcast

TradesFormation Unlocked
Sell. Scale. Systemise - The no BS podcast for Tradies
🔥 Description:
Welcome to TradesFormation Unlocked with Adrian Fadini — the no-BS podcast for tradies ready to break free from the tools and build real businesses. We dive deep into the sales, systems, and strategies that drive serious profit and sustainable growth. Whether you’re scaling your team, systemizing your ops, or just sick of doing it all yourself — this is your blueprint to sell smarter, scale faster, and systemize like a pro.

Raw insights. Real stories. Tactical gold.
Let’s get you off the tools and into control.

About your host

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Adrian Fadini

Adrian Fadini built Plumber To The Rescue from the ground up and turned it into one of Sydney’s most respected service trade businesses. He knows what it takes to build something that lasts—because he’s lived it.

After selling the business to his biggest competitor in 2012, he stayed on for two years, securing major commercial accounts—strata firms, pub groups, and businesses needing ongoing plumbing and electrical services.

Through it all, Adrian learned the power of training—not as a nice-to-have, but as a non-negotiable. It’s how he levelled up his team, created consistency, and built a business that could grow without him in the driver’s seat.

For over a decade, Adrian’s been coaching tradies across the service trades—plumbing, electrical, HVAC—you name it. He’s worked with clients at every stage, from solo operators trying to get off the tools to multi-million dollar businesses chasing serious scale.

Now, he brings all that experience to the table—real-world strategies, proven systems, and a genuine drive to help other tradies sell better, scale stronger, and systemize for long-term success.