Building a team of A-players
Behind the scenes: Emma and Aaron at the Simply Plumbing yard in Christchurch | Photo by Builderscrack
About Simply Plumbing
Q: How would you best describe Simply Plumbing?
Emma: “We are a family-owned and operated plumbing business. Both Aaron and I work in the business. Aaron’s still on the tools, and then we’re just supporting other people in the trade to build up confidence in their careers.”
Q: How has it grown since the early days?
Emma: “What started off as just Aaron on the tools by himself very quickly turned into me quitting my job and going full-time. I think that was within about three months. And then employing a full-time qualified plumber about nine months after that. And then from there we just kept on growing.”
Aaron: “We’ve gone through four properties as we’ve grown. We started out of our house in New Brighton, then Bishopdale, but the team kept outgrowing the garage. That’s how we ended up here, in a commercial place, about six months ago.”
Q: What’s it like working as a husband and wife team?
Emma: “I wouldn’t have it any other way. We just feed off each other. Aaron’s the ideas guy, he tells me all these ideas and then I implement them.”
Aaron: “They say business is like getting married if you’ve got a partner. So we’ve basically gotten married twice.”
Emma: “There’s no defined line between our marriage and the business; it’s just intertwined. We could go out on a date and say we’re not going to talk about work, and within five minutes we’re talking about some cool idea.”
Q: What are you each responsible for in the business?
Aaron: “Emma runs the day-to-day. I’ve given myself the honorary title of General Manager, but I don’t really manage anything. I’m back out on the tools doing what I love, and I’m our only drainlayer, so every drainlaying job that comes our way, I’m doing the lot.”
Emma: “I’m in the office by half seven, checking emails and the leads that came through overnight, then invoicing the jobs that Brogan [Ops Manager] has pushed through. I’m quoting in between, and constantly getting interrupted by phone calls, because every number people see online comes through to me.”