How I actually made my money: the middleman model

I made my money as a middleman. I win the client, specialists do the work, and I keep the margin in between. That's the whole model. I have run it in construction, in maintenance, and in websites.

I'm not going to give you numbers. Numbers on the internet are worth nothing. I'll give you how it works.

Where did it start?

On the tools. I learned construction by doing it.

The thing you notice on site is who gets paid what. The man with the trowel is the most skilled person there and the worst paid for the stress. The man who holds the contract barely touches a tool. I wanted to be the second man.

What did the first version look like?

Labour. Construction firms had contracts and not enough people. I knew people. So I supplied crews and trades to firms that needed them, and I sat in the middle.

They didn't pay me for labour. They paid me because I picked up the phone, the men turned up, and when one didn't, I had another one there by ten.

They were not buying labour. They were buying a phone that got answered. It took me years to understand that was the product.

And then?

Then property maintenance. I built a company in London that looked after homes for housing associations and letting agents. The client sends the job. A vetted subbie does it. We check it, send the photos and invoice.

Same position. Different work.

And the same again with websites and marketing for small businesses. The client wants enquiries. Designers, developers and writers do the work. I own the relationship and the result.

Is being a middleman just taking a cut?

That's what people who have never done it think.

The middle is where the risk sits. When the subbie vanishes, the client rings me. When the client doesn't pay, the subbie still wants paying. I'm the one with my name on the contract at nine at night when a job has gone wrong.

The margin is the price of carrying that. If you won't carry it, you're not a middleman. You're a referrer, and referrers get a thank-you.

What did it cost me to learn?

Two lessons, both expensive.

First. If one client is most of your income, you don't have a business. You have a job with one boss, and he can fire you with one email. I learned that the hard way. Spread it.

Second. If it all runs through your head and your phone, you can't grow and you can't leave. Every job needed me. That's not a business either.

If it all stops when you stop, it is not a business yet. It is a job with your name on the van.

What fixed it?

Systems. A way for work to come in, get priced, get given out, get checked and get invoiced without me touching each step.

That's why I stepped back from contracting this year and built Plan@Job. It is the system I wish I'd had: clients, jobs, subcontractors and money in one place, and now it can be run from a chat by an AI.

I wrote the whole model down in a book, MIDDLEMAN. And if you want it applied to construction, that is what constructionarbitrage.com is for.

Would I recommend it?

Only if you can sell and you can stand the phone ringing. This makes sense if you are the kind of person who sorts things out. If you want a quiet life, stay on the tools or stay employed. No shame in either.

But if you've ever looked at the man holding the contract and thought, I could do that, you probably can.