How Streamline Plumbing Services Began

How Streamline Plumbing Services Began

From My First Irrigation Project to 32+ Years in Plumbing

Streamline Plumbing Services began in February 2000, but my interest in plumbing started several years earlier, while I was still in high school.

In Year 11, and living with my parents in our newly built family home, I suggested I would like to install an irrigation system within the lawns and gardens. They soon gave me the approval, and the project began with me creating a plan and writing a list of the parts required.

The project included installing pop-up sprinklers throughout the lawn and irrigation sprays in the garden beds. I ran new pipework from the existing outdoor taps, hand dug trenches through the lawn and lifted and reinstated pavers where pipework needed to pass underneath.

I remember the satisfaction of finishing the job, turning on the water and watching the sprinklers pop up and everything worked as planned.

A few months later, a family friend saw what I had done and asked me to install a similar system at their home. That led to another referral, and before long I had completed three home irrigation projects, which I did after school hours and on weekends.

Those early projects sparked my interest in working with pipes and water and helped me decide that plumbing was the trade I wanted to pursue.

Learning the Plumbing Trade

In 1993, I began my plumbing apprenticeship with Ken Woodward Plumbing in Castle Hill, gaining hands-on experience across commercial and industrial plumbing, maintenance and construction.

My training combined practical experience on the job, plus attending Miller TAFE for the required trade components. After 4 years and completing my initial trade apprenticeship, I continued my studies and completed Certificate IV in Plumbing and Services (Operations), attending TAFE in the evenings while continuing to work during the day.

By 1999, after approximately 6 years of practical experience and study, I had become a fully qualified and licensed plumber.

One simple piece of advice from those early years has stayed with me throughout my career:

“Measure twice, cut once.”

It's a simple saying, but one that reflects an important principle — think ahead, take care with your work and do the job properly.

Preparing to Work for Myself

I had thought about working for myself since my school years. My father was a motor vehicle mechanic who ran his own business, so I grew up seeing first-hand the rewards of being self-employed.

Throughout my apprenticeship, I purchased many tools, knowing that I eventually wanted to start my own plumbing business. I also took on smaller plumbing jobs through referrals on weekends, including drainage repairs, general plumbing maintenance and bathroom renovations.

By the time I became licensed in 1999, I had my qualifications, practical experience, tools and a clear goal of working for myself.

Starting Streamline Plumbing Services

In February 2000, I started Streamline Plumbing Services.

I started on my own, operating from home with the tools I had accumulated and a recently purchased 1992 Toyota HiAce. The Streamline Plumbing Services name, logo and work uniform were all underway.

In those days, building a customer base meant advertising through the Yellow Pages, local newspapers and letterbox flyers, along with referrals. Local newspaper advertising became particularly important and generated most of the work during those early years.

An important opportunity also came soon after starting the business when I responded to a newspaper advertisement for contract work associated with Sydney Water's Every Drop Counts program.

For approximately 18 months, I worked throughout Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains installing water-saving devices and modifications to showers, basins and toilets. During that period, I personally attended approximately 1,800 homes.

The Every Drop Counts work played an important role in helping me establish Streamline Plumbing Services. It provided consistent work and cash flow while allowing me to continue investing in advertising and building my own independent customer base.

As I knew the contract work would eventually finish, I increased my advertising and concentrated on ensuring Streamline Plumbing Services could continue growing on its own.

The business grew quickly, developing a mix of repeat residential and commercial customers, referrals and new customers. Over the years, our core work has continued to include general plumbing maintenance and repairs, hot water repairs and installations, bathroom renovations and blocked drain work.

More Than 26 Years in Business

When I started Streamline Plumbing Services, I wanted the business to be known for being friendly, reliable and professional.

More than 26 years later, those values haven't changed.

One of the most important things I've learned from running a plumbing business is the value of trust. When customers invite a plumber into their home or business, they need to feel confident in the person they're dealing with and comfortable with the advice they're receiving.

I'm fortunate to have many long-term customers, including customers who first called me many years ago and have continued to call me whenever they've needed plumbing work.

I'm also proud that the business I started on my own in 2000 has enabled me to provide for my family, while also providing employment for staff and work for other tradespeople and subcontractors along the way.

A lot has changed since those early days. I've gained more than 3 decades of plumbing experience, seen changes in plumbing processes and the available tools, and watched business marketing move from newspaper advertisements and the Yellow Pages to websites and online marketing.

But the fundamentals of looking after customers haven't changed.

Today, Streamline Plumbing Services, as a plumbing service provider based in Gladesville, continues to look after our long-term customers while happily welcoming new ones. Looking ahead, my goal is to continue growing and create further opportunities for qualified plumbers and the next generation of plumbing apprentices.