The Man Behind TradesKraft
In 1996, Matt took an entry-level job at Pollard Equipment loading trucks, sweeping floors, and managing inventory. He wasn't planning a career, he was showing up and paying attention. What he noticed from day one was a gap that nobody was talking about: skilled people who were exceptional at their craft and completely lost when it came to running a business. Electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, welders, mechanics, roofers, painters, landscapers and many more. Exceptional at the work. Nobody had ever taught them the business side.
He stayed. Moved through parts, then sales, then service, earning each transition. By 2005 he was a partner. Then 2008 happened; the kind of financial hit that ends companies, and nearly did. Matt stayed through that too, helped gut and rebuild the business from near zero, scaled it, and sold it in 2018.
After the exit, he went back into the industry, this time as a general and branch manager for a major heavy equipment and trades supply dealer operating across Western Canada, learning firsthand what separates businesses that grow from those that don't. He also served as a coach and consultant working directly with mechanics and welders navigating the jump to independence. Eventually he went on to work as a business growth coach for a North American coaching firm specializing in trades and contracting businesses, serving clients across Canada and the United States. He also built a successful real estate practice in the Fraser Valley, partnering with developers on residential sales. The Fraser Valley has been home base for most of that work and it's where TradesKraft is rooted. For 30 years, alongside all of it, he's coached competitive youth sports. He currently coaches high school football.
TradesKraft is the thing he kept wishing had existed. Not because the trades lack talent (they never have) but because talent alone has never been enough to keep a business alive. Matt has sat at every level of a trades operation, from the warehouse floor to the ownership table, and he's carried those notes with him ever since. That's what he brings to every client.
He doesn't do this work because he needs to. He does it because watching someone finally understand why their business is working and knowing they built it themselves is something that doesn't get old.
