DanMac: The Wellington sparky who does it all

When it comes to the trades, it pays to be an all-rounder.

In some cases, it can be valuable to specialise in a particular field within a trade: like high-end kitchens and bathrooms for plumbers; high-rise commercial façades for painters; boutique bespoke furniture for carpenters.

But it can be argued that being a jack of all trades within a certain field can be even more valuable. Dan McLaughlan, a self-employed electrician serving the Wellington and Wairarapa regions, classifies himself in this category, and says his business – DanMac Electrical – thrives because of it.

“Any sparky can install lighting,” says Dan. “But I’ve found that the best way to make yourself stand out is to establish yourself as someone who can do everything – across both residential and commercial fit-outs.”

Dan has practised this approach to his work for the decade he’s been in the business – from home renovation electrical work to commercial repairs to office renovations. A self-described ‘specialist in everything’, the approach means his clients see him as a kind of one-stop-shop, in that they don’t need to contract multiple different specialists for separate electrical jobs.

His philosophy proved to be a success in one of his most recent spate of jobs. Dan was contracted to Bargain Chemist, a pharmacy chain with locations across the country, and the company asked him to travel to Auckland to fit out four of their locations in the city.

“I did not only the commercial lighting, but also all the security cameras and all of the associated equipment and data that goes with that,” says Dan. “They were all big jobs, because I did it all myself. 

But even though I usually stick to the Wellington and Wairarapa regions, I’m actually quite suited to travelling around the country for jobs because my suppliers are nationwide – which means I can order what I need when I’m in Wellington and I can collect it all seamlessly in Auckland.”

It’s these kinds of big commercial fit outs that more ‘specialist’ sparkies miss out on by keeping their expertise narrow. Dan says these kinds of tradespeople can afford to practise electrical work this way because there’s so much demand that it’s unlikely that they’ll run out of work – but limiting yourself like this also means limiting yourself to the same kinds of smaller jobs, rather than entire fit outs.

“I originally got contracted to do Bargain Warehouse in Upper Hutt, and they liked my work so they asked me to do the Auckland locations,” says Dan. “I believe a sparky with a narrower scope of work wouldn’t have gotten this kind of opportunity, so it really does pay to do everything.”

But despite jetting across the country to do jobs all over Aotearoa, Dan still considers himself ‘the local sparky’ – a true Wellingtonian willing to travel from Lyall Bay to the Kāpiti Coast for any kind of electrical job. And as of this year, Dan’s expertise is about to gain even more scope than before.

“I’ve decided to branch out even further, expanding my repertoire to include heat pumps and solar power panelling,” says Dan. “My primary goal is to be able to say to clients: ‘I do any electrical work under the sun – you can rely on me to get it done’.”

Learn more about DanMac Electrical and Dan’s services.