Forum Widgets
Recent Discussions
If I shadowed your top tech for a day, what would shock me the most?
I can’t be alone in feeling that as owners (out of daily ops) that we don’t see everything that goes on among our line staff. Sure, we have open-door policies, but I’m assuming there’s a number of things we don’t realize is happening. What would I see if I shadowed your top tech for a day?Screening Applicants: Do You Disqualify Low-Effort Responses?
I recently posted a help wanted ad on Facebook (business page + shared to personal). It outlines our service model—handyman work focused on active real estate listings—and includes tiered roles with pay ranges. At the end of the post, I asked interested candidates to message me with: Their experience in handyman/construction work The types of projects they’re comfortable handling Whether they have their own tools and transportation I’ve received a decent number of responses, but most are extremely low-effort—things like “Hi” or “I’m a contractor looking for work.” Not a single person has followed the instructions in the post. That’s raising a concern for me, since this business relies heavily on clear scopes, communication, and the ability to follow directions, especially when working on inspection-related repairs with tight timelines. My question: Am I being unreasonable to treat this as an initial filter and write these candidates off? Or is this just typical behavior at the top of the funnel that I should expect and manage differently? Would appreciate how others are handling this. This is my first time hiring help.
How do you handle unreliable employees in a home service business?
Hello! I run a Home Remodeling & Handyman business, and we're excited to share that we've recently expanded to include a Cleaning Division. We've noticed that in our area, many folks are eager for jobs but sometimes lack the commitment to follow through. How do you navigate this challenge? We've already offered competitive pay, which is quite high for our area, yet issues like poor communication, missed appointments, and subpar work still pop up. I'm curious to hear how others have managed similar situations and what strategies you've found effective—whether it's offering career growth opportunities, enforcing strict communication policies, or even increasing wages further. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated!What are dealbreakers for keeping someone around?
We had a situation where we had a manager that was really good with clients, but was always 5-10 minutes late to appointments, and he struggled with using jobber (frustrating because jobber is so easy). So he was good face to face and the actual management of jobs but those two things he just couldn't grasp. Sooo I let him go after trying to work with him on it. Too harsh? I felt like you could be the smoothest person ever but if you can't do the basics, it was going to lead to trouble down the road. I'd love to hear your opinions on different things you won't compromise on outside of the obvious ones (drinking on the job, being unprofessional etc).What’s your formula for paying crews per job?
Hey everyone — looking for some input from other home service business owners. I run a home service company doing window cleaning, gutter cleaning, house washing, Christmas lights, permanent lighting, and gutter guards. I’m looking into switching to some form of piecework or per-job pay for our crews and wanted to see how others structure it. For those of you paying per job, how do you calculate it? Do you base it on a percentage of the job, expected labor time, or something else? And roughly where do you start your guys at as a baseline? Any insight or examples would be really helpful. Thanks in advance!Are you hiring for hands, or for long-term leadership?
Ever since we created a career ladder/org chart, we ask quarterly via survey how happy our team is. The majority of ours repeatedly state they wish to grow with the company and make it a career. However, our culture is extremely quiet. Thoughts?What is one task you finally delegated, and wish you did sooner?
Let's talk about getting help. How did your business evolve? When did you start delegating? Was it a great employee that could do more, or was it just burn out as an enterpreneur? I always want to learn and grow and what I love about this community that there are so many great responses. Let's learn from each other. How did you decide to delegate tasks, work and duties?
