Spot on. It's so easy to think you're making money if you're busy - but unfortunately there's plenty of operators who are flat out busy with not much to show for it... (been there, done that!!)
Back costing isn't talked about nearly enough - the Jobber profitability % is an awesome tool that really lets you keep a finger on the pulse of your business. Instant feedback as soon as a visit is completed. Once you start using this, digging deeper into back costing and working out your most profitable types of jobs ($/hr gross profit) you can make some smart decisions and really drive the business forward.
I kind of bundle route efficiency in with labour utilisation - back costing your different job categories including solo vs 2 person teams is a real eye opener as well. I think a lot of us have a "feeling" about what's happening in our business, but when you actually look at data it changes your perspective. Numbers are the language of business after all.
We know that solo crews are WAY more profitable, we're working our way back to that - just in the midst of stabilising our team after some big changes earlier in the year.
One thing I really took to heart in the last year as my business continued to grow and I onboarded more employees was looking at the data and seeing what the numbers are telling me. Now I have one employee who's underperforming compared to the rest of the Team and it's nerve wracking to think about having those hard conversations. I literally already told them "I can't afford you with how slow you are" lol
