Hey, congrats on hitting that 4-year mark and needing to hire — that’s a great spot to be in.
1. Best way to hire quality employees:
For me in Indiana, the best hires have come from referrals. I ask my current customers, subs, and people in local trade Facebook groups if they know anyone solid. I also post on Indeed and Facebook Jobs with a very clear job description. The key is doing a working interview or short paid trial day. Skills are important, but I look more for reliability and attitude. Good people are hard to find, so I move fast when I find them.
2. For estimates, invoices, and bid proposals:
I’ve been using ChatGPT (and lately Claude) a ton for this. I give it the job details and it writes professional proposals and bid letters way faster than I ever could. For actual sending and tracking, I like PandaDoc — it has good templates and AI features that help fill in proposals. If you’re in the Jobber ecosystem, their built-in estimating and invoicing is pretty smooth too.
