What's the ONE software headache you'd pay to make disappear?
Hey all 👋 Marisa here — founder of Cloud6. I'm not a tradesperson; I'm the person who builds custom mobile apps and websites for small businesses. New to this community and learning. Real question: what's the ONE software or workflow issue that steals time from you every single week? Things I hear a lot from other service businesses I've worked with: - Booking system that sends too many no-show appointments - Quotes and invoices living in two different tools, so you're double-entering everything - Customers can't reach you after hours, so leads go cold - Photos from job sites aren't syncing into your CRM What's yours? Drop it below. Curious what the real pain is before I try to build anything here, and happy to share what I've seen work for other small businesses if it's useful. — Marisa, Cloud6 LLC
Jobber Best Practices: How do HVAC companies manage scheduling and job assignments?
Good afternoon all. We are an HVAC company that focuses on installing residential new construction HVAC. We work for various national and regional builders. Would love any kind of advice on managing schedules and assignments via jobber. We are just now getting started with Jobber
Hey guys I am curious about business plans for landscape business.
I just don't know where to begin with building a business plan. I have been in business for 5 years without having one. Now I see why they are so important. I need some advice on where I can go cost-effective is important. I need help building out the plan. Anyone willing to connect and see if you can help me in he right direction.Electricians - Are you charging time & material or flat rate right now—and why?
Curious what’s actually working for everyone in today’s market with rising material costs and labor rates. Currently - I do time + material and then add in my overhead/profit % and I still get tons of kick back. Other big electricians in my area charge 3-4x the amount for something that I do and it works for them. I can't wrap my head around it.
How do you reduce or eliminate rework in field service jobs?
What systems or habits have helped you eliminate rework in the field? Our solution was bringing on a highly qualified individual with strong attention to detail. We compensate him well, and in return he consistently delivers top-tier work.Salary for In Field Staff? Good Idea or Bad Idea
Curious how others handle salary for field staff, especially hybrid roles. I’m in a bit of a management dilemma and wanted to see how other service businesses approach this. Ideally I’d like to hire a strong operations manager to help manage projects, but as many of you probably know, finding someone who truly thrives in that role can be tough. My alternative idea is to split some of that responsibility between my two most experienced technicians. Both of them have a wide range of knowledge and strong leadership potential. The idea would be a hybrid role where they still spend most of their time in the field but also manage a portion of the jobs. The management side wouldn’t be overly complex – mainly making sure the right technicians are scheduled, materials are ordered, and acting as the point of contact if the crew runs into issues on a job. In return they would earn additional compensation for taking on those responsibilities. My two questions are: has anyone here put in-field technicians on salary, and if so how did that work out? And has anyone successfully split operations responsibilities among senior field staff instead of hiring a dedicated operations manager? I don’t have concerns about their work ethic. They’re both very reliable and I think they’d take the responsibility seriously. In fact giving them more ownership might make them even more invested, and I could also tie in performance incentives if needed. At the same time I don’t want to create a structure that causes problems down the road. I also recognize that being a field tech isn’t necessarily a forever role, so part of me sees this as a potential growth path for them. Curious to hear what has worked or not worked for others.
How to grow a landscaping business stuck at “owner + one crew” stage
TLDR: My spouse and I run a small landscaping business that’s stable but stuck at the owner + one crew stage. We still have to work in the field daily because we haven’t been able to develop reliable crew leaders, and hiring more staff feels unmanageable. Our maintenance model works well in a dense service area but doesn’t scale easily to nearby towns, and clients mainly see us as a maintenance company rather than landscapers. We’d like to move toward higher-value work and build a business that doesn’t rely on our physical labor long-term. For those who’ve grown service businesses: how do you break past this stage and start working on the business instead of just in it? My spouse and I run a small landscaping business that we somewhat fell into unexpectedly, and we’re looking for advice from people who have grown service businesses past this stage. The business started informally in a neighbourhood about 20 minutes outside a nearby town. Over time, several gated communities were developed nearby, adding a few hundred homes. Many are vacation properties and many residents are snowbirds, so there’s strong demand for property maintenance. Right now we operate with one truck / crew (2–4 people including us), and season that runs roughly March–December. We do have another truck and a few other trailers so have had short stints of running two crews. The business is financially stable. We pay ourselves modestly, have an accountant/bookkeeper, and use QuickBooks and Jobber. However, we feel stuck at this size. Main challenges We’re still on the tools every day. Most hires are entry-level and turnover is high, so we don’t have anyone who can reliably run a crew, quote jobs, train others, or solve problems independently. Crew leads aren’t long-term. Even when someone steps up, they still require constant support. Growth feels unmanageable. Hiring more staff means more work to manage, which already feels like full capacity. Our model relies on a dense service area. Maintenance works well in the clustered neighbourhoods we serve, but expanding into nearby towns becomes inefficient (plus there is a lot of more established competition outside our main service area). We’re stuck between models. Clients mostly see us as a maintenance company, but we’re not big enough to run separate maintenance and landscaping crews. Goals/Ideas We've Thought Of Move toward higher-end design and installation work Reduce dependence on daily physical labor Build a business that is sustainable and potentially sellable For context, I handle marketing (website, social media, Google reviews) and have a graphic design background. One of us also has an irrigation technician certificate, but we haven’t added irrigation services yet due to limited experience. Each winter we plan to work on business development, but the time usually goes toward preparing for the next season. Questions How do service businesses break past the “owner + one crew” stage? How do you develop reliable long-term crew leaders or managers? Is it better to scale maintenance crews or pivot toward higher-value landscaping work? How do you make time to work on the business when operations already take everything? Where do you start to work on the business? We’re approaching middle age and don’t want to rely on physical labor forever. I’d love to build something more sustainable than just owning a job. Neither of us have "dream" careers, but owning a landscaping business wouldn't have been on the list of contenders. We want to know how to make this work and how to figure out what to do in the future whether that is with the current business or doing something completely unrelated. If anyone has gone through this stage in a landscaping or service business, or just as a middle-aged person who still doesn't know what they want to be when they grow up, I’d really appreciate hearing what helped you gain clarity / move forward!How do you schedule recurring jobs without fixed dates in Jobber?
How is everyone scheduling recurring jobs with no set schedule? Jobber showed me a way to do it, But it seems like a lot of steps to schedule jobs. Example scheduling a 6 round fertilizer package. The way they showed me I can see missing a lot of services thru out the year and also taking a lot of steps. Just wanted to see how other people are currently doing this can you share how you do it?
High Rise (Rope Access & Drone) Window Cleaning
Hi everyone, My name is Mason. I am the founder of Hembree Window Cleaning in Denver (Centennial) Colorado. During our primary service season, we provide window cleaning for commercial and government contracts. We are proud to be the first full-service window cleaning company to deploy drones alongside rope access teams. Any other drone service company owners out there? If not, what robotics or new technologies are you incorporating in your business? Excited to meet you!
