How do you calculate your baseline price before sending a quote out?
When you look at a job site, how are you actually building your estimates? Are you pricing based on true operational costs and target profit margins, or are you matching local competitors and hoping there is money left over at the end of the month? Knowing your numbers comes down to a few key questions: What is your true hourly overhead rate? (Total monthly fixed overhead divided by total monthly billable hours) Are you calculating margin or markup? (Markup on cost is not the same as gross profit margin. If you want a 30% margin, multiplying your costs by 1.30 leaves you short at 23%.) What is your minimum shop rate before pulling a rig out of the driveway? How are you handling this in your business?Would you use TikTok to find your next hire? 👀
Social media might not be the first place you look for another crew member, but 60% of Gen Z is considering the trades—and they’re already online. Has social media ever brought you a job candidate? Would you try TikTok or Reels to find your next hire? In this Masters of Home Service episode, Rich Camacho (BlueRecruit), Haley Rogers, and Jacob Palmer get into how TikTok is becoming a recruiting tool for the trades, what kind of content attracts potential Gen Z hires, and how training, feedback, and growth opportunities give younger employees a reason to stay. Never miss an episode of Masters of Home Service. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
How are you handling maintenance and downtime on your pressure washing equipment?
I am curious how other exterior cleaning contractors are keeping their setups running smoothly throughout the season. When you get a pump failure, unloader issue, or engine breakdown right in the middle of a busy week, do you handle all the repairs yourself in-house, or do you take your gear to a local shop to get back on the job faster? Also, how many hours are you running your hot water skids or main units before doing a full oil and filter change? Curious to hear what maintenance routines are working best for you guys to prevent unexpected downtime in the field.How are you managing soft wash chemical blending in the field?
I am looking to hear how other exterior cleaning business owners are handling their soft wash chemical mixing on job sites. Are you running direct metering manifold systems to mix on demand, or are you still relying on batch mixing in holding tanks before heading out? If you switched from batch mixing to a proportioner system, has the time saved and control over chemical usage justified the equipment cost? Also, if you built your own manifold setup rather than buying pre-built, what valves and check valves held up best against high-strength bleach? Curious to hear what setups are holding up best for you guys in the field.How do you handle customer call-backs without losing your shirt?
We’ve all been there. You wrap up a job, step back, everything looks solid, and then two days later the client calls about a spot that got missed or a detail they aren't totally happy with. In my own business, I try to handle touch-ups fast to keep the client relationship solid, but balancing quick response times with protecting your day's schedule and your profit margins gets tricky real fast during peak season. I’m curious how you guys handle fitting non-urgent call-backs back onto the schedule. Do you drop everything and fit them into the very next available slot, batch them all together for a specific day of the week, or handle them a different way? Also, where do you draw the line between a quick complimentary fix and something that needs a whole new quote? I'd love to hear how you guys run this in your day-to-day routine to keep clients happy without constantly derailing your entire day.What’s the single biggest game-changer you’ve made to your quoting process this year?
Whether it’s switching to batch invoicing, adding line-item photos, or setting up automatic follow-ups in Jobber, small adjustments to your workflow can save hours every week. If you could go back to day one and change how you handle your job estimates and admin work, what’s the one tweak you’d make right away? Drop your best tip or lesson learned below—let’s help each other streamline operations!Moving Legacy Clients to Online Pay: How Did You Make the Switch Stick?
Moving clients from traditional checks or cash over to digital invoicing and credit cards is one of the quickest ways to fix cash flow, but old habits die hard for long-time customers. When you made the transition to digital payments in your business, how did you get your persistent "check-in-the-mail" clients onboard without losing their trust? Did you set a strict deadline, add processing fees, or simply make paper invoicing a thing of the past?What’s your go-to trick in Jobber for turning quotes into approved jobs faster?
Hey everyone, I’m looking to tighten up our sales pipeline and cut down the time between sending a quote and getting the deposit in. For those of you who've been using Jobber for a while: What specific workflow, line-item layout, or automated follow-up sequence in Jobber has made the biggest difference in your quote approval rates? Are you relying heavily on automatic SMS reminders, using specific deposit requirements directly on the quote, or keeping it strictly to email with line-item options? Would love to hear what’s working best for your crew right now!Are You Building a Business or Just Creating Yourself Another Job?
It’s easy as a small business owner to get caught up doing everything yourself. At what point do you start delegating, hiring, or putting systems in place so the business can operate without you being involved in every job? I’d love to hear how other owners are making that transition while still keeping quality and customer service high.
