Section for Vendors or Subs
Please help develop a functions to add 3rd party vendors/subs that may be used as needed or 1-time. The primary point would be contact and database of vendors with info and docs needed for our team to access if needed as well as would be nice for them to have scheduling, invoicing with pics and job tracking capabilities.How I Finally Delegated Estimating (Without Hiring Another Person)
For years, estimating was the one thing I couldn’t take off my plate. We changed the org chart. We hired roles. Delegated everything we could. But estimating? That was always me. Even if I wasn’t doing anything else in the business... I was still stuck quoting jobs. It was the bottleneck I couldn’t fix—until now. I built a ChatGPT-powered estimator trained with my systems, my pricing, and my language. It asks the right questions, runs the math, and delivers estimates like I would—without me being involved. Now I’m no longer the bottleneck. Customers get quick answers. I get my evenings and weekends back. Want to build your own? Map out your estimating logic. Plug it into ChatGPT. Test and refine. If you're stuck working all day and doing estimates at night and on Saturdays anddddd, sometimes even Sunday mornings when everyone's sleeping—this might be your way out. Heres my direct Zoom link if you'd like to learn more: https://calendly.com/ryaan-besthandymancompany/bh-plan-phone-consultationRoll Call! Meet & introduce yourself to other Construction and Home Improvement pros
If you’ve ever thought, “How are other businesses like mine handling this?” you’re in the right place! This space is for Construction and Home Improvement pros to connect, compare notes, and talk shop with others who understand the day-to-day realities of running your type of business. 👋 Introduce Yourself Drop a comment and tell us: Your name Business name Industry Years in business Location (City/State/Province) Let us know if you’re joining us for LIVE networking on March 17 (more details below) The more context you share, the better connections you’ll make. 🙌 Pro tip: Search your city or state in the forum to easily find other pros in your area. 📅 Want to connect LIVE? We’re running a pilot to host virtual weekly LIVE Industry Networking starting on March 17, running until April 7. If you’d be interested in joining for the first or following sessions (don’t need to commit to all but you're welcome to join!), make sure to let us know in the comments. 🤝 Culture of this space Think of this forum board like a room full of peers who understand your world. Share what’s working. Ask real questions. Talk through challenges. The goal is to power your success and raise the standard of home service industries together. 💬 Looking for conversation starters? This space works best when conversations are industry-specific and experience-based. You might jump in with something like: “How are other [industry] pros pricing this service right now?” “Is anyone else seeing this shift in their market?” “What’s been working for you when it comes to ____?" 🤔 Why are industries grouped together? We’ve intentionally clustered similar industries to keep conversations active and relevant. These groupings reflect shared business models, operational challenges, and pricing conversations so you can learn from peers who “get it,” even if they’re not in your exact trade. If your question applies to all home service businesses, feel free to post in our broader forum boards. Pro tip: Check out the industry tags to get even more specific Looking forward to seeing this space come to life. 🚀What's Standard Gross Profit for Your Industry?
I once listened to Tom Reber preach about 50% gross profit and how if you aren't aiming for that, you are going to hurt yourself short/ longer term. He was basically saying, for every dollar you make, you need to make two. This has been super impactful for me and my business but I'm noticing on my really big projects, it's so hard to keep that. I have one $120k exterior BBQ that has definitely had some inefficiencies but we are probably looking at 35% end of day. But that's 35% of a large $$ so that is kind of ok. For those of you who do a good job tracking this (btw Jobber's gross profit calculator is objectively amazing for this btw)- what is your gross profit and what do you usually shoot for?How to get more customers for free
I started my gutter business March of this year I been having a job every week sometimes two, not so bad of a start but since May it’s been hard I’ve only had 1 install and we are in the last week of May. I pass out flyers door to door ( not bothering homeowners though) and I go to networking events to meet contractors but yet I haven’t gotten any luck. Anyone got any advice for me?Pre Hiring Test - What We Use
Link to my Self Assessment I wanted to share something that's really worked for me in prequalifying candidates. Not saying I don't hire duds but this helps me save a little time and I can go back to it in the interview. Basically we start by reviewing their resume with pictures -then they get sent this self assessment. That's it. Pretty simple. What I'm looking for when I get it back is not a bunch of fives. If someone rates themselves a five in everything, that's actually a problem for me. What I want to see is an honest picture. When a guy comes back and he's high on a few things, low on a couple others, and somewhere in the middle on the rest — that's the guy I want to talk to. Because we all have gaps. Nobody does everything at the same level, and the people who are honest about that tend to be honest about everything else too. We have room for all kinds of skill levels. We might be hiring with a specific need in mind, but more than anything we're looking for good people. The skills can be built on. The character part is harder. The other thing the assessment tells me, and this one's just as important — did they actually do it? You'd be surprised how many don't send it back. There's a mentality in the trades sometimes where a guy figures he can just show up and go to work and that's all that should be required of him. And look, I get it. But if someone won't spend ten minutes on a form when they're trying to get a job, that tells me something about how they'll handle the other stuff that comes with working on a crew — the communication, the small details, the parts of the job that aren't swinging a hammer. The ones who fill it out, especially the ones who are thoughtful about it, those are the guys who are serious. It doesn't have to be long or complicated. It just has to be done. Once I have it back, it makes for a much better conversation too. I'm not sitting there grilling somebody — I'm just asking them to tell me about their own numbers. It takes the pressure off and I learn a lot more than I would from a standard interview. It's a small thing, but it's made a real difference in who I end up bringing on.
