Roll call! Meet & introduce yourself to other Service-based Skilled Trade pros
If you’ve ever thought, “How are other businesses like mine handling this?” you’re in the right place! This space is for Service-Based Skilled Trades 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 hosting a virtual LIVE Industry Networking Event on March 17. If you’d be interested in joining, 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 [your 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. 🚀The Handyman Business Machine: Non-Negotiables for Scaling
Non-negotiables that turn a handyman business into a repeatable machine—systems that make the business operate whether you “feel like it” or not. Think standardized scope, flat-rate pricing, SOPs, quality control, scheduling discipline, job costing, and a comp plan that rewards speed + quality. If you had to boil scaling down to 5–10 tenets, what are yours—and which ones moved the needle the most? Make sure they are measurable actions and results. “What doesn’t get measured doesn’t get done.” - Peter DruckerDo Electrical Contractors own a business or job?
A lot of guys say they “work for themselves.” But when I ask who controls their schedule — it’s the customer. When I ask what happens if they take a day off — the work stops. And if they stop answering the phone — the leads disappear. That’s not a business. That’s a job with more pressure. I built this visual because I lived it. The truth is: most contractors don’t own their time, they just own the stress. So I came to the conclusion: If you stop working and your income stops too… You don’t own a business ... you just own your own job. How do you guys feel about that ?Are there other Locksmiths using Jobber?
Would like to see a Locksmith Community in Jobber at times it feel like we are the only locksmith business using jobber, if you are a locksmith company leave a comment and state your name and business name so that we can support each other and help build a locksmith community.
Starting an appliance repair business.
Hey everyone, I’m new here and excited to be part of the community! I’m currently taking a course to better understand appliance repair, including how to troubleshoot, disassemble, and repair various appliances. My goal is to gradually ease into the field and build confidence as I learn more hands-on. I’m reaching out to see if any experienced business owners here have advice or insights on starting up an appliance repair business. What were some key steps you took when starting out? Are there any resources or tips you’d recommend for someone just beginning their journey? I’d also love to hear your thoughts on some specific topics: What tools and equipment were essential when you first started? Are there any you couldn’t have worked without? How did you go about building trust with your first few customers? What’s been the best way to market your services early on? What were the biggest challenges you faced in the beginning? How did you overcome them? How do you handle customer relations and ensure repeat business? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and any advice you can share!
Seeking Advice: Building a Pricing Strategy and Ideal Customer Avatar for MTAC Plumbing
Hi Everyone, This is Markus from MTAC Plumbing, based in Kitchener, Ontario. After 2.5 years in business, I’m reaching out to fellow plumbing companies for advice and insights. As a relatively new business, we’ve been saying "yes" to all types of customers and work. We’ve worked with small general contractors on home renovations, direct service calls with homeowners, small commercial fit-outs, reworks, and even a few custom new construction homes. One challenge I’m facing is narrowing down my ideal customer avatar. Without that focus, I’ve struggled to create a solid pricing strategy and price book tailored to specific types of work. I’ve consumed a lot of content—coaching programs, podcasts, and even paid for some trades business coaching—but I’m constantly torn between different approaches. Should I stick to flat rate/lump sum pricing, or go with time and materials transparency? Overhead recovery is another area I need to lock down, along with deciding whether to lean into truck/service charges or a higher hourly rate with minimum-hour strategies. Currently, my price book in Jobber feels clunky and difficult to use. It’s challenging to organize by service types (e.g., Service, Renovation, Commercial), and there’s no way to create subfolders, making navigation harder. From my experience, homeowners in my area often see flat-rate pricing as a dealbreaker. I’ve trained our admin to explain that a plumber needs to assess the job on-site because of plumbing’s many variables. For common issues, I’m considering building out flat-rate pricing for simplicity, but most clients still want an upfront range or at least a disclosed hourly rate before scheduling. I’m looking for advice from this community: How do you structure your pricing and organize your price books? Do you use flat rate, lump sum, or time and materials strategies, and how do they work for you? What’s the best way to build confidence and efficiency in pricing to ramp up billables while keeping processes streamlined? I appreciate any insights or feedback! Best regards, Markus MTAC PlumbingEntrepreneurs in #Chicago... let's connect!
Hey everyone! I live in the west suburbs of Chicago and run a handyman business. Would love to connect with others in the area that use Jobber for their businesses, perhaps share some best practices, build some referrals between one another, chat about business, etc. I'm also an Army veteran, so if there are other veterans and first responders outside of Chicago that want to connect and share some of our unique entrepreneurial challenges, I'm here for that as well! Drop a comment if you're interested in connecting... perhaps we can start a Slack/Discord channel or meet up for coffee if you're in the #Chicago area. Thanks! -Justin (Owner, Handy Miller Man, LLC dba Home Fixers)
