Should I hire employees or use 1099 subcontractors for better quality?
We have 6 subs full time and it's burned us a few times. We go behind them on ~25% of jobs. We just got CompanyCam and that'll help operationally. But, I am considering going the employee route and paying hourly. What do you feel works best -- to maximize profitability, ensure quality, and reduce headaches?
Claim your Territory!
Hello Jobber Community, My name is Mario Visin, Founder of Group7 Home Services LLC. We joined the Jobber community with a spirit of collaboration, learning, and service to the home services professionals who keep our homes, neighborhoods, and communities running. I believe the home services industry is entering one of the most important seasons in its history. Blue-collar workers are becoming entrepreneurs by the thousands. Handymen, roofers, painters, landscapers, installers, restoration experts, and specialty trade professionals are no longer just working jobs — they are building businesses, serving families, and creating the foundation for generational opportunity. The home services industry represents hundreds of billions of dollars in economic activity each year. Large suppliers, big-box retailers, and national construction brands have created tremendous wealth from this industry. Yet the heart of the industry has always been the person swinging the hammer, climbing the ladder, knocking the door, answering the emergency call, and doing the work that homeowners depend on. That person is you. That person is me. That person is the blue-collar professional who deserves better systems, better connection, better opportunity, and a clearer path toward building a meaningful life through the trades. One thing I have noticed across many industries is that people often struggle to connect with one another in ways that truly make a difference. We are entering a time where connection and community will matter more than ever. The future will not only belong to the biggest brands or the largest companies. It will belong to those who learn how to connect, serve, collaborate, and build trust with one another. At Group7 Home Services, we are designing a Live-Work-Play vision for the trades — a curriculum and platform strategy focused on helping home services professionals serve one another, grow together, and build wealth through shared relationships, better systems, referral opportunities, and a service-first mindset. This is not just about jobs. It is about lifestyle. It is about family. It is about creating a future so compelling that the next generation sees the trades as a path of pride, ownership, entrepreneurship, and purpose. Strategy matters. Systems matter. Technology matters. But the real transformation begins when good people come together with humility, discipline, and a desire to serve the need before serving the self. I believe larger technology companies serving the trades, including platforms like Jobber, play an important role in this new era. The right technology can help blue-collar entrepreneurs run smoother businesses, communicate better with customers, organize their teams, and create more professional experiences for the homeowners they serve. But technology alone is not the full answer. The real power comes when technology, community, service, craftsmanship, and vision meet at the same table. Group7’s broader mission is Building Thriving Cities by helping people connect around housing, entrepreneurship, education, and local economic opportunity. We believe the home services professional has a major role to play in that transformation because every strong city begins with strong homes, strong workers, strong families, and strong relationships. I am a visionary, and I understand that vision must be protected, refined, and shared with care. But I also believe the home services industry is ready for a new conversation — one centered on dignity, ownership, connection, and a higher conscious level of capitalism where the smaller parts come together to create something greater than any one person could build alone. The big brands we know today started with a dream, a strategy, and a willingness to work for decades. The next great wave of wealth creation may come from like-minded people linking their common threads together, weaving a much larger blanket of opportunity for families, workers, entrepreneurs, and communities. Being part of a community is just the beginning. How we connect matters. Relationships are everything. Work like your life depends on it. Best, Mario Visin Founder, Group7 Home Services LLCPre 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.Upsides and downsides of hiring a summer helper?
I am thinking about hiring someone to help me in the busy season and the idea of a high school kid as a summer job sounds like a promising idea. I wouldn't have to pay them a crazy salary, they are like sponges with information and they are typically more physically full of energy. I wouldn't be able to send them on their own, but they could help me get a few more jobs done in a day. I am wondering if anyone has tried this and what would be the pros and cons of doing it?Hiring Slow - Would You Hire Someone that Didn't Look in to Your Company?
I'm a part of breakthrough academy and they really recommend hiring slow, so being really picky about who you hire. With that, comes creating a lot of barriers that the candidate essentially needs to "fight through" to get to that next stage and ultimately be hired. I do some of these things now but I had one thing pop up on a few interviews and I was wondering if ya'll think I'm being too hard headed when it comes to this. Keep in mind these candidates applied where they had to submit pictures of their work - then they filled out a lengthy survey about job skills and abilities. The first interview, the first question is "Did you look in to our company at all?" - most the time I'm being told no. LOL For me that's crazy but it also makes me want to just hang up the phone. Why should I care about you if you don't care about the thing you're going to commit most of your day toward? My job postings are pretty long and descriptive but would you automatically disqualify someone why hasn't even been to your website?Do You Train Your Team to Think or Just Work?
Every Monday, we hold a short training session with our team. We train on communication. leadership. & mindset. The reason being most tradespeople aren’t struggling because they can’t do the work. They’re struggling because they were never taught how to: Speak with clarity Handle conflict Lead a crew Represent the business professionally These tend to be the issues I see bottling up, either from our exit interviews or customer feed back or when things are misunderstood. Thats why I'm curious: Do you train soft skills with your crew?
How do you handle unreliable employees in a home service business?
Hello! I run a Home Remodeling & Handyman business, and we're excited to share that we've recently expanded to include a Cleaning Division. We've noticed that in our area, many folks are eager for jobs but sometimes lack the commitment to follow through. How do you navigate this challenge? We've already offered competitive pay, which is quite high for our area, yet issues like poor communication, missed appointments, and subpar work still pop up. I'm curious to hear how others have managed similar situations and what strategies you've found effective—whether it's offering career growth opportunities, enforcing strict communication policies, or even increasing wages further. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated!How do you keep your crew motivated and paid when work slows down?
Every year, that slow season creeps up on us. One minute the phones are blowing up, and the next it feels like the world goes quiet. When jobs slow down, keeping your crew busy and positive can be a real challenge. I’ve tried different things over the years. Training days, cleaning up the shop, and even team outings just to keep morale up. But the truth is, it’s hard when the pipeline dries up. How do you keep your team motivated and paid when things get slow? Do you cut hours, find smaller projects, focus on marketing, or use the time for business planning? I’d love to hear what has worked for you and how you turn downtime into momentum for the next busy wave.Who Was Your First Hire?
I’ll never forget mine! My first hire was a foreman. I needed someone who could run the job while I focused on running and growing the business. That was the moment it stopped being just me and started becoming something bigger. Scary? Of course. Exciting? Absolutely. That first hire teaches you the hard stuff. How to train. How to lead. How to TRUST someone with your name and your clients. You don’t always get it right, but that’s how you grow. What I learned: Hire sooner than you think you’re ready Character beats skill every time Being a boss is a completely different trade than doing the work So let me ask you… who was your first hire, and what did they teach you?
