What’s holding most service businesses back
I’ve been thinking about this lately, what’s actually holding most service businesses back? Is it: • Lack of leads • Poor systems • Weak pricing • Or the owner not stepping into the business role Because I’ve seen companies busy all day… but still stuck. Curious what do you think is the real bottleneck?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?Milwaukee vs DeWalt Tools, which one?
We’re Lock Nerds Locksmith, a Buffalo, NY-based company that’s always relied on Milwaukee tools. But we’re curious—what tools do other pros trust? We're looking for honest pros and cons between Milwaukee and DeWalt to see if it's time for us to reconsider our setup.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?When is it time to hire an accountant?
I am wondering at what point some of you guys have hired an accountant? Did you hire one to grow? To maintain what you have? Or are you simply using one to file taxes at the end of the year? I am thinking about hiring an accountant to manage my finances for me and see where things go, but wondering when is the right time.
Restarting a 25-Year Landscape Business in a New City — Best Marketing Strategies Today?
Hello everyone, I have owned and operated a landscape and irrigation company for about 25 years. I originally started the business with my brother, who is a landscape architect. We launched the company in a smaller town in Idaho in the late 1990s and it grew quickly thanks to strong word-of-mouth and my brother’s design expertise. About five years ago I moved to Draper, Utah for another job. Recently I decided to restart the landscape and irrigation company here in my new location. Because our company in Idaho grew with very little advertising, I now find myself a bit behind when it comes to modern marketing and advertising strategies. One area I recognize as a weakness in my business experience is staying current with the newest and most effective ways to advertise and market a service company. While I have many years of hands-on experience in landscaping and irrigation, I am essentially starting fresh in a new market and looking for the best ways to build a strong customer base. My background is also in technology. I have a bachelor’s degree in computer software engineering and specialize in website design and e-commerce development. I am currently building a website for the company and have already listed the business on Google Maps. For those who have grown service businesses in larger metro areas, what marketing strategies have worked best for building a customer base and attracting new clients today? I would really appreciate any advice or insight from others in the industry. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.What Should Home Service Businesses Automate First to Save Time?
Small manual tasks start stacking up, catching up on follow-ups, re-adjusting scheduling, invoicing, review requests, the list goes on and on. Sound familiar? What’s one task you’re still doing manually that you know could be automated? What’s stopping you from setting it up?How Much Should You Really Be Charging?
The number one question I receive is tied directly to the fact, most contractors are still guessing when it comes to pricing. Overhead. Profit. Labor rate. Trip fees. They think just because they throw a number they hear their competitors use, thats all that they need. It may work, but how and what do you divide these funds is just as important for your business health. If you don’t know how to do the math, you’re not building a business. You’re surviving check to check and think you need more work, when you do not. So here’s the plan: This Tuesday & Thursday on IG, I’m walking you through our Contractor Price Builder Worksheet FREE on instagram live. We will cover: - How to calculate your real hourly rate - The difference between markup and margin - Why profit is a non-negotiable - And how to price with confidence Join the session. Bring your numbers.
Financial Dashboarding
Hello! Thought I would share a useful tool our landscaping irrigation company started using recently. I am one of the co-owners of our business and handle all the accounting. Being in the industry for a while, I have found that many small companies struggle making financially-informed business decisions. I think the cause is that business owners may feel lost when looking at their books/margins/KPIs. I recently stumbled upon a tool called Reach Reporting which does financial dashboarding. You can connect it to Quickbooks or other major accounting softwares. It pulls all relevant financial data from your books and then gives you the ability to create your own financial dashboard or even has templates already made. It has been incredibly helpful for us to see our financials beyond a Balance Sheet and P&L. It slices, dices, graphs, and plots anything you want it to. This has helped other owners or managers in our company who do not have a financial background to understand our financials more clearly than ever before. This is just one of many examples. Hope you find it useful!
