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?What kind of employee bonuses are you offering your team?
I recently listened to this Masters of Home Service episode with Cory Byron (WiringByron). It got me thinking, how are you all handling employee bonuses? Has your current approach improved team performance, or have you faced challenges? Share your experience below! Give the episode a listen if you want to learn about: Building a simple bonus system that's easy to manage Common issues a bonus plan can address How regular communication keeps your team motivated Never miss an episode of Masters of Home Service. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
How do you handle coverage when employees are out on vacation?
We’re dealing with this right now. Our best employee is moving out of state, which already puts us in a transition period. At the same time, 2 of our employees are taking vacation, so we’re going to be under capacity for the next few days. That means my wife and I are picking up the slack. And realistically, it’s going to be some very long days of scoops. This is one of those parts of running a route-based business that doesn’t get talked about enough. When everything is fully staffed, the schedule looks fine. Then one person leaves, someone gets sick, someone has PTO, the weather throws things off, or a route runs long, and suddenly you realize how thin the operation actually is. I don’t blame employees for taking time off. People need vacations. They have families, lives, and things outside of work. But as the owner, you still have to figure out how to protect the customer experience when capacity drops. A few things I’m thinking through right now: how much extra capacity should we have built into the schedule? when should we stop accepting new jobs temporarily? when does it make sense for owners to jump back in? how much notice should we require for vacation requests? should we cross-train more people across routes? how do we avoid burning out the rest of the team when someone is gone? The hard part is that smaller service businesses usually do not have a deep bench. One or 2 people being gone can completely change the week. This is also making me think more seriously about building routes and hiring plans around capacity gaps, not just normal weeks. Because normal weeks are easy to plan for. The stressful weeks expose the weak spots. When employees are on vacation or you’re temporarily short-staffed, do you: - reschedule customers? - have owners cover the work? - limit new jobs? - bring in part-time help? - build extra capacity into the schedule year-round? - something else?
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 LLCHow do you structure pay and incentives for high school employees in a small business?
I started a firewood company that services commercial accounts like grocery stores and individuals that want a premium firewood. One of my goals is to hire high schoolers and pay them a fair wage. My question is, how do I manage the cost of hourly pay and the expectation that this is only sustainable if they are able to significantly contribute to the productivity of the business? I’ve considered creating a pay incentive if they are able to hit certain metrics. I would appreciate your feedback.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?What did you do when you lost your best employee?
We’re going through this right now in our business. Our lead technician is moving out of state. Honestly, it’s bittersweet. I’m genuinely happy for him because this is a great life opportunity for him and his family, but I’d be lying if I said it hasn’t caused me a lot of anxiety too. He has been a huge part of our growth. A lot of the consistency our customers experience came from him: reliability quality of work customer trust leadership in the field helping train newer employees When you have someone like that on your team, it’s hard not to feel like “How are we supposed to replace this person?” And the honest answer is you probably do not replace them immediately. My wife and I already know we’re going to have to pick up extra work temporarily while we hire and train again. That part is uncomfortable. One thing this situation has reinforced for me though is how important standardization becomes as the business grows. Because if all the quality, knowledge, and expectations only live inside one employee’s head, losing that employee can seriously damage the business. Over the last couple years we’ve worked hard to document things like: customer communication, how to reply to someone, when to send our "On The Way" text messages gate procedures to make sure dogs are safe and secured after each visit completion expectations for each yard common customer issues onboarding processes to bring new employees up to speed faster training expectations to know what a "finished" job looks like None of that magically replaces a great employee. But it does make rebuilding much more realistic. I also think moments like this expose whether the business was built around systems or around specific people carrying everything. Still learning through this one myself. What did you do when you lost your best employee?What changed after you hired your first employee?
Hiring my first employee did not suddenly free up my schedule. For a while, it actually made things harder. I was still answering all the questions: “What do I do if the gate is locked?” “What if the dog is outside?” “Do I skip this area?” “How should I message the customer?” I realized I had a lot of expectations in my head that were never clearly documented anywhere. So every small issue still came back to me. One thing that helped us a lot was creating repeatable standards for the things that caused the most callbacks or customer complaints and using Job Forms to make sure my employees followed those standards. For example: gate photos at the end of every appointment customer instructions attached directly to the job clear arrival communication (sending an on the way message 30-45 minutes before each visit) completion forms with a checklist of all actions done on the visit (waste hauled away, gate locked and secured, sanitized boots and equipment) Once those things were written down and repeated consistently, the business became a lot less dependent on me making every decision throughout the day. Curious what other owners experienced with this. What got easier after your first hire? And what unexpectedly became harder?What behavior do you tolerate that’s quietly costing you revenue or reputation?
As we’ve grown, the biggest thing we’ve had to confront is tolerating inconsistency in service quality, especially from newer team members. Even small things (missed details, slower communication, or not fully following SOPs) can quietly impact client trust and retention over time. Individually, they seem minor. But at scale, they affect: Client experience Referrals and reviews Long-term revenue We’re learning that what you tolerate becomes your standard so tightening accountability, training, and follow-through has become a major focus as we scale.
