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.How do you utilize reports in your business?
I am curious to hear which reports you consider most valuable in your business and what actions are taken based on those reports if anyone is willing to share. Are there reports that you use regularly in Jobber or reports that you wish were part of Jobber? If so how do you utilize the information that the reports provide? Are changes made based on the reports? Is the data used to create the reports monitored internally for consistency? Thanks for sharing all input is helpful!
LANDSCAPERS: Let's unite on best practices...
Calling all landscape home service companies! We are a full-service landscaping company doing everything from irrigation, fertilizer and lawn maintenance programs to large projects. We've used Jobber for about 6 years and 'figure it out' as we go but tend to have to do a lot of manual work and workarounds. Wondering how others in the biz are best using Jobber and what kind of administrative help you employ to help manage it. For us... we have 3-4 people dedicated in the office at all times. We have 2 people dedicated to scheduling services and customer service for existing clients. We have another dedicated to billing daily, and another for administrative support to strictly field new requests and ensure people are being responded to. We use Trello to help manage all the tasks and customer status. It's a lot to manage. There's a lot of room for error. Setting up jobs is very manual. Scheduling can be pretty manual despite knowing there are ways to mass schedule in Jobber. Tags get super messy and are only so reliable. There isn't a great way to enforce good notes from techs in the field. Job Forms are only really for customer leave behinds and don't help with billing so the open notes field is really the only way to gather info from the field for invoicing... Interested in whatever others have to share that are really working for them!Will AI replace jobs in home service and skilled trades?
I saw an article yesterday about all the tech jobs that are being replaced by AI and I thought about how hard that would be to know your position can be replaced by someTHING that can do it faster and cheaper than you can. Then I thought how happy I am that I decided a long time ago that I am going to work with my hands. Be handy. Solve real problems. I would be safe in saying that AI is never going to cut your lawn, remove your junk, exterminate your bed bugs, plumb in or wire your home. Am I going to regret saying this? Is AI reading thins and just started plotting to take all our jobs???You down with PPE? Yeah, you know me!
Google AI explains it as "Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) refers to any clothing or equipment worn to minimize exposure to hazards in the workplace and protect the wearer's health and safety. PPE is considered the last line of defense when other controls cannot eliminate or reduce the hazard adequately." I've always viewed personal protective equipment (PPE) as my primary shield for staying safe and healthy on the job. With machinery that can spin at speeds up to 10,000 RPM, it’s essential to prioritize my protection. What about you? What PPE do you typically use in your work? For me, I rely on: Ear protection: Since most of our tools operate at high decibel levels, it’s crucial to safeguard my hearing. I personally prefer foam earplugs over earmuffs for comfort. Eye protection: When handling equipment like line trimmers, mowers, chainsaws, and blowers, debris can go flying everywhere. I want to ensure my eyes stay safe from any potential hazards. Safety boots: I opt for high-rise boots with steel or composite toes and plates to protect my feet. Long pants: These are important for shielding my legs from rocks and other materials that can become projectiles. Sun hat: Keeping my head and shoulders covered helps shield me from the sun's rays while I work. Remember, taking these precautions not only keeps us safe but also helps us enjoy our work without worry! One more important type of PPE—at least in my view—is knowledge! It’s really vital to have as many staff members trained in First Aid as possible.
Snowplowing routing
We are having trouble with the way that we currently have to schedule our teams for dispatching when it come time to our snow plowing events. With Jobber currently not having a way for the management team to efficiently dispatch a large number of clients to each team member at a short notice interval. We currently have to set a job as a repeating job but leave it unscheduled. This leads to the problem of not having the option of selecting a team member/ members. Being in a area of heavy snow and storms that require at time 2-3 dispatches we currently have not found a way to notify our drivers through jobber quickly. We are currently looking at other programs to accomplish this task like Folosoft. But am wondering if anyone has had a successful way of doing this. Our thoughts for Jobber would be to have a dispatch via the team member and or a group. Example customers on Truck #1 route is saved as Route #1 and can be scheduled to the date of service needed in the order that is pre-set. Then all you need to do is assign the team member to the route and good to go. Example #2 would be Tagging all customer under the route you want and then mass schedule them using the tagged word. Ultimately we would like to dispatch as quick as possible and have the route for the drivers to take be preset. Then all they would need to do is capture a finished photo and hit complete. This would also help us track completion rate as our team members go.Do you utilize battery-powered tools?
Handheld battery-powered tools have come a long way from their first iterations, especially over the past few years. I've started making the switch away from gas-powered equipment throughout the last few seasons for my business and have found the switch to be positive for my workflow and bottom line. This is a trend I believe will continue as batteries become more powerful and long-lasting. Are you utilizing any battery-powered equipment and, if so, do you have any favorites you'd like to share??
Landscape/Snow&Ice Biz Insurance
So are using Michigan Miller insurance as we have for several years now to cover our liability, auto and workers comp insurance here in western ny. We are a 1.5 million in sales company and previously had another insurance that offered apples to apples coverage for over 65% more in cost. I feel that this a cost that is out of control in our business we have around 440k in payroll and 1.5 million in sale but between all three coverage areas in our business insurance is 50-60k. I just think its outragous but we are do snow plowing. Who is everyone else using in a similar service situtation more importantly snow plow insurance and what are you paying.
Sales Marketing
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I have been doing my office's annual purge and came across some old invoices from the earliest power equipment my business purchased. Believe it or not, some of the equipment I use has doubled in price for the replacement model at today's cost. Since it is our responsibility as owners to be profitable enough to replace/repair equipment as needed, I find myself adjusting my equipment cost recovery number upward almost monthly in my budget. How often are you adjusting your cost recovery upward to adjust for the ongoing inflation?
