Strategies / Suggestions for hiring manual labourer for a niche Biz.
Fitness Equipment Service Technician - Rock & A Hard Place 26 yrs at this and I cannot find my A-Player. Sorry, this is quite the essay from the heart of frustration, so if you make it to the end and have some valuable suggestions I can implement, beers are on me at this conference. 🍻🍻🍻 It’s been beyond frustrating with people lying on resumes until you see they can’t do what they say. OR They can’t follow the simplest of instructions and policies like... If ever unsure about what you're doing or need help of any sort, contact me, I’m ALWAYS available. Then they decide to go Cowboy and try to figure it out themselves, which I certainly encourage as that's how I learn best. Trial and error where just getting your hands in there, coupled with some well-lubricated gray matter, and things start coming together and making sense. But not to the point of adding additional unnecessary "HRS" not MIN, to an invoice I can’t charge for, but they expect to be paid. In my instructions, I let them know, even when right beside them during training, if they get stumped on an issue and they ask for advice, I tell them to run through some process of elimination and try to figure it out themselves without me constantly telling them. I'll let them go for 10 to 15 minutes, and if the lightbulb isn't flickering, then I'll methodically walk them through what I would do. This way I'm not just jumping in and doing it for them, but they're actually learning hands-on. It's when they decide to go cowboy rogue and spend way too much time trying to figure it out instead of calling me, then they expect to be paid for these hours I can't bill back to the customer. How do I tell my customer that we're overcharging them because my guy doesn't know what he's doing and wants to learn on their equipment Then he'll make a note of whatever the issue is and what their diagnosis is, which can include needing to order parts. I'm thinking that they didn't have an issue with the diagnosis and it was a cut-and-dry scenario and, hands-down, this is what the customer needs. Then we'll order wrong parts... not only costing money—which will be either out of my pocket or the customer's pocket upfront if the quote is over $1,000—we have to wait usually about a week for parts to come in, set up another appointment, and head back out to the location to rectify the situation. - Part gets installed, doesn't fix the issue, and we're back to square one. Tech expects to be paid for travel & time for his mistake. So I put in the contract that I backpay my techs by two weeks with the clause that this will cover any potential damage to customer property due to their negligence. Residential customers get invoiced and are expected to pay more or less immediately, and commercial customers are net 30 for the most part in a perfect world. So it kind of evens out to cover their pay if something were to happen. So what do I tell my customers now? "Sorry, my guy effed up. Now I have to go out there and diagnose it properly, and if you're lucky—which happens more times than not—it's just a matter of some adjustments that need to be made, and no part was needed after all." But the other side of that coin is a part is actually needed, so we have to run through the process again and face another week's delay. Then I feel in good conscience that I need to discount my customer and hope this hiccup isn't enough to lose them and they're gracious enough to understand. OR Lack of communication in general. I can't stress enough and tell them it’ll make us or break us if honesty and just pure, actual communication isn’t kept up. I make it very clear that if they're not happy with how things are going, my door is open and I am more than happy to discuss what's going on so that we can make an adjustment that works for both of us. 'Cause if I don't know, I don't know. And that goes two ways. I let them know I'll do the same for them. So it boils down to the fact that if they can't do it right, I might as well do it myself? PSA - common sense is not so common. LOL I refuse to drop my standards as we do charge a premium, and I would consider us to be a "boutique" service company as we have—or I should say I have—an incredible track record and can probably still count on one hand how many callbacks I've ever had. Even though we are the highest-charging company locally, if not regionally, I make sure that I add enough value to the customer so that they know they got their money's worth and then some. So how do I justify that when I have subpar techs going out and serving these customers with guarantees that I've made that don't get fulfilled? I tried doing the employee thing once and that was an absolute nightmare, so I only look for contractors now. I'm willing to pay good money for somebody who can prove themselves to me. If they have the drive and are willing to learn and be moldable, then they can increase their pay in a short amount of time. !!!!! So you can only imagine, after 26 years of working on the tools and without seeing any hope of getting off the truck in the near future, my drive, my mental, and my physical well-being are being stressed to the max! I even had a scare of a panic attack, so I was told. That kind of shit just is not in my vocabulary or in my DNA, but I was getting signs that were pointing towards a heart attack that did put me in a hospital for a day, but I checked out just fine. SO... FWD to today, things have gone from bad to worse. Financially, I can't even hire anybody in order to pay them as I can't even bring in enough to cover our own payroll, yet the hours that I work, no sane human should have to be exposed to. No word of a lie, I'm on the tools all day, usually starting at about 9–10 AM. I get home around 7–10 PM, just in time to kiss my favorite wife, give my teenage son a hug as he goes to bed, and then I'm on the computer catching up on the office work from the day and days past until usually around 5 AM seems to be the new norm. Up at about 8 AM—rinse and repeat my Groundhog Days. My loans & CCs are all maxed out constantly, and I just have no idea what happened to this dream drive I had to be the best in the industry and to truly make a change and grow this company to the vision I once had. UGH. I probably shouldn't even be coming to this event, but IDK, maybe there's something here that's going to allow for some transformation and growth to finally happen. AND GO000!!! I am all ears and moldable to learning and implementing any kind of positive criticism. MUCH appreciated! 👊The First Impression: What Makes Someone Choose Your Business?
Before a customer ever hires you, they’re already judging your business through your website, reviews, social media, phone calls, and communication. What’s one thing you believe helps turn a potential customer into a paying customer?What's a job you'd hand off if you knew it'd be done right every time?
Whether it's estimates, scheduling, field work, or customer calls, there's usually one task that's really hard to let go of. What’s yours? And if you've successfully handed something off, what finally gave you enough confidence to do it? In this Masters of Home Service episode, Austin Rogers (arogersavai​) and Sadi Ingallina (Grow Your Tree Co.) break down one of the toughest transitions for home service owners: stepping out of the field. They share lessons on hiring, training, creating SOPs, and building a business that doesn't depend on the owner being there every day. Never miss an episode of Masters of Home Service. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Looking for genuine feedback
I've been building a hiring tool for home service businesses, and I'd love some honest feedback. The idea is simple. Instead of paying job boards every time you need to hire, what if you owned your own hiring pipeline? You enter your job title, pay, schedule, location, and a few screening questions. In seconds, the software creates a branded social media hiring post with a QR code. You can share that QR code anywhere—Facebook groups, Instagram, your storefront, a vehicle magnet, posters, hiring cards, or anywhere potential employees might see it. When someone scans the QR code, they answer your custom screening questions, enter their availability, and apply directly to your job. As soon as they apply, you receive a text notification. The hiring post is completely free to create and download. You only pay if you find an applicant you actually want to contact. After that, it's $99/month to keep your hiring page active and unlock interview scheduling, digital onboarding, document collection, applicant management, employee tracking, and the ability to save great candidates for future openings instead of starting from scratch every time you're hiring. My goal is to help small businesses rely less on job boards and build a hiring system they actually own. Would you pay $99 per month if this consistently helped you find quality employees? What am I missing? I'd really appreciate honest feedback, even if you think it's a terrible idea.If you have to give up more than you want, are they the right person to hire?
I have a guy that I worked with in the past that I always told, when I start my own company I want him to work for me. He was smart, articulate, hard working and a quick learner. Now that my company is a reality, I reached out and he wants way more than I am willing to pay, and he is making it really hard to convince him to come over. I always thought he would be a great addition to my team and I always had a position in mind for him, something he could grow into. Where he is now is a dead end but with me, the sky is the limit. I wonder, is he the same person I knew when I was managing a team for another company? Should I be offering him more? Are his requests unreasonable or are my offerings unreasonable? Is he even the right person if he is going to ask for more than he knows I am willing to offer.Do employees fail because they’re bad, or because the owner never defined the standard?
This question gets uncomfortable fast. When an employee keeps making mistakes, it’s easy to label them as careless, lazy, or a bad fit. And sometimes they are. I’ve had employees or applicants where the issue was clearly attitude, lack of urgency, poor attention to detail, or an unwillingness to take feedback. You can train skill. It’s a lot harder to train someone to care. But I also think owners need to check themselves before they jump straight to blaming the employee. I’ve had moments in my own business where I was frustrated because someone didn’t do the job the way I expected. Then I had to ask myself a harder question: Did I actually teach that expectation clearly, or did I just assume they would pick it up? A lot of standards live in the owner’s head. The owner knows what a finished job should look like or which gate latch is weird. They know which customer is picky and where waste usually hides in a yard. That knowledge comes from repetition. A new employee doesn’t have that yet. If we throw someone into the field with loose instructions and expect owner-level judgment, we’re probably creating our own callback problem. Callbacks are expensive. They cost route time and frustrate customers. They make the owner lose confidence in the employee and the employee will feel like they’re constantly being corrected after the fact. That’s a bad way to train. For us, the better answer has been getting more specific before the mistake happens. What does the job flow look like? When should customer notes be checked? How should the yard be walked? What photos are required? What happens if the gate is locked? What happens if a dog is outside? What counts as complete? What should the technician do when something looks wrong? Those things can’t stay vague once you start hiring. They need to show up in training, ride-alongs, checklists, job forms, videos, quality checks, and repeated feedback. The bigger the business gets, the more dangerous it is for the standard to live only in the owner’s head. There does come a point where it becomes a people problem. If someone has been trained, shown the standard, corrected, given feedback, and still keeps making the same careless mistakes, then you may have the wrong person. But I think the order matters. Define the standard. Train to the standard. Inspect the standard. Correct against the standard. After that, if the person still refuses to meet it, you can make a cleaner decision. When an employee keeps missing the mark, how do you decide whether it’s a training issue, a standards issue, or the wrong person?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 LLC
