There is no secret for creating a successful service contracting business. It takes determination, an excellent work ethic and desire. There must also be a willingness to learn from contractor mistakes made along the way. There are harmless mistakes, and there are mistakes that can cause a customer meltdown. To avoid costly mistakes and lost business,...
For service contractors, it can become extremely time-consuming and difficult to manage all your workflows, inspections, proposals, field technicians, repairs, parts, invoices, customer interactions, payment history, and more. In the technology age, customers have rising expectations. Customers don’t want a field service agent to arrive at the last hour of a four-hour window, and then,...
Receiving rave reviews from your customers as a contractor can be a great way to land new work and more clients. But, what if the opposite comes to light, and you receive customer complaints? Does that make you a bad contractor, or are you just dealing with a difficult customer? Are you up for handling...
When it comes to making sure you stay on top of your incoming field service jobs, there will come a time when you have to hire to get work done in a timely manner. Having more work is a great challenge to take on, but you’ll want to be ready to manage it. That means...
Your business is growing, and so is the amount of time spent on payroll. What used to take an extra hour or two on Friday afternoon has turned into your weekly headache. You know there has to be an easier way to manage your payroll, but you don’t know where to start. If you’ve used...
In his book, The E-Myth Contractor, Michael Gerber talks about the difference between working “on your business” and working “in your business.” He argues that most of us get caught up working in the business – taking customer calls, writing up estimates, completing work for clients, etc. It can be much harder to step...
Being a subcontractor can help you speed up the success of your business, and it could also lead you to a part of the industry you could really enjoy. It also has the ability to open the door to a flood of work. Many contractors in the industry have found that it’s much easier to...
You’re in business to make money. Every day you’re working hard for your customers, and working to exceed expectations. So why are you stuck at a profit margin of two to four percent, just like the majority of contractors? With a little work on your process, you can start delivering a 5-10 percent return or...
So you’re trying to decide between QuickBooks Online and QuickBooks Desktop. How do you know which one makes sense for your business needs? While QuickBooks Desktop has been dominant in the small business accounting space, more than 80% of new QuickBooks users are choosing QuickBooks Online over QuickBooks Desktop. In fact, Intuit, the creators...
It’s time to ditch the clipboard and grab your phone/tablet (or laptop if that’s more your style). Gone are the days of pen and paper ruling the estimating process for contractors. Thanks to the breakthrough of tools like the contractor estimate app, everything has gotten a lot more efficient for service contractors. If you would...
