OPERATIONS GUIDES
Scheduling, dispatch, paperwork, job photos, warranty callbacks and the daily routines that keep a trade business from leaking time and money.
Showing 18 of 18 guides
What you can and can't throw in the dumpster
That roll-off out front has rules. Here's what you can't throw in, what'll blow your tonnage cap, and how to get rid of job-site waste without a fine.
Winter's slow. Make the downtime pay off.
The slow season feels like a break. The shops that come out ahead treat it as a project: trucks, books, systems, crew, and next season's calendar.
The warranty claim you win is the one you photographed
A warranty claim lands two years after you've forgotten the job. Photograph the finished install the right way, keep it where you can find it, and a failed part becomes the manufacturer's problem instead of yours.
You can take a week off. The business just has to survive it.
You haven't taken a real week off in years because the whole operation lives in your head and on your phone. How to get it out of both, cover the phone, and actually stay gone.
Paperwork piles up because you do it twice
The stack of receipts and unsent invoices isn't a willpower problem, it's a system problem. How to stop paperwork piling up by capturing each job once, in the field, before you drive away.
How to take the emergency call without wrecking your whole day
The panic call pays well. What it does to the six jobs already on your calendar is where it hurts. How to take the emergency and still get everybody else done.
The morning meeting: worth it or a waste of time?
A morning meeting can save a wrecked day or burn paid time nobody remembers by lunch. When the huddle earns its keep, how to keep it short, and when to skip it entirely.
How to schedule jobs when it's just you
You're the tech, the dispatcher, and the office, all at once. How to batch jobs by area, leave room for the overrun, and stop running the whole schedule out of your head.
How to handle scope creep before it eats your whole margin
It's never one big ask. It's fifteen minutes here, a part off the truck there, until you've worked a day a week for free. How to price the extra out loud and get the yes before you touch it.
Inventory management for a small shop, without a warehouse system
Dead stock and double-buying quietly drain a small shop. What to actually track, how to set reorder points, and the ten-minute weekly count that keeps parts from tying up your cash.
How to set up your truck so you quit driving back for parts
The return trip for one forgotten part is the priciest hour of your day. How to pack the truck, build the restock habit, and quit driving back.
Job photos and documentation: how a few pictures cover you on every job
The customer who swears the crack was already there, the chargeback three weeks later, the warranty call that isn't your fault. A dated photo settles all of it.
Two-way texting with customers: etiquette and TCPA basics
Your customers would rather text than call. How to do it like a pro, and the one federal law sitting behind every message you send.
Warranty callbacks and complaints: how to handle them without losing money or your cool
A callback costs you a trip. A complaint you never hear about costs you the next ten jobs. How to handle warranty callbacks and angry customers without losing money or your cool.
'On my way' texts and arrival windows: how to kill no-shows
A no-show is three costs in one empty driveway. How tight arrival windows, a day-before confirmation, and the 'on my way' text turn missed appointments into kept jobs.
From first call to final invoice: the job workflow that doesn't leak money
Every job runs the same loop, call to invoice. The money doesn't leak during the steps, it leaks in the gaps between them. A plain walk through the whole job workflow.
Going paperless: what a trades business should digitize first
Going paperless isn't a moral cause. It's a search-bar problem. Which records actually lose you money when they vanish, and the order to digitize in.
Smarter scheduling and dispatch: cutting your crew's windshield time
Windshield time silently eats your margin. Why call-order dispatch zigzags the truck, how geographic zones and day-of-week routing cut drive time by a third, and how to slot the emergency in without blowing up the route.
BUILT BY PEOPLE
WHO HATE
SOFTWARE TAXES.
Start Free with no card, or choose Founders: first month free, then $150/mo base with unlimited standard plug-in slots. Premium add-ons and payment fees are separate.