Two tradesmen in navy shirts stand at the open back of a white work van and look over a rolled-out sheet of paper plans laid on the tailgate.

Guides

The parts of running a trade business nobody teaches you.

Short, plain guides you can use this week, with paper, a spreadsheet or any software. Each one starts from a moment every owner knows.

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By Tyson Lerfald, founder

Generated image, not a real person.

Part of the top row of the CONSTRUKTR web dashboard for a sample company: 7.9 days to payment, this month, across 5 paid invoices, a 72.4% profit month and 44% of estimates won (4 of 9 sent in the last 90 days). — Sample company

Price a job so it covers parts, labor and overhead
The check to run before a quote goes out, so a job you win is not a day of work for nothing.
A weekly routine for who still owes you
One time a week, one list and three piles, so no customer who owes you slips through.
Ask customers for reviews, and remember to
When to ask, what to say and which link to send, so a happy customer's words reach the next one.
Get written approval for extra work
What to write down before the crew does work that was not quoted, so the invoice is never an argument.
Switch software without losing your customer list
Move one crew or one kind of job first, widen it when it holds, and keep the old system paid up until its last invoice.
The first month on new software, week by week
Start with one real job, put the crew on it, then move estimates and invoices across, so the trial is a real test.
Price good, better and best options
Build the option you would recommend first, then the smaller and the bigger one, each checked against its own floor.
HVAC estimates and invoices
Flat rate or hourly by kind of work, the diagnosis on its own line, and replacements written as options.
Plumbing estimates and invoices
Quote what you can see and say so, keep the trip, the diagnosis and the repair apart, and get the yes before added work.
Electrical estimates and invoices
Quote from one parts list, name the permit and the power-off window, and turn the quote into the invoice instead of retyping it.
Roofing estimates and invoices
Build every line from one measurement, agree the decking price before tear-off, and photograph each layer as it goes down.
Solar estimates and invoices
Keep the system apart from the site work, price after the survey, and bill each stage your contract names.
Handyman estimates and invoices
A minimum said before you go, known tasks by the task, unknowns by the hour, and the add-on priced before you start it.

Built for your trade

Find the page for your trade.

Same setup wizard for every trade, and you can skip most steps.

Every other trade

Part of the CONSTRUKTR web dispatch board for the demo company, one day from 8 AM to about 3 PM, with each team member on their own row and each job drawn as a bar. One team member's row has two jobs flagged in red with a warning sign, one starting at 8 AM and one at about 8:30 AM, so they overlap. Four other team members each have one blue job later in the day. At this size the board cuts each job's number off, so the bars carry no text. — Sample company

Free Profit Leak Check

How much is paperwork costing your business?

Six quick questions. Your report shows up on the page right away: the hours and dollars your after-hours office work costs you, worked out only from your own answers.

Pick your trade to start:

Example, not your result

Example answers: 8 hours a week of after-hours office work, at $50 an hour.

After-hours office work: 8 hours a week, from the example answers8 hours a week
Over a year: 8 hours times 52 weeks416 hours a year
What those hours are worth: 416 hours times $50 an hour$20,800 a year

Your own answers give your own numbers.

Try it on your own jobs, free.

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