The topic of growth is misleading to many new people getting into the business. Many growth terms are widely used and put the main goal of the topic shoved under the rug or tucked behind the curtain, if you may.

When I first started, I thought the more trucks you had on the road, the more you make. So, in perspective, the main goal was to have twenty service trucks on the road and twenty sales trucks on the road to be the most successful businessman I could be.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not entirely true, I have talked to many people who have 10 trucks out there or have had 10 trucks out in service. To the naked eye, it looks like, wow, they have it all figured out. I wish I could grow my company that big and just sit on some beach sand somewhere in a city with a name I can’t pronounce with a cold drink in my hand. But every company is different, and everyone should not strive to have this goal.

I have personally been on both ends of the spectrum, I have worked by myself and also worked with eight crews. Nothing changes if you are at the beginning of your business or have been at this for years; success is measured in the net revenue at the end of the year. This applies to growth in employees or growth with revenue. I believe success starts with time management.

Let’s start with yourself first, then go down the line. Every business owner should have a structured calendar for every day, accounting for everything down to the last 5 minutes of your day. The first thing I do in the morning is check my voicemails, missed phone calls, emails, and social media inboxes. I check for leads and keep my pipeline full. Next, I look at all the estimates I have to do during the day. Some people like to do online estimates, which are perfectly fine, I just prefer in-person estimates so I can further sell myself and our company value. The next thing I’m checking is accounts receivable; who has my money, where is it, and how can I get it as fast as possible? As you start to grow your business into become established, this can get overwhelming, and you may need to bring some office staff in. Lastly, I am looking at inventory, what we are low on, what needs to be ordered now, and what can wait.

Now on to your employees; do they have everything they need for the day? With time management, a lot of the most important things to keep the operations going smoothly is taking good care of your employees. I like to ensure they can hop in and get to work once they show up at the shop. If they don’t show up to the job on time, you have already started the day on a bad note with the customer. Make sure your routes are tight and schedule the jobs with enough time to make it to the next job if the last job goes over. Make sure the guys have enough time to do their 5 arounds or 5 touches before they leave for the next job. 

Part of the employee time management would be taking photos of every job before and after.  Not only does this help with marketing purposes, but if anything is damaged on the house, you can show the homeowner all of your pre-walk-through photos to cover yourself.

Growth comes down to managing your time wisely, and the rest will follow. Make sure you yourself have enough time in the day to get everything done before you can “clock out.” 

Burnout is a real thing. Growth comes slow, and many companies die because they grew too fast. Make sure all the headaches are not shoved onto your employees. Remember, your company is your baby; it may be cute to you, but no one will care about it the way you do. Time management is the key to growth for you and your company.