Short, specific writing about the business side of a trade — getting leads, answering them fast, pricing without guessing, hiring in March, and staying on the right side of the texting rules. No growth hacks. No listicles.
We are a small agency that builds and runs software for home-service contractors, so most of what is here comes out of a real conversation with a real fence builder or pressure washer who was losing money in a specific, fixable place. Every number we cite is sourced or labelled as our own assumption. Nothing here requires you to buy anything.
Setting fence posts, planting trees or trenching for drainage? All 50 states have one-call legislation or an 811 center. How the ticket works, how long to wait, the tolerance zone around the marks, the private lines 811 never marks, and who pays when a line is hit.
Texas has no state license for general contractors or remodelers, but electricians, A/C techs, plumbers, pest and lawn applicators, irrigators, mold remediators and locksmiths each answer to a state agency. Who licenses what, the exemptions that matter, and the city registration on top.
Do your guys need harnesses on a one-story roof? OSHA's six-foot rule for residential work, the three ways to meet it, when a written fall protection plan is allowed, the ladder rules, the training record, and why this rule leads OSHA's citation list.
There is still no final federal heat standard, but OSHA can cite heat under the general duty clause and runs a heat emphasis program for up to five years from April 2026. What that means on a 100-degree day, and the state rules with numbers in them.
Can you put a lien on the house if the owner does not pay? Usually, if you did the steps from the start. What a lien is, the notices some states require before and during the job, the recording and lawsuit deadlines, and the homestead rules, with California, Florida and Texas as examples.
Most crews of ten or fewer never need an OSHA 300 log, but every employer must report a death within 8 hours and a hospitalization, amputation or lost eye within 24. How to count your employees, what to report and how, and what changes once you pass ten.
Cutting concrete, block, stone or fiber cement can put your crew under OSHA's silica standard. How Table 1 works task by task, when a respirator is required, the written plan every covered employer needs, and when the standard does not apply at all.
Since 2024 the FCC has changed how customers take back consent to texts, a court struck down its one-to-one consent rule, and an order released in October 2026 will change the opt-out rules again. The timeline, and what a contractor who texts customers should do now.
A federal rule most installers have never read says what you must show a customer before the sale, what your receipt must say after the job, and which R-value, savings, government and tax claims your ads may not make.
If your LLC or corporation was formed in the United States, no. FinCEN's August 2026 final rule made the exemption permanent. Who still files, what New York asks of LLCs formed abroad, and how to spot the scam letters that keep arriving.
How California sorts licenses into B, B-2, C and the C-61 D subcategories, what the $1,000 minor-work limit really allows, what it takes to qualify, the bond and workers' comp rules, and what section 7031 does to an unlicensed contractor's bill.
Florida licenses contractors two ways, certified statewide or registered locally. How Division I and II split the trades, why electrical work has its own board, which jobs local governments may no longer license, and what a handyman may do.
Six subjects, because those are the six places we watch contractors lose money.
Why traffic is not leads, and what has to be on the page before a homeowner will hand over a phone number.
The five-minute rule, missed calls, voicemail, and why a text beats a callback almost every time.
Getting the formula out of your head and onto paper so somebody — or something — else can run it.
Finding crew who are already employed, screening without resumes, and cutting interview no-shows.
TCPA and A2P 10DLC without the legalese, so you can text customers back without worrying.
Seasonality, margin by job type, and the winter decisions that decide how March goes.
If something on the business side of your trade is costing you money and nobody has written it down clearly, send it over. We would rather write the post you actually need than guess at a topic. No email capture required — just ask.
Or email support@tailgateoffice.com.
Step two takes about thirty minutes: instant quotes on your site, and every missed call logged and answered from one inbox. Free for 30 days, no card.
