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.
Paying your teenager through the business can skip Social Security, Medicare and federal unemployment tax, but only for some business types, and federal child labor rules still decide what the job can be.
The drive from home to the first job is usually not work time. The drive from the shop, after loading the truck, usually is. The federal travel-time rules case by case, what they do to overtime, and why California counts more.
A day rate or a piece rate does not cover overtime. Under the FLSA you add up the week's pay, divide by every hour worked, and owe half that rate again for each hour past 40. Worked examples, and the states that count by the day.
Federal law lets a 16-year-old work unlimited hours, but not on a roof, behind a circular saw or at the wheel of the truck. The federal hazardous-job rules that hit the trades, the hour limits under 16, and state work permits.
The guy you want to hire is not browsing job boards. He is on somebody else's crew, annoyed about last Friday, sitting at a light behind your truck.
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.
