How to Scale Your Field Service Business from $100K to $500K (Real Numbers)

I took my handyman business from $80K/year (just me) to $520K/year in 3 years.

Here's exactly how I did it, what worked, what didn't, and the numbers behind each decision.

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The Reality Check

Most field service owners get stuck at $100-150K because they hit a wall: their own time.

The math:

• 40 billable hours/week × 48 weeks = 1,920 hours/year
• At $75/hour = $144,000/year (before expenses)
• Take home maybe $80-100K after expenses

You can't scale yourself. You need to scale systems and people.

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Phase 1: Solo to $150K (Year 1)

Goal: Max out your personal capacity while building systems

What I Did:

1. Raised prices by 25%

• $60/hour → $75/hour
• Lost 2 customers
• Made $15/hour more on everyone else

Revenue impact: +$28,800/year

2. Specialized (sort of)

• Stopped doing everything
• Focused on decks, fences, and light carpentry
• Said no to plumbing and electrical

Result: Faster work, better reputation, higher prices

3. Built basic systems

• Text templates for common responses
• Standard estimate format
• Simple scheduling in Google Calendar

Time saved: 5-7 hours/week = more billable hours

4. Got serious about marketing

• Google Business Profile optimized
• Asked for reviews consistently
• Door hangers in neighborhoods where I worked

Result: Never ran out of work

Year 1 Numbers:

• Revenue: $144,000
• Take home: ~$95,000
• Hours worked: 50-60/week

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Phase 2: First Hire - $150K to $250K (Year 2)

Goal: Clone yourself (kind of)

The Big Decision: Hiring

This was terrifying. I was making $95K and comfortable. Hiring meant risk.

The math that convinced me:

If I hire someone at $20/hour and bill them at $60/hour:

• Their cost: $20/hour
• Payroll taxes/insurance: ~$5/hour
• Total cost: $25/hour
• Revenue: $60/hour
• Profit: $35/hour
• At 30 billable hours/week = $54,600 profit/year

Even if they're only 50% as efficient, I still profit $27K.

How I Found My First Employee:

Where I looked:

• Craigslist (actually worked)
• Local trade schools
• Asked my best customers if they knew anyone

Red flags I watched for:

• Shows up late to interview
• Can't explain previous experience clearly
• Gives vague answers
• Bad mouths previous employers

What I actually hired for:

• Shows up on time
• Has basic skills (I can train the rest)
• Good attitude
• Reliable vehicle
• Clean driving record

The First 90 Days:

Week 1-2: Shadow me

• They came on every job
• Learned my standards
• Learned how I talk to customers
• Learned my systems

Week 3-4: Helper

• Started doing parts of jobs
• I supervised everything
• Corrected mistakes immediately

Week 5-8: Junior tech

• Started doing small jobs alone
• I checked their work
• Still came with me on big jobs

Week 9-12: Independent

• Could handle most standard jobs
• Knew when to call me
• Trusted with customers

Real talk: They screwed up a few times. I ate the cost, fixed it, trained better.

Systems I Built:

1. Job completion checklist

• Prevents forgotten steps
• Ensures quality
• Easy to follow

2. Photo requirements

• Before/after photos on every job
• Proves work was done right
• Great for marketing

3. Customer communication

• Sent from company number (not personal)
• Standard templates
• Professional tone

4. Daily check-ins

• Morning: Here's your schedule
• Evening: How did it go? Any issues?

Year 2 Numbers:

• Revenue: $248,000
• My billable hours: 35/week (down from 50)
• Employee billable hours: 30/week
• Take home: ~$125,000

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Phase 3: Systematize Everything - $250K to $350K (Year 3)

Goal: Remove myself from day-to-day operations

The Breakthrough:

I realized I was the bottleneck. Every decision went through me.

What had to change:

• Estimates (I was doing them all)
• Scheduling (I was managing the calendar)
• Customer service (they called me for everything)
• Quality control (I checked everything)

Systems I Implemented:

1. Standard pricing book

• Common jobs have set prices
• Employee can quote without me
• No more $500 decks because they didn't know better

Example:

• Deck refinishing: $X per sq ft
• Fence repair: $X per linear foot
• Door installation: $X per door

2. Tiered scheduling

• Employee handles standard jobs
• I handle complex jobs and estimates
• Emergency buffer time in schedule

3. Customer service number

• Google Voice number (free)
• Both employee and I get messages
• Professional separation

4. Software (finally)

• Switched from Google Calendar to Creative Job Hub
• Scheduling, invoicing, customer tracking in one place
• Employee has the app, I can see everything

Time saved: 15-20 hours/week

Second Hire:

Made the same mistake everyone makes: hired too late.

Should have hired when revenue hit $220K. Waited until $280K and was drowning.

Lesson: Hire when you're at 80% capacity, not 120%.

Year 3 Numbers:

• Revenue: $364,000
• My billable hours: 25/week
• 2 employees at 32 hours/week each
• Take home: ~$145,000

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Phase 4: Real Business - $350K to $500K (Year 4)

Goal: Build a business that doesn't require me in the field

The Pivot:

I stopped being a technician and became a business owner.

My new job:

• Sales & estimates
• Quality control
• Marketing & growth
• Team management
• Systems improvement

Time in field: 5-10 hours/week (only big/complex jobs)

What Changed:

1. Professional branding

• Wrapped truck ($3K)
• Professional logo & website ($2K)
• Uniformed employees
• Branded yard signs

ROI: Looked bigger than we were, got bigger jobs

2. Specialized for real

• Only decks, fences, and outdoor structures
• Turned down everything else
• Raised prices again

3. Lead management system

• Tracked every lead source
• Calculated cost per lead
• Doubled down on what worked

Sources:

• Google Business Profile: 45% of leads
• Referrals: 30% of leads
• Door hangers/yard signs: 15% of leads
• Other: 10%

4. Third hire (office/scheduling)

• Part-time (20 hours/week)
• Answers calls
• Schedules jobs
• Handles basic customer service

Cost: $15/hour × 20 hours = $300/week Value: I got 20 hours/week back

The Numbers That Mattered:

Revenue per employee:

• Target: $125K/employee
• Actual: $130K/employee

Profit margin:

• Year 1: 55% (just me)
• Year 4: 32% (with team)
• But $165K > $95K

Year 4 Numbers:

• Revenue: $520,000
• 2 full-time techs + 1 part-time admin
• My billable hours: 8-10/week
• Take home: ~$165,000

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What Actually Drove Growth

Let's be real about what moved the needle:

1. Pricing (30% of growth)

• Raised prices 3 times in 4 years
• $60 → $75 → $85 → $95/hour
• Lost maybe 5% of customers
• Made 58% more per hour

2. Specialization (25% of growth)

• Became known for specific work
• Could charge more
• Worked faster
• Better reputation

3. Hiring (25% of growth)

• More capacity
• More revenue
• Able to take bigger jobs

4. Marketing (15% of growth)

• Consistent lead flow
• Never had downtime
• Could be picky about jobs

5. Systems (5% of growth directly, but enabled everything else)

• Made hiring possible
• Improved efficiency
• Better customer service

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What Didn't Work

1. General marketing/ads

• Wasted $5K on Facebook ads
• Got tire-kickers and price shoppers
• Terrible ROI

2. Hiring experienced people

• They had bad habits
• Wanted more money
• Attitude problems

3. Growing too fast

• Tried to hire 2 people at once (Year 3)
• Couldn't train both properly
• One quit, the other was terrible

4. Cheap tools

• Penny-wise, pound-foolish
• Buy quality tools once

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The Real Challenges

1. Cash flow

• More employees = bigger payroll
• Need buffer of 2-3 months expenses
• Invoice faster, get paid faster

2. Quality control

• Your reputation is now in employees' hands
• Need systems to catch problems
• Fire fast if someone doesn't care

3. Management

• I hated managing at first
• Had to learn to delegate
• Had to learn to train

4. Saying no

• To small jobs
• To problem customers
• To working 60 hours/week

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The Growth Roadmap

$0-100K: Learn your craft

• Get good at the work
• Build a reputation
• Basic marketing

$100K-150K: Max yourself out

• Raise prices
• Specialize
• Build basic systems

$150K-250K: First hire

• Clone yourself
• Build training systems
• Improve marketing

$250K-400K: Systematize

• Multiple employees
• Remove yourself from operations
• Professional systems/software

$400K-1M: Scale the system

• Hire salespeople
• Hire managers
• Work ON the business, not IN it

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Start This Month

Don't try to do everything at once. Pick your phase:

If you're at $100-150K:

1. Raise your prices 20%
2. Create standard processes
3. Start saving for first hire

If you're at $150-250K:

1. Hire your first employee
2. Build training systems
3. Get real software

If you're at $250-400K:

1. Hire employee #2
2. Remove yourself from operations
3. Focus on sales and growth

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Tools That Helped

Essential:

• Field service management software (Creative Job Hub)
• Google Voice for business line
• QuickBooks for accounting

Nice to have:

• Google Business Profile (free but essential)
• Canva for marketing materials
• Loom for training videos

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The Real Secret

There's no secret.

It's just:

1. Do good work
2. Charge what you're worth
3. Hire when you're at 80% capacity
4. Build systems before you need them
5. Focus on what makes money
6. Repeat

Ready to scale your field service business?

Calculate Your Growth Potential →

Try Creative Job Hub Free → - The software that helped me scale from $100K to $500K