Resource center
Practical Reading for Owners, Not Consultants
Short, useful explanations of the things that actually decide whether a service business makes money — written in plain language, without the jargon.
Categories
What we write about
Business Operations
Scheduling, workflow, handoffs, delegation and the day-to-day mechanics of a business that runs without constant owner intervention.
Operations consulting →Profitability
Gross margin, job profitability, customer profitability, overhead and the difference between more revenue and a better business.
Profitability review →Pricing
Pricing service work for labor, overhead and profit — and how to tell when your rates have fallen behind your costs.
Profitability review →Cash Flow
Receivables, payment timing, working capital and why a profitable business can still feel cash-poor.
Profitability review →Growth
Capacity, hiring, customer mix and deciding whether more volume will actually improve the business.
Ongoing advisory →Guides
Longer, step-by-step walkthroughs owners can work through on their own, including 90-day improvement planning.
Business Checkup →Coming soon
Articles in the works
Rather than publish a stack of thin articles, the resource center launches as the writing gets done. These are the pieces planned first — each one tied to a question owners actually ask during a Business Checkup.
- How to Tell If Your Service Business Is Actually Profitable
- Why Revenue Is Growing but Cash Is Still Tight
- How to Find Profit Leaks in a Small Business
- How to Price Service Work for Labor, Overhead and Profit
- Gross Margin vs Net Profit for Service Businesses
- How to Calculate Whether a Customer Is Actually Profitable
- 7 Signs Your Business Depends Too Much on You
- How to Build a 90-Day Business Improvement Plan
- Should You Hire an Employee or Use a Subcontractor?
- Why a $2 Million Business Can Still Have Cash-Flow Problems
- KPIs Every Service Business Owner Should Watch
- How Much Overhead Should a Service Business Have?
- How to Know If You're Underpricing Your Services
- Why More Customers Can Make a Bad Business Worse
- What Should a Small Business Owner Delegate First?
- How to Stop Being the Bottleneck in Your Own Business
- How to Improve Cash Flow Without Increasing Sales
- Which Customers Are Actually Worth Keeping?
- How to Review Your Business Like an Outside Investor
- How to Know When Your Business Needs an Operations Consultant
Reading Helps. A Diagnosis Helps More.
A Business Wrench Checkup answers these questions for your business specifically.
$500 flat fee. No long-term commitment required.