Business Genie

The blog on pricing and running a trade business

The Business Genie blog is written for people who run a trade business. 21 articles, in the order a business meets the questions.

Choose your trade to draw its route through them: , , , , or .

The blog, by trade and stage

21 articles · 125 min

Each article sits where its trade’s street crosses its stage. Choose a street name to route it.

1Start the business2Price the work3Grow4Run the schedule5Choose software
Every trade

A trade’s streetEvery trade’s streetAn article1On your routeMinutes of reading at 230 words a minute

Starting a trade business

1 · 5 articles · 30 min

Step-by-step guides to starting a cleaning, handyman, HVAC, landscaping or plumbing business: registration and licensing, insurance, the tools and equipment to buy, what to charge, and how to find the first customers.

  1. How to Start a Cleaning Business in 2025: Step-by-Step Guide

    Residential, commercial or specialty work; registration, insurance and background checks; the supplies to buy; pricing; the first clients; and hiring your first cleaner.

    Cleaning7 min read

  2. How to Start a Handyman Business in 2025: What You Actually Need

    How handyman licensing rules usually work, insurance, a tool kit and its budget, hourly, per-job and day rates, where steady work comes from, and taxes.

    Handyman7 min read

  3. How to Start an HVAC Business in 2025: The Complete Guide

    EPA 608 certification and a state license, insurance, stocking the van on a startup budget, service rates, and landing the first customers.

    HVAC7 min read

  4. How to Start a Landscaping Business in 2025: A Practical Guide

    Maintenance or installation, the legal setup, starter equipment, pricing, why route density matters for the first customers, and planning for the off-season.

    Landscaping7 min read

  5. How to Start a Plumbing Business in 2025: Complete Guide

    Seven short steps — license, insurance, business structure, equipment, pricing, first customers, software — and the common mistakes.

    Plumbing2 min read

Pricing your services

2 · 5 articles · 29 min

Pricing guides for HVAC, plumbing, electrical, cleaning and landscaping work: how to add up your real costs and turn them into an hourly floor, when to charge hourly and when to charge a flat rate, how to build a pricebook and mark up materials, and how to present the price to the customer.

  1. How to Price Cleaning Services: What to Charge in 2025

    Your costs per job, then flat rate per home, hourly or per square foot, quoting from a walk-through, and when and how to raise your prices.

    Cleaning6 min read

  2. How to Price Electrical Services: A Complete Guide for Electricians

    Your true hourly cost, hourly or flat rate, a flat-rate pricebook, markup on materials, good-better-best options and handling price objections.

    Electrical5 min read

  3. How to Price HVAC Services: Rates, Strategies, and Pricebook Tips

    From overhead and billable hours to a minimum hourly rate, hourly or flat rate, a pricebook with sample entries, and maintenance agreements.

    HVAC6 min read

  4. How to Price Landscaping Services: Mowing, Design, and Installation

    Your man-hour cost, per-visit mowing prices and seasonal contracts, estimating an installation, and pricing cleanups, fertilizing and aeration.

    Landscaping6 min read

  5. How to Price Plumbing Services: A Guide to Profitable Pricing

    Five steps: your true hourly cost, hourly or flat rate, a pricebook with material markup, presenting good-better-best, and raising prices.

    Plumbing6 min read

Growing the business

3 · 5 articles · 29 min

Getting more customers and more Google reviews, marketing a contracting business, building a website that brings in work, and five ways to grow a field service business: scheduling, invoicing, reviews, lead tracking and your online presence.

  1. Best Marketing Strategies for Contractors in 2025

    Eight channels, from your Google Business Profile, reviews and local ads to referrals, door hangers and texts, and a marketing budget at three sizes of business.

    Every trade8 min read

  2. How to Build a Website for Your Service Business (Without Wasting Money)

    The six pages a service business site needs, a website builder or WordPress or a developer, what makes a site bring in calls, and what each costs.

    Every trade8 min read

  3. How to Get More Customers for Your Service Business

    Answering the phone first, then your Google Business Profile, ads, referrals, partners, door hangers and a vehicle wrap, and how to tell which one brings the work.

    Every trade7 min read

  4. 5 Ways to Grow Your Field Service Business in 2025

    Five changes: automated scheduling, digital invoicing, a review routine, lead tracking and your online presence.

    Every trade2 min read

  5. How to Get More Google Reviews for Your Contracting Business

    Ten ways to ask, from the right moment to review cards and automated requests, why Google forbids discounts or gifts for reviews, and what to do about a bad one.

    Every trade4 min read

Running the schedule

4 · 2 articles · 11 min

Keeping the schedule full: eight ways to cut no-shows and late cancellations, from reminders and deposits to a clear cancellation policy, and how to schedule HVAC jobs to book more of them and cut callbacks.

  1. HVAC Scheduling Tips: How to Book More Jobs and Reduce Callbacks

    Ten practices, from zoning your service area and time-blocking by job type to arrival windows and matching techs to jobs, with a sample day.

    HVAC4 min read

  2. How to Reduce No-Shows and Cancellations in Your Service Business

    Eight ways to cut no-shows and late cancellations, from text reminders and deposits to a cancellation policy, careful overbooking and repeat offenders.

    Every trade7 min read

Choosing software

5 · 4 articles · 26 min

What field service management software does and how to choose it; how to choose a CRM or invoicing software for a service business; and the trade-offs between Business Genie, Jobber, ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro and others.

  1. Best Field Service Management Software in 2025: An Honest Comparison

    Business Genie, Jobber, ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, FieldEdge and Workiz side by side, a feature table, and how to choose by size, trade and budget.

    Every trade8 min read

  2. How to Choose the Right CRM for Your Service Business

    What a CRM does for a service business, the features that matter and the ones to skip, five steps to evaluate one, and moving your customer data across.

    Every trade8 min read

  3. What Is Field Service Management Software? A Plain-English Guide

    The problems it solves, each core feature from dispatch to online booking, who needs it and who doesn’t yet, and the questions to ask when choosing.

    Every trade7 min read

  4. Best Invoicing Software for Contractors in 2025

    Seven invoicing tools compared, from QuickBooks and Square Invoices to Jobber and ServiceTitan, and what a contractor should look for in one.

    Every trade3 min read

Business Genie for your trade

Business Genie is field service management software for contractors, built around route optimization — schedule and route your crews, then invoice and get paid, on the web and in the iOS and Android app.

It is free for a month, with no credit card to start.

Start free trialSee pricing

Each trade’s route through the blog

What Business Genie does for the trade is on the trade’s own page.

Written for the tradeThe 10 every trade readsThe rest of the blogTo scale: 125 minutes of reading in all