Usually later than you should, and right around the time you're doing invoices at eleven at night. Most owners wait until they're drowning, because paying someone who doesn't swing a hammer feels like money going out the door with nothing coming back in.
But the office work doesn't go away when you ignore it. It just moves to your nights and weekends, and the calls you didn't return and the quotes you never sent cost more than you think.
How do you know it's time?
A few signs show up in almost every trade business that's outgrown the owner doing everything:
- You're returning calls at the end of the day, and some of them don't get returned at all.
- Quotes take days to go out because you have to sit down and write them.
- Invoices go out late, so money comes in late.
- Your schedule lives in your head or your phone, and only you know who's going where tomorrow.
- You're turning down work because you can't keep up with the paperwork, not the jobs.
If three or more of those sound like your week, the office is already costing you jobs.
What does office help actually take off your plate?
The phone, the schedule, the quotes, the invoices and chasing payments. That's the work that keeps a business running but doesn't need your license or your skill, and it's often half of an owner's week once you add it up.
It doesn't have to start as a full time hire. Plenty of owners start with someone part time, or with a few hours of help a week on the stuff that piles up the worst, and grow it from there.
The part owners skip
Hiring help only works if the help knows how you do things. If every quote, every schedule change and every customer question still needs your answer, you've added a person without taking anything off your plate. Writing down how the office should run is what makes the hire actually free you up.
One thing to try this week
Count your office hours.
- For one week, keep a note of every hour you spend on calls, scheduling, quotes, invoices and chasing payments.
- Add it up at the end of the week.
- Ask yourself what you'd do with those hours if they were gone.
How many hours did you spend last week on work that didn't need your license?
Common questions
- When should a small contractor hire office help?
- When calls go unreturned, quotes and invoices go out late, and you're turning down work because of paperwork instead of jobs.
- What does office help take off an owner's plate?
- The phone, the schedule, quotes, invoices and chasing payments, which is often half of an owner's week.
- Does office help have to be full time?
- No. Plenty of owners start part time, or with a few hours a week on the work that piles up worst.