A sample, not a client. Sample Service Company is a composite: every name, system and number is illustrative. Your Map is built from your operation. What the $1k Map includes
Sample Service Company
A residential lawn and property service business. 14 people, three field crews, about 320 recurring customers, busy season April to November.
This is a sample. The company is a composite and the numbers are illustrative, sized the way a real Map sizes them. Your Map uses your systems, your people, and your numbers, and stays confidential to you.
1 · Your goals
"Add two crews next season without hiring another office person."
"Stop being the bottleneck for every new customer."
"Get paid faster for work that is already done."
2 · Your systems today
| System | What it does today | Connected? |
|---|---|---|
| Shared spreadsheet | Holds customers, prices, routes, and jobs. Everything else feeds it. | The center |
| Website form | Takes new service requests. | Automatic feeds the spreadsheet |
| Crew app | Shows crews the day's jobs. Crews mark jobs done. | Automatic syncs with the spreadsheet |
| Sends price confirmations to new customers. | Automatic to send, By hand to read replies | |
| Phone and texts | Customer calls and texts. After hours, calls go to voicemail. | By hand the office types it in |
| Payment service | Sends invoices and takes payments. | By hand invoices are typed in |
3 · How work moves today
Green steps are where the time and money go. Four ways in, one person at the gate.
4 · What is fragile
- The owner is the only gate. Every new customer waits on one person. When the owner is on vacation, intake stops.
- Pricing lives in one head. Nobody else can quote a tricky lot with confidence.
- A quote with no reply disappears. Nothing tells anyone it went quiet.
- Everyone shares one login and one spreadsheet. Nobody can tell who changed a job, and customer addresses are open to all.
5 · Where the opportunities are
| Opportunity | What changes | Worth | Measured by |
|---|---|---|---|
| One intake for every door | Every request is checked and priced the same way. The owner sees only the exceptions. | 4.5 hrs a week | Owner review hours |
| Messages and follow ups | Texts are sorted and replies drafted for approval. Quotes with no answer get a follow up. | 4 hrs a week | Quotes that go silent |
| Job to cash | A finished job creates the invoice. The owner approves it, and reminders run on their own. | 3.5 hrs a week | Days to paid, 24 down to 9 |
| Route days | New customers are placed on a route day by the office's own rules. A person approves. | 3 hrs a week | Scheduling hours |
| Answer every call | A phone receptionist answers after hours and on weekends and takes the request. | $18,000 a year | Calls answered |
| Keep and win back | A review request after the first month, and a check in text to customers who cancel. | $9,600 a year | Customers won back |
| Total found | 15 hrs a week $27,600 a year | ||
How the numbers were sized. Hours come from the people doing the work: 15 a week over a 30 week season at $36.84 an hour (BLS, businesses under 50 people) is about $16,500. Calls: one new customer every two weeks from callers who never call back, 15 at about $1,200 a season. Win back: 1 in 5 of about 40 yearly cancellations returns, 8 at about $1,200.
6 · What to do, in order
Quick wins · next two weeks
- Send a welcome text with the first service day, a review request a month in, and a check in text when someone cancels. small
- Follow up automatically on any price email unanswered after 48 hours. small
- Give each crew member their own app login, and narrow who can open the customer spreadsheet. small
Bigger bets · in this order
- One intake for every door. Every later improvement plugs into it. 4 to 6 weeks
- Answer every call. The largest dollar figure on the map. 2 to 3 weeks
- Job to cash. Hours back and faster cash. 3 to 4 weeks
- Route days and messages, once intake is steady. 3 weeks
7 · What to leave alone
- Instant online booking. Price depends on the property. Keep the confirm step and make it fast.
- A chatbot on the website. Buyers in this market pick up the phone, so the receptionist is the better spend.
- Replacing the crew app. The crews like it and it works. Fix the login and add the checks.
8 · How to get there
Recommended next step: a Build, starting with one intake for every door. One system, delivered by one person, measured on the owner's review hours. It needs the owner to sign off the pricing rules once, and the office manager to approve exceptions.