Most of running a trades business isn't the trade. It's answering the same questions, chasing quotes, sending invoices and remembering to ask for reviews. Each job is small, so it rarely feels worth fixing, yet together they fill evenings.
This checklist helps you find those jobs, decide which one to tackle first, and leave with a plan you can act on next week. You don't need to know anything about AI to use it, and you won't need to buy anything to finish it.
Start with your week
Pick a normal week: not the quietest, not the busiest. For each day, write down every task that isn't the job itself. Note roughly how long each took and how often it comes round.
Don't judge anything yet. "Replied to three WhatsApps asking if we cover Enfield" is exactly the kind of line you want.
Enquiries and first contact
- Do you answer the same questions more than once a week?Areas covered, availability, rough prices, how long a job takes.
- Do enquiries arrive in more than one place?Phone, WhatsApp, email, Facebook, your website, Google.
- Do you miss calls while you're on a job and call back later?
- Do you type the same details into more than one place?Customer name, address and job notes copied from a message into a notebook or spreadsheet.