Start · Starting a service business
Quit dreaming. Start building.
Most new owners build a business that needs them for everything, then spend years trying to undo it. Let's skip that part.
- Program
- Quitter Launch
- Length
- 6 months
- For
- New service businesses, and side hustles going full-time
- You leave with
- A business set up right, your first customers, and systems that don't need you for everything
What is Start?
Start is for people starting a service business, or in their first year of running one.
For 6 months we work with you to set it up right: prove people will pay, price for profit, handle the legal and money setup, and put simple systems in place before you get busy.
Most new owners skip this and end up with a business that needs them for everything. Start is how you avoid that.
Right for you if
- You're about to start, or started in the last 12 months
- You're good at the work and want help with the business side
- You can commit set hours every week
Not the right fit if
- You already have crews and steady customers (see Fix)
- You want someone else to run it for you
Sound familiar?
Where new owners get stuck
- You're great at the work. Running the business? Less sure.
- You're not sure what to charge, so you guess low
- LLC, EIN, bank account, insurance, licenses… where do you even start?
- Business and personal money live in the same account
- You're figuring it all out alone, at night, on YouTube
- You're about to build yourself a job with worse hours
What we do together
Build it right the first time
Talk to real customers and land paying work before you spend big.
Prices built from your real costs, your time and a margin, not from what the other guy charges.
Entity, banking, insurance and licenses, with a clean line between your money and the business's.
Build a business credit profile early, before you need a truck loan.
Know exactly who you serve and have a simple way to turn calls into booked jobs.
Scheduling, invoicing, follow-up and AI tools set up now, so you're not running it all by hand later.
Timeline
Your first 6 months
- Weeks 1–2Test the idea
Pick your first customer, talk to buyers, confirm people will pay
- Weeks 2–3Set your offer & price
Build pricing from real costs, margin and your time
- Weeks 3–4Set up the business
Entity, EIN, bank account, licenses, insurance
- Month 2Systems & tools
Scheduling, invoicing, a simple CRM and follow-up, with AI where it helps
- Month 2Sales process
A repeatable way to turn calls and quotes into booked jobs
- Month 3Open for business
Land first customers, track every number, fix what's not working
- Month 4Marketing you can measure
One or two channels where you know what a customer costs
- Month 5Business credit
Keep building your profile and get financing-ready
- Month 6First help & review
Hand off your first tasks, review results, plan the next 6 months
Accountability
Your Launch scorecard
For a new business we track proof, setup and your first systems. We set your starting point in week one and check it at month 3 and month 6.
| Metric | Starting | Month 3 | Month 6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paying customers | 0 | 8 | 25 |
| Monthly revenue | $0 | $6K | $15K |
| Profit margin per job | Unknown | 30% | 40% |
| Setup done (entity, EIN, bank, licenses) | 0 of 4 | 4 of 4 | 4 of 4 |
| Systems running (scheduling, invoicing, CRM, follow-up) | 0 of 4 | 3 of 4 | 4 of 4 |
| Business credit accounts reporting | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Your hours per week on admin | 12 | 6 | 3 |
Example scorecard. These are illustrative targets, not promised results. Your targets are set from your own numbers.
How ready are you to launch?
10 quick questions. You get your score and the first things to fix, free.