The most common question we hear from tradespeople and small operators: "Should I hire someone to handle the admin, or should I automate it?"
The answer isn't always automation. But it's automation more often than most people think.
The Framework
Ask yourself three questions about the task:
1. Is it structured and repetitive?
If the task follows the same steps every time — send an invoice after a job, follow up on a quote after 3 days, text the client a booking reminder — it's a prime candidate for automation.
If it requires judgment, problem-solving, or a conversation with a real person, that's where humans are better.
2. Does it scale with volume?
Tasks that increase with every new client — sending quotes, chasing late payments, booking callouts, updating job records — are expensive to solve with hiring. Every new client means more admin hours.
Automation handles volume increases without adding cost.
3. What's the error cost?
Manual work introduces mistakes. A follow-up you forgot to send might cost you a $10,000 renovation job. A quote you sent to the wrong client causes embarrassment. An invoice you forgot to chase doesn't get paid for months.
Automated systems don't forget, don't get tired, and don't make copy-paste errors.
When to Hire Instead
Hire when the work requires:
- Meeting a homeowner to assess a job — clients want to talk to a real person before committing
- Diagnosing why a boiler keeps cutting out — the answer changes every time
- Creative problem-solving — working out how to route plumbing in a tricky renovation
- Being on-site to do the actual work — no robot is replacing you on the tools
The Hybrid Approach
The best operators do both: automate the repetitive admin, then hire people for the skilled work. This means every person you bring on spends 100% of their time on billable work.
That's how you increase profit per hour worked — not by hiring someone to do your paperwork, but by removing the paperwork entirely.