1. GROSS vs. NET REVENUE

Dialing in on exactly how much you need to charge for services and the items you provide on the job will keep your business profitable. Field service business owners often make the mistake of only looking at their gross revenue to gauge where their business stands in the industry, therefore leaving out a key factor.

Gross revenue does not take into account what it cost you to provide a service or product. In order to see the complete picture of your business performance, focus on both net revenue and gross revenue. You will want to use these two numbers to dial in exactly how much you should charge to get the desired profit for the work you do.

Do you have trouble accurately gathering these metrics? Today, many field service business owners use products like the SAWIN Field Service Management Software to track both the cost of a product along with the rate you charge to the customer. SAWIN gives you profit percentages and easy-to-read charts, so you can instantly tell how much you make from your jobs. The field service software also allows you to gather all of this information into a single report, giving you an accurate reading of where your business stands.

2. EMPLOYEE PRODUCTION

Employee production is extremely important to the performance of your business. Businesses heavily rely on their employees to keep operations running smoothly and efficiently. It is imperative that you equip your employees with everything they need to successfully complete their jobs.

You can measure much of an employee’s production based on the amount of time they spend on jobs. It’s crucial to stay on top of an employee’s unaccounted time, production time, and travel time. Focus on exploring better options that minimize unaccounted and travel time to maximize a tech’s day out in the field.

• Unaccounted Time – Any time where the tech is on the clock and getting paid without working on anything specific to a customer or job. Although it may be impossible to completely eliminate this, you will want to avoid unaccounted time whenever possible, as it costs your business money.
• Production Time – You should have an accurate estimate on how long various jobs take to complete. Also account for troubleshooting time when there are unforeseen obstacles on the job. By making sure your employees stay on task and working throughout their day, you’ll put your business in a better position to achieve positive results.
• Travel Time – You should attempt to minimize travel time when possible. You want your techs spending their time working, not driving to job sites. SAWIN software offers valuable scheduling solutions that optimize daily and weekly work schedules to minimize drive time. Utilizing powerful scheduling software allows your techs to work at peak efficiency.

3. OPERATING COSTS

Keep track of all costs you encounter when running your business, even costs like truck/vehicle maintenance, office supplies, and any other costs not directly related to the products and services you offer. These often get overlooked or go unaccounted for. As a result, your numbers won’t be accurate and it will be difficult to track your true gains and losses. Don’t let this be the downfall of your growth strategy.

Capturing and monitoring the materials, equipment, labor, office supplies, vehicle maintenance, and so on for every job or project plays a crucial role in protecting your budget. Every project, from service and maintenance to construction, requires the identification of potential risks in advance. Field service job costing software, such as SAWIN, gives you a quick breakdown of job costs based on materials, equipment, PO, commissions, labor burden and so on, so you can see your profit on every type of job, task, or project.