PlumbingBossPro Blog — Running a Plumbing Business

The First-Year Checklist for a New Plumbing Business

The first year of a plumbing business goes by in a blur. Calls, supply runs, late nights and the constant feeling that something has been forgotten. A checklist helps. Not every item has to happen in the first week, but by the end of the first year, a plumbing company that has done most of these is in a far stronger place than one that has just been surviving.

Bring It All Together

This checklist pulls together the habits from across this series, ending with The Plumbing Business Owner's Weekly Routine. Use it to check where you stand and what to work on next. The legal, tax and licensing side of the business is between you, your accountant and your local authorities, so it is not covered here.

First Month: Set Up the Basics

• Pick business software and set it up before the first call. See Getting a New Plumbing Business Off Paper From Day One.
• Enter your services and prices: service call, drain cleaning, main line, water heater flush, water heater replacement and anything else you sell.
• Set up sales tax so invoices are right from the start.
• Add yourself as a tech with a PIN and install the tech app on your phone.
• Import any customers you already have with a CSV import, or add them by hand.
• Set up your free online business listing with real photos and an accurate service area.
• Letter the van with your name, phone number and website.

First Three Months: Build Good Habits

• Record equipment at every house you visit: water heater, softener, sump pump, main shut-off, sewer cleanout, with brand, model, serial and year installed.
• Take before and after photos on every job.
• Ask for a card on file at booking for repeat customers.
• Bill at completion, every time, with every piece of work on the job as a line item.
• Turn on reminder texts and on-the-way and arrived texts.
• Ask happy customers for a review the same day.
• Start a weekly money review, even if it only takes twenty minutes.

First Six Months: Build Recurring Work

• Create a yearly water heater flush plan and offer it after every good visit.
• Add softener service, backflow tests or grease-line jetting if your customers need them.
• Set each recurring service by minimum days between visits, so due visits land on the Waiting List.
• Put a sign-up form on your website so customers can sign up with their card captured.
• Introduce customers to the customer app for the live route map, invoices and payment.
• Reach out to at least a few property managers, landlords or restaurants nearby.

First Nine Months: Tighten the Business

• Work out your real cost per billable hour and check your prices against it.
• Write down your procedures for booking, arriving, closing out jobs and billing.
• Set up estimate templates for the jobs you quote most, like water heater replacements.
• Set a weekly collections routine for declined cards and past-due invoices.
• Track where new customers come from with a tag or custom field.
• Start a cash cushion for slow weeks.

End of Year One: Look Ahead

• Review the year: what kind of work paid best, which months were busy and which were slow.
• Review every price on your service list.
• Decide what kind of company you want to be in a few years and write a one-page growth plan.
• Set triggers for the second van and for office help.
• Make sure the records would let another plumber walk into any of your customers' houses with what they need.
• Plan for the freeze season and the holidays before they arrive.
• Take some time off. You earned it.

When the triggers for the next van are close, read Adding a Second Van to a Plumbing Business: When and How.

It Does Not Have to Be Perfect

Very few owners check every box in their first year. That is fine. The point is to know what matters and keep moving toward it. A plumbing company that bills every job, records every house, builds recurring work and looks at its numbers every week is ahead of most, even if the van is still a little messy.

Come back to this list every few months. Each time, you will see more boxes checked and a business that is easier to run.

Your Second Year Starts Here

The first year is about building the foundation. The second is about building on it, with more customers on plans, more vans and maybe someone in the office. Everything in this series is about making that growth calmer and more profitable. For the full picture of running a plumbing company on one system, visit the PlumbingBossPro plumbing business software page.