I have a very very active spring and summer, so much so that I booked out most of the Fall before summer was even over. Now I'm trying to book up just a few more weeks before winter hits and Facebook ads are returning much less leads and less of them are turning into actual jobs I talked to three other guys running mulchers in my vicinity and they're all seeing the same thing, downturn that seems to have started in August. Anybody else seeing anything similar?

I'm looking to launch another ad for forestry mulching, and hoping to release a banger. Just curious if anyone has had a real hit - what was different about it? I've only run one ad so far - a video ad through Meta Ads Manager. I ran it for about 2 weeks before it had decayed enough that I pulled it down. I got 27 leads, quoted 11 and sold 5. I think I have a couple more of those leads I can work further and make a sale down the road, and a couple that I sold and completed will likely be in touch for future work. Not a terrible turnout in my opinion - I think I spent $510 to run the ad for 14 days.

OK for those of you who have followed the template offered here by Austin and Jacob, you have probably reached the "I can't juggle this much anymore" phase. What is the first step? Jobber or something similar? If so, exactly HOW has it helped take some of the day to day time consuming parts of this business away? Yesterday while in the skid 8 hours I responded to 7 leads. All within 30 seconds of getting them. The META algorithm is now clicking on all cylinders and most of my leads are actually GOOD leads, which leads to another problem; How to visit this many sites to give quotes? I really only have Saturdays to do quotes and so far I have 11 visits this Saturday with 3 more days of leads to come in. So far, nobody has fallen through the cracks but I'm at the point that it could (will) happen. None of these are $20k jobs, mostly $1k -$2k jobs. Do I start weeding them out waiting for larger jobs? I can only do so many. It's just me. BTW, I am in my second month of this adventure. I'm in Central Florida and it's supposed to be saturated with mulching people. What I've gathered is that most of them are just waiting for jobs to come to them. Any and all help is appreciated. Just don't know what trigger to pull next.

Busy week, so figured I'd actually write it up instead of just telling myself I would. Filed the LLC myself this week. Went straight through NH's site instead of LegalZoom, saved the markup for basically the same paperwork, done in an afternoon. EIN came back from the IRS the next day. Also finally sat down and ran a real trademark search on the name instead of just assuming it was fine. Nothing conflicting showed up, so that's closed out. Applied for a business bank account too (still pending review) and got Google Workspace set up with a real business email off my personal Gmail. Small thing but it'd been bugging me. Also got real equipment quotes this week instead of just running numbers in a spreadsheet. Hit Bobcat, Cat, Deere, and the local Takeuchi dealer. Bobcat's the clear leader right now on a skid steer and mulcher package. Cat was the most put-together dealer of the bunch, best warranty and best service commitment, but $34k to $59k more for a comparable setup. Deere couldn't quote me on the spot. The Takeuchi dealer's out, didn't have the road service or dealer support I'd need. Nothing's bought yet, but I've got real numbers to compare now instead of guessing. Stopped at a local trailer dealer while I was out there too. Got a contact and I'm feeling good about buying through them when the time comes. Truck's on the radar for December. (F450/F550, 2022+) Also got a real insurance quote range back and I'm comparing two CPA candidates before I actually need one. I know all of this is really far out from actually cutting brush for money. April 2027 launch is the planned date. But I'd rather have the boring stuff, LLC, EIN, insurance, equipment relationships, locked down now than scrambling to figure it out once things get busy. On the personal side: My wife and I had our first son on September 5th. Life's been a little crazy since. But being off my regular job right now has actually been a huge blessing, it's meant we could go do these dealer visits together during a normal workday instead of squeezing it into evenings and weekends. Plus, who doesn't love showing their 8-day old equipment?

Do you guys quote on site while doing the site walk or do you just collect info and send an official quote? My initial thought was to send the quote through Jobber but I am pretty sure customers will be looking for a number in person or at least a "ballpark" number.