How to get your first customers as a new contractor
You’re licensed, insured and ready to work. Now the phone has to ring. These are the free and low-cost basics that work for most new home-service businesses.
Free means all of it
Free software
Dispatch, estimates, invoicing and reporting, for $0 a month.
Free scheduling
A dispatch board, recurring jobs and online booking requests.
Free accounting
A real double-entry ledger built in, so you can drop QuickBooks.
Free AI call assistant
Answers your calls 24/7, answers questions, takes booking requests and messages, and transfers to you. How it works.
Unlimited users
Every tech, dispatcher and office person, $0 each.
The honest part
Payments you take cost Stripe's fee plus our 1%, and optional bill pay from your accounting is $39 a month per office. That's how we earn.
1. Make it easy to find you on Google
Create a free Google Business Profile with your real business name, service area, hours, phone and photos of your work and truck. Pick the most accurate primary category for your trade. Keep the details the same everywhere they appear.
2. Give people a way to book
A simple website with your services, service area, license number (where your state requires it on ads) and a booking button turns searches into jobs. MyHomeService360 includes a free website with booking built in: pick a template, it fills in from your business profile, and you publish in one click.
3. Answer every call
New businesses lose work to voicemail. Forward your line to your phone, and use an answering service or an AI call assistant for after-hours and busy times. Ours is free and tells callers it’s an AI.
4. Ask every happy customer for a review
Ask right after the job, while they’re pleased, with a direct link. Never pay for reviews or offer anything in exchange for a positive one; that breaks Google’s rules and the FTC’s.
5. Start with the people around you
- Neighbors of every job: a polite door hanger or a note saying you were working on the street.
- Property managers, real estate agents and home inspectors, who see repairs every week.
- Local community groups, where recommendations are common.
6. Trade referrals with other trades
An HVAC tech sees plumbing problems; a plumber sees electrical ones. On the MyHomeService360 referral network, when you refer another trade and that job is paid, your company earns a share of the network fee, and other trades can send work to you.
7. Look professional from the first visit
Show up on time, send an on-my-way text, give a clear written estimate, and make paying easy. All of that is in the free software, so a one-truck shop looks as organized as a big one.
“I’ve got a person for you.” Get paid for it.
Your techs see what else a house needs. On the MyHomeService360 network, when your AC tech refers a plumber on the network and the plumbing job sells and gets paid, your company earns a share of the network fee. The business that receives the referral pays nothing for the lead itself, only a network fee after the job is booked and paid. How the referral network works.
Questions people ask
Do I need a website if I have a Google Business Profile?
It helps. A website gives you a booking page, a place for your services and reviews, and something to link from your profile. Ours is free.
Should I pay for leads?
That’s your call. Start with the free basics above, and track where every job comes from so you know what’s worth paying for.
Set up your account in about two minutes.
No card, no contract, no sales call. Pick your business type, and you'll land in your dashboard with a starter price book and a short setup checklist.
Get started free