Your tradie AI workbook.
A short sit-down for you, about 30 minutes with a coffee. Don't just read it, fill it in. By the end you'll know what the leaks are costing you, which fix to start with, and what your first 90 days look like. Type straight into the boxes and save as a PDF, or print it for the smoko table.
A rough honest guess for a normal week is plenty. This is just to see where the time and work are going.
This is usually the biggest leak. Fill in the rough numbers and do the simple sum at the bottom. It tends to be an eye-opener.
| Calls you reckon you miss in a week | |
| Of those, how many were likely genuine work | |
| Your average job value ($) | |
| Genuine missed jobs × average value = lost work per week ($) | |
| That figure × 50 weeks = lost work per year ($) |
If that yearly number made you wince, that's the point. It's also the cheapest leak to plug.
Score each one out of 5 for how much it'd help and how easy it'd be to start. High help plus easy start is your first move. For most tradies that's the missed-call text-back.
| The fix | Help (1-5) | Easy (1-5) | Start? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Missed-call text-back | |||
| AI receptionist (after-hours calls) | |||
| Quoting from photos | |||
| Smart scheduling and reminders | |||
| Recurring jobs that book themselves | |||
| Same-day invoicing and reminders | |||
| Automatic review requests |
Write down the one fix you're starting with and what "done and working" looks like. One clear job beats a vague plan to "sort out the admin".
One step at a time. Prove each one pays before you add the next. Most people start with the missed-call fix.