If you’ve been reading industry articles over the past couple of months, you’ve probably seen plenty telling you to get ready for 2026. Well, guess what? It’s here.
So, did you do it? Odds are, you didn’t. Most contractors don’t take the time to sit down and seriously look at their business for the coming year and plan for profitability.
I get it—you’ve probably said things like:
“I can’t plan next year. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t have a crystal ball.”
But let’s be honest—those are just excuses.
As a business owner, you need to put some puzzle pieces in place now so that when you get to the end of 2026, it looks the way you hoped. Let’s talk about a few key things you need to have in place.
Do You Really Know Your Numbers?
The most foundational thing you can do to help your company’s profitability is this: know your numbers.
I had a conversation recently with a colleague who said marketing is the most important thing. His words: “Without marketing, you can’t succeed.”
While that’s true, there’s something even more important. If you don’t know exactly what you need to charge per hour to cover your costs and generate a reasonable profit, you’re guessing.
And if you’re not priced properly, the more work you get from marketing, the faster you’ll lose money.
Before the days of Grandy & Associates, our founder Tom Grandy worked for the Dial One franchise. They were great at teaching sales and marketing. Franchisees would join, grow their sales—and then go out of business. Why? They weren’t priced right. They sold more work… at a loss.
You have to get your pricing in place now so you can be profitable as you grow.
Get a Budget in Place
Here’s a shocking stat: only about 5% of contractors nationwide create a budget for their company.
Why? Common answers include:
“I don’t know what’s going to happen next year.”
“I don’t have time.”
“I’m not going to use it anyway.”
“I don’t know how.”
None of those reasons hold water. Your month-by-month cash flow budget is your roadmap to December 2026. Without it, you’re just wandering through the year hoping for profitability.
And here’s the kicker: an annual budget isn’t enough. Every home services business has seasonality. If you lose money every January, February, and March, looking at December’s profit doesn’t help.
You need to plan cash flow through those negative months. That projected profit at year-end is meaningless if you went out of business in May.
Get Systems in Place
Think about McDonald’s for a second. What’s the average age of their employees? Under 18. Yet, when was the last time you saw a McDonald’s close?
Why? Systems. McDonald’s has systems for everything. When you order a Big Mac, there’s a process that dictates exactly how it’s made. Doesn’t matter which location—you get the same Big Mac every time.
Your business needs the same thing. Without systems, employees either wait for you to tell them what to do or they shoot from the hip. Either way, you become the bottleneck.
Develop systems for everything you do. Your team should know: When A happens, we do B—every time. The better your systems, the smoother your operation runs.
Learn to Delegate
One of the biggest challenges for owners? They’re doers. When a problem pops up, they jump in and fix it.
That’s not healthy for your business. The more you jump in, the less your team will. Sure, they’ll make mistakes—but that’s how they learn.
Teach your team how to respond when problems arise. Train them to think like you and make decisions you’d make. If you can do that, you can step away and the business will keep running.
Failure to delegate makes you the lid on your company. It keeps your business from growing beyond you.
You Can’t Manage What You Can’t Measure
Take a look at the key performance indicators (KPIs) you’re tracking. If you’re not measuring, you’re managing by gut feel—and your gut lies.
We’ve seen it over and over: the tech you think is your most productive? Usually not even in the top 50%.
The only way to know is to measure and compare performance to your team and industry standards.
Start small. Track one KPI—like revenue per billable hour, revenue per ticket, first-time completion percentage, or collections rate. Once you master one, add another.
Focus on the area of greatest bleeding first. Fix that, then move to the next. It’s a constant improvement process.
Final Thoughts
Managing your business isn’t for the faint of heart. You can’t just show up every day and hope things work out. There’s no silver bullet to profitability—just a lot of small steps.
Address each one, and they’ll add up to real profit at year-end.
Need help? Check out our Contractor Academy for over 250 lessons on business and technical skills, plus our industry-recognized Planning for Profit software.
Find it at GrandyAssociates.com.