Do you need to give your employees a certain number of paid holidays off to stay compliant? 

Your yearly financial goals may entice you to be stingy with paid time off (PTO) like Scrooge, but your fear of turnover and legal complications might make you feel generous like Santa.

In reality, you shouldn’t choose between profits and employees because both are crucial to your success. But each has unique needs, and you need to create a paid holiday policy that fulfills them all as well as possible.

While we can’t tell you exactly what policy will be right for you, we can walk you through the steps you should follow when it’s time to determine which paid holidays to offer your team.

What are the most common paid holidays in the US?

It may be a relief to hear that the federal government doesn’t require small business owners in the private sector to give employees paid holidays. Even so, employers offer their staff members an average of eight paid holidays per year. 

The most common paid holidays in the United States are:

• New Year’s Day (January 1st)
• Memorial Day (May 27th, 2024)
• Independence Day (July 4th)
• Labor Day (September 2nd, 2024)
• Thanksgiving Day (November 23rd, 2023 and November 28th, 2024)
• Friday after Thanksgiving (November 24th, 2023 and November 29th, 2024)
• Christmas Day (December 25th)

However, some employers also choose to honor additional national, religious, and cultural holidays like:

• Martin Luther King Junior Day (January 15th, 2024)
• President’s Day (February 19th, 2024)
• Good Friday (March 29th, 2024)
• Easter (March 31st, 2024)
• Eid al-Fitr (April 10th, 2024)
• Vaisaki (April 13th, 2024)
• Eid al-Adha (June 16th, 2024)
• Juneteenth (June 19th)
• Rosh Hashanah (September 15th – 17th, 2023 and October 2nd – 4th, 2024)
• Yom Kippur (September 24th – 25th, 2023 and October 11th – 12th, 2024)
• Columbus Day/Indigenous People’s Day (October 9th, 2023 and October 14th, 2024)
• Veteran’s Day (November 11th)
• Diwali (November 12th, 2023 and November 1, 2024)
• Christmas Eve (December 24th)
• Day after Christmas (December 26th)
• New Year’s Eve (December 31st)

How to decide on your PTO policy in 4 steps

It’s unlikely that your team members will ever be mad about extra time off. It can boost morale, prevent them from burning out, and even strengthen your local reputation as an employer that cares about work-life balance. But how do you ensure it’s making the right impact for your employees without affecting your bottom line? These four steps can help you design a practical yet effective PTO policy for your small business.

1. Consider your financials

Depending on your industry, certain seasons of the year may be more lucrative than others. For example, if you operate a small housewares store, you probably experience your biggest rush around Thanksgiving and Christmas. That doesn’t mean you should avoid giving paid holidays around a profitable period, but consider:

• Past sales data from the holidays in question. For example, Homebase’s labor costing tool lets you break down your labor spending by hour, department, and role. You can compare that data against your holiday traffic and sales to see whether it’s worth staying open for specific holidays and, if so, how many staff members you’ll need. 
• The projected budget for that time of year should account for expected revenue, typical expenses, and cash flow.
• Extra expenses related to specific holidays. These might include the wages you have to pay seasonal employees, overtime pay, or holiday bonuses.

If you realize your profits will be stretched thin over specific holidays, it doesn’t mean your PTO options are completely off the table. However, you might have to implement marketing and sales promotions strategically and ahead of time, which can boost your revenue and give you enough extra profits to pay team members for the days you’re closed.

2. Reach out to your peers and research your competitors 

You can learn from your fellow business owners’ experiences regarding paid holidays. It’s possible, for example, that your friend who also owns a small restaurant has discovered that her employees prefer to work Christmas Eve because customers tip especially well. 

When consulting your peers on what they’ve learned regarding paid holidays, ask:

• Which paid holidays do you currently offer, and how did you figure out which ones work best for employees?
• Do you offer floating or flexible holiday options?
• Are there any specific cultural or religious considerations you’ve kept in mind?
• What positive results have you noticed as a result of offering paid holidays?
• Are you considering updating your paid holiday policy in the future?

You should also investigate what your competitors are doing so you can offer a PTO policy that sets you apart as a better, more considerate employer. Focus on similar-sized businesses within your community and industry that cater to the same customer base. Once you’ve narrowed your competitors down, you should:

• Comb their websites and social media platforms for information about their PTO policies, if available.
• Check out Glassdoor reviews to see if employees have left reviews about paid holidays.
• Reach out to anyone you know who might have worked for them in the past or may work for them now. 
• Use a platform like Reddit to connect with your competitors’ current and former employees. Ask them what PTO policies their employers offered, as well as which holidays they’d prefer to take off.

3. Ask team members which holidays work best for them

Today’s small business employees may not be used to their bosses asking them to weigh in on policies and processes. Just prompting them to share their input on paid holidays could help you stand out in a positive way. But remember — you need to take action on their feedback to earn their long-term trust.

You can use a tool like Typeform or Google Forms to create an anonymous survey and share it via your team chat app. Be sure to explain that you intend to use the survey to update your paid holiday policy so team members will feel more motivated to participate. Include questions like:

• Which holidays are most important to you personally, and why?
• Do you have any cultural or religious holidays that you wish were offered in our PTO policy?
• Would you prefer a fixed list of holidays or the option to choose some holidays based on your needs and preferences?
• Were there any holidays in the past that you felt we didn’t need to be open or working?
• What family or personal considerations should we be aware of when creating our PTO policy?
• Would you be willing to work on specific holidays if you received overtime pay or other incentives? If so, which?
• Do you feel our paid holidays are evenly distributed throughout the year? If not, please elaborate.
• What suggestions or concerns do you have regarding our PTO policy?

Share everyone’s answers with the entire team anonymously once you’ve gathered and organized them. Doing so helps you build trust and reassure team members that their input directly impacts the paid holidays you provide.

4. Determine when you’ll close your doors — and when you’ll stay open

Having weighed your financial situation, your peers’ advice, competitor research, and employee feedback, it’s time to decide which holidays you’ll close your business. If possible, offer a balanced combination of public and religious holidays to cater to your team members’ needs and preferences. And, regarding the religious holidays, make sure to honor your employees’ cultural traditions equally. 

Then, use Homebase to create and customize your PTO policy. Our platform lets you configure PTO rules for holidays separately so employees don’t have to use their regularly accrued PTO on holidays when you’re not open. 

Thankfully, calculating holiday pay when your business is closed is simple. For hourly employees, you’ll pay them their regular wages multiplied by their average daily hours. So, if they usually work eight hours a day and you pay them $17 an hour, their holiday pay would be $136.

However, employees may prefer to work some holidays, especially in industries known for tipping. You might also choose to stay open on holidays like Christmas Eve or the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) due to increased customer traffic and incentivize team members with time-and-a-half pay. In that case, you’d multiply their regular daily pay by 1.5. If we use the previous example and multiply $136 by 1.5, the employee’s overtime pay would amount to $204. 

Although it’s not legally required on a federal level, overtime pay for holidays is a great way to reward your employees for their willingness to work. 

Simplify paid holidays and keep employees smiling with Homebase

Even if you can’t offer your employees as many paid holidays as you’d like, team members will notice the effort you put into creating a policy with their needs in mind. That level of mindfulness and care will translate into more motivated, productive employees who want to keep working for you in the long term.

It also makes a difference when you use the right technology to ensure you implement your policy accurately and avoid mistakes, like PTO, scheduling, and time tracking tools.

Homebase can take the stress out of creating a PTO and paid holiday policy, keep shifts full, and track employee hours correctly. With our free time tracking and paid time off feature, you can create PTO and holiday rules that make sense for you and ensure paid holidays are reflected in employee timesheets. Our built-in, easy-to-use scheduling feature lets you set up staff timetables in minutes based on their pre-approved availability. The cherry on top is our HR and compliance feature, which allows you to consult directly with HR experts who can review your PTO policies and ensure you’re doing everything by the book.

With Homebase, you can rest easy knowing that you’ve got the tools you need to keep your team members satisfied and your business on the right track.

The post Santa or Scrooge? A Small Business Guide to Paid Holidays appeared first on Homebase.

In this article, we break down sustainable strategies you can use to help you scale your construction business.

How to know if your construction business is ready for growth 

Choosing to expand any business takes some major consideration, analysis, and thought before deciding to take the plunge. If you’re thinking about expanding, here are some signs that you should take the leap:

• You have more incoming requests than you can handle | Finding there’s no room in your schedule for even simple phone calls or consultations? It might be time to add some help to your team to screen those initial phone calls and quotes.
• Your schedule is backed up months in advance | The phrase “booked and busy” comes to mind, and your business fits that bill. If you’re backed up more than 6 months in advance, expanding your business can help reduce the amount of time customers have to wait.
• Your profits are far exceeding your business expenses | Sure, businesses aim to be profitable. But if you have a surplus in profit, why not invest those funds back into your business?

3 barriers to growth in construction 

When you’re looking to grow your business, it’s important that your growth is both intentional and sustainable. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, approximately 1 in 5 businesses fail within their first year. Too much growth too quickly is often the downfall for new businesses.

If you’re wanting to grow your businesses sustainably, keep an eye out for these barriers that may get in your way.

1. Taking on too much work

Saying yes to all of the projects coming your way seems like a sure fire way to grow your business—right? While doing more work will earn you more money, stay conscious of your team’s ability to manage. If you don’t, you run the risk of running your crew down, and the quality of work may decrease. If you want to guarantee customer satisfaction, only take on what your team can handle. 

2. A drop in service quality

When you take steps to grow your business, that requires delegating more work to team members. That means stepping away from being super involved, which can be tough. And unfortunately, that may result in a drop in quality if your team doesn’t take the same level of care into their craftsmanship.

This can be avoided. Make sure the employee you delegate major responsibilities to shares the same level of care and consideration to the end product. Look at the people on your team who are consistently performing well, and crafting good work without being prompted. 

When you’re looking to add new people onto your team, make quality a top priority in your candidates. You can screen your candidates by asking them for portfolios for their work, or conducting reference checks from past managers. 

3. Not investing in the right tools

If you’re looking for places that you can save on costs, you don’t want those to be the tools you use to conduct your business. Investing in good quality tools and equipment is important both for your craft and the safety of your team. If one of your tools suddenly breaks in the middle of a job, this can unexpectedly set you back thousands of dollars and hours of work. 

Instead, consider introducing consistent times to both upgrade and maintain your existing tools to ensure that they’re in good working order. That way you can carve a set budget aside specifically for the maintenance of your tools. The alternative? Receiving an unexpected expense in the middle of a job. 

Tip: This doesn’t just include hammers and nails. A tool like Homebase helps you pay your crew, create schedules, and share info. The more seamlessly those tools work, the better off you’ll be.

The importance of a construction business plan

Creating a strategic plan for the growth of  your business is a smart way to start your construction business expansion. A construction business plan will help you understand where your business is, what kind of growth you want to achieve, and what you need to do to get to that point.

A construction business plan commonly includes:

• Business summary or executive summary | This is a high level overview of your construction business, and what goals you want to achieve.
• Company description | This details your company, what services you offer, your team members, and how you plan to conduct service.
• Competitive research | What your competitors offer, their pricing strategy, how they market, and how your business is different.
• Financial overview | Your current financial status. Includes regularly occurring expenses, your current profits, and any loans or funding that you currently have.
• Marketing strategy | How your company plans to find new clients, both digitally and otherwise. 

Strategies for growing your construction business 

There are a handful of strategies that can help you grow your construction business, but deciding where to focus can be a challenge. Here are different areas that you can focus on to help your construction business expand.

1. Implement smart marketing strategies

Marketing strategies can help increase the amount of incoming quotes and requests your business receives. This helps expand your existing client base. While word of mouth is the most common way construction businesses grow their clientele, investing in good marketing strategies can help. 

Start local: list your business on common business listing sites such as Yelp, Angie’s List, or NextDoor. 

Updating your website with good lead capturing strategies is another idea. Add something simple like a quote request or a call back form, making it easy for clients to contact you. Bonus: you can easily pick and choose which incoming clients you’re be willing to work with.

2. Hire the right team members

If you have more customers to service, you’ll have more work to complete. As much as you would want to do all the work alone, you’re going to need some help if you’re looking to take on additional clients.

Trying to find the right people to help expand your business is challenging, especially when it comes to the construction industry. You want to make sure that your contractors have relevant experience, certifications, and that the work they complete is to your quality standard. Using a hiring tool like Homebase can help you source new team members quickly and onboard them onto your team with ease.

3. Specialize in your own niche

A jack of all trades is a master of none, and construction clients want someone who specializes to ensure they’re getting the right person for the job. The more you generalize, the harder it is to find clients.

Specializing makes it easy for past clients to refer you for specific projects, and it’s easier for new customers to find you. Identify a specific subset in construction you like to do. Maybe you like working with cabinetry, or you’re good at leveling flooring. Whatever it is, specialize in it, create good work, and happy clients will share the word.

4. Partner with other business owners

Consider how your construction business interacts with other related businesses. For example, if you’re an electrician, you might want to partner with some real estate agents who specialize in selling fixer-uppers. If you enjoy doing tiling work, maybe partner with an interior designer who works with kitchens and bathrooms. 

Strategic partnerships can help provide you with a steady stream of business without much effort. As long as you do great work in a friendly way, people will be willing to partner with you. 

Business tools to help manage growth 

Construction workers have an entire belt of tools to get their work done. But often, construction business owners fail to stock the tools that can help manage their business. Software and other digital tools can help you stay organized and keep the administrative side of the business flowing without much heavy lifting. 

These are the best tools to consider to help with construction business growth:

• Construction project management software | This can help keep your clients, quotes, and workflows organized so you can easily tell when projects are on track or at risk.
• Website management tool | Organize your website and manage incoming digital quotes with website management tools. Most website hosting websites offer this as part of your package. 
• Business management software: Think about a tool like Homebase to help cover off all your administrative tasks. Payroll, hiring, time clocks and more: completely taken care of, and entirely integrated. Nice.

The post Top 4 Strategies to Grow Your Construction Business appeared first on Homebase.

When it comes to small business life and deciding whether or not to remain the same or scale, there are a lot of factors involved before charting a new course. Often, small business owners need to ask themselves whether it’s time to grow. Even if it is, how do you know? And what are the tools you’ll need to get through it? 

Not only that, any type of business—from small to IPO—considers the financial factors involved. Is the investment worth it? 

Ahead, we’ll give you the inside scoop on all things related to small business growth, including a few very important tools you can use to actually grow your business without having to spend a small fortune.

Why would you want to grow your small business?

The definition of success is very different for every business, and the outcome even more so. One business may have revenue goals as its success marker, while another may see community impact as its key achievement. 

The success of your small business is a key sign that you might want to grow your business. Of course, there are other factors that also go into that decision. Why you’d want to grow your small business at all comes down to very similar basics: demand, profit, longevity. 

Demand

If you have customers coming to your business for a specific product or service, but you find that you’re unable to meet an increase in demand, you may consider growth to accommodate.

This could look like growing physical space, like retail, or increasing the amount of product you need to have on hand to sell to customers. It could also look like hiring more employees to accommodate an influx of buyers. Perhaps the idea of satisfying your current customer base, while knowing you’re able to reach new customers, is enough for you. 

Profit 

Hand-in-hand with demand is profit. Small businesses reaching profit or exceeding profit goals may want to alter those goals to accommodate. If a business knows that it can easily reach such profit goals, then it may be time to consider expansion to see if they can grow even more. 

Longevity 

Most, not not all small businesses may want to be around for a long time. Think a mom-and-pop shop with no one to pass it down to: they may want to sell the business when they reach a certain age, but they don’t have the energy or know-how into building it more for a bigger sale.

How long you want your business to exist, particularly at each phase of growth or for customer demand, becomes a key factor in conversations around scaling and expansion. 

Is your small business ready for the growth phase?

Running a small business can keep you busy enough. Trying to figure out if you’re ready to grow while doing all of that may seem like a lot.

We’ve got you covered. Here, we’ve broken down key factors for you to use as a checklist for your business’s growth readiness. 

Team growth 

Hiring additional employees and keeping your business efficiently staffed is a clear indication that your small business is ready for its growth. How much your team has grown is dependent on your business. If you were a business of one, and now you need at least four or five of you to manage day-to-day operations— and still you could use more—that’s a significant increase signaling that it may be time for overall growth. 

Unable to handle demand

Have you found an increase in customer demand for what your business offers, but you can’t accommodate everyone, leaving them frustrated or bummed out? Customer satisfaction is a massive part of any business, and having them leave out of disappointment isn’t ideal. 

Being in this position is helpful because you know that buyers are there, and they want to be part of what you sell. Let this guide you towards preparing for growing the business.  

Lots of cash and financial stability 

Increased revenue is always going to be the clearest numerical indicator your business is ready to grow. Having a lot of extra cash isn’t the best reason to grow—it also comes down to other financial factors because growth does involve spending some (or at least more) money.

Meeting or exceeding existing business goals 

Profit will tell you that you’re meeting your business goals (or not.) With an increase in cash revenue into your business, you may be meeting or exceeding the business goals you first set out with when you began your path of entrepreneurship. 

Business goals evolve over time in any case. Look for patterns in your goals, where they are being met or exceeded, and take note of how adjusting them in pursuit of overall growth impacts other parts of the business. 

Outgrowing space or resources

If you’ve ever been in a packed stockroom with no place to even think, consider this in your growth checklist. All of these aforementioned factors from demand to profit to team growth will impact how much product you’re bringing in and if you are resourced enough to fulfill customer needs. 

You know you’re ready 

There’s nothing quite like good ol’ intuition to guide you in this life—and business. Follow that same impulse that began as a thought or a need to start a business. A similar feeling or sentiment may arise when it comes to growth. When you’re ready to grow, you’ll know. 

10 ways to affordably grow your business

Alright: you’re ready to grow your business. You’ve got the customers, your team is ready to support you, and you’ve done the math. But there’s one thing lingering in the back of your mind: do you really need to spend a fortune to grow your business? 

Business growth doesn’t need to hinge on using capital or your financial resources. There are a lot of ways to effectively grow your business with your existing infrastructure and not make your bank account sad. 

Below are 10 tips to consider for affordably and smartly growing your business.

1. Start with a business plan for growth

There are a lot of tips from here on out that you can use to grow your business. But does that mean you should use all of them? Of course not. Small business growth depends on a specific set of factors for each business. Trying everything could mean you end up with nothing. 

Start at the beginning: create a business plan for your intended growth. Go back to your original business plan, with your original business goals, and draft a side-by-side comparison list of where you were and what you need to do for where you want to go. 

Strategy is crucial for growth execution. Without knowing what you want for business growth, you could end up testing or iterating in a way that counters the growth goals of your business. 

2. Do your research

Make informed decisions on the shape of your business’s growth. Do an abundance of research. Read articles, listen to podcasts, look up trend forecasts for your industry or the year ahead, talk to business owners who were in a similar position. Reaching out to your community of small business owners is a great way to find any blind spots in growth spending. Some may have unfortunately gone through that, but can be a great guide for you to avoid.

Data collection is extremely helpful in order to make sure you’re not spending too much on growth if you don’t need to. 

3. Nurture your existing clients and customer base

Keeping your existing customers and clients happy is the easiest way to grow your business without spending a lot of money. Retention is often underrated when pursuing growth. You don’t need to leave behind those who supported you from the start while courting new buyers or clients. 

Nurture your customers and clients at all touchpoints as a low-cost way to help your business grow. 

4. Use social media  

Every business needs to have some kind of social media presence. It’s simply the way of the world now! How you use social media, on the other hand, is another thing. 

Businesses can create their own content and tap into the engagement side of social media for brand awareness, product information, and customer service. And you really don’t need to drop any money on being able to effectively and efficiently respond to customers on Instagram. 

This is one of the simplest and most cost-effective methods of growing your brand. There are tools that, if you’re ready to later on, can help with social media growth but for the most part you can do it all through organic traffic on your own.

Be responsive, creative, and post often to keep customers engaged online. 

5. Automate task and time-consuming processes

Can you replace time spent doing manual tasks with automation? Imagine freeing up your time, or another employee’s, by automating some of the most grueling, time-consuming to-do items in your schedule. 

Investing in technologies and systems that can free up your time elsewhere, saving money in one area, will definitely help in your growth efforts. Think about all that you could do if you had a tool like Homebase to schedule your employees’ shifts for you, keep track of their hours for wages and pay, and file taxes on your behalf. 

There are a number of tools available for small businesses that are growth-friendly and won’t break the bank. 

6. Consider strategic partnerships with other business owners and influencers

Strategic partnerships are one of the easiest ways to help grow your business, and reach new customers or clients, is to partner with other business owners, or even influencers. 

Do your research on businesses or individuals in your industry that might want to be part of your partnership. Reach out to influencers on social media if you think they would be a great brand ambassador for your product or business. 

7. Incentivize customer referrals

Let your customers be your greatest brand ambassadors. Happy customers will tell other people about why your business rules. You can even incentivize them by providing small discounts on their next purchase if they refer someone to your business. 

8. Invest in corporate social responsibility and sustainability

Today’s buyers are very invested in corporate social responsibilities and sustainability. For example, in a joint McKinsey and NielsenIQ study on sustainability claims, businesses with such claims had a 28% growth over the past five years versus those that didn’t. If you show that you’re also invested in these issues, this can help your business’s growth.

Your business may not be at the stage to invest in these in a big, financial way, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help your community or the planet at-large. Become a spot for donations for clothing to take to a secondhand shop or food for unhoused folks that you take to another community spot. Encourage your customers to bring reusable bags, and have those available to buy if they don’t have one on hand. 

These small steps toward sustainable living can have a big impact on your customers, and how your business grows. 

9. Deliver superior customer or client service

It usually goes without saying that customer or client service is the key to a business’s survival but we’re going to make a point of it here. Your customers are your greatest advocates. Word-of-mouth support is still very crucial.

Make customer or client service a priority for you and your employees. This often means using soft skills, and creating a personalized, special experience for your customers. No money needs to be involved to ensure you’re meeting your customers’ needs. 

10. Measure success of your business plan often 

Go back to the beginning—again. Look at your growth business plan often. Ensure you have the right benchmarks for growth and see if you’re meeting them, or where you may be falling short. If you’ve freed up time in other parts of your business, without spending any money to do so, this is another cost-effective way to stay on top of your growth. 

What tools do you need to grow your small business?

Homebase is the perfect tool to help you grow your small business. Built for small business needs, Homebase has you covered to help you automate tasks, scheduling, payroll, compliance, and more—freeing up your time for other business growth tasks. 

Homebase integrates with other tools like payroll software, POS, job boards, and more. 

Connect to your employees with ease, and manage all things HR and compliance related with efficiency. Your administrative tasks don’t need to bog your efforts for growth. Manage new employees with streamlined hiring, onboarding, and scheduling. Keep teams happy with perks, so they can keep your customers happy. Try Homebase today. 

The post How to Grow Your Small Business: 10 Tips to Help You Scale Without the Spend appeared first on Homebase.

Ready to fuel your rocket ship?

What is a startup business loan?

A startup business loan is a form of financial support for businesses that are lacking a substantial business or credit background.

When you’re looking at securing a loan, you’ve got options. Common loan types, like term loans or U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans, are available for startups, but there are also alternative options like business credit cards or asset-based financing. But more on that later.

For founders who are less-than-traditional in how they source their funds, they can explore other loan types like crowdfunding so they can get the capital they need to kick-off their company, launch their product, or scaling up through new hires or locations.

Is your small business ready to take on a loan?

Got the itch to deliver a pitch? Then you might need to take on a loan to move your business idea from the whiteboard to the boardroom.

Here are four things to ask yourself to find the answer. 

Do you have a credit score?

We mentioned earlier that your business might not actually have one established just yet—and that’s okay. In that case, lenders might look at your personal FICO Score.  This score determines your creditworthiness by assessing five areas: your payment history, your current level of debt, types of credit you’ve used, the length of your credit history, and any new credit accounts you may have.

A score in the 600s is ideal for qualifying, but for some lenders, as low as 500 works, too. 

Are your financial records in order?

Next up are your tax returns and financial records. To get your financing, you’ll need to meet what’s called a lender’s annual revenue requirements. Essentially, this number is how much your business makes in a fiscal year. Lenders typically want to see a range between $36,000 to $100,000 or higher.

If you’re not hitting those numbers, don’t worry: you’ve got options.

Some businesses haven’t actually gone into business yet. And if that’s the case for your startup, a small business grant from your government or even your local community might be more up your alley. 

How long have you been in business?

Just because you’re a startup doesn’t mean you just, well, started up. In fact, in order to qualify for financing, most lenders require that you’ve been in business for a minimum of six months.

But like we said above, not every lender is the same, and not every type of loan has the same requirements. 

For example, some institutions and lenders don’t have a minimum, or if they do, it’s a little less than the six-month mark. To make sure you meet the qualifications before you spend your time filling out a lengthy application, make sure you complete your research beforehand.

Do you have a business plan?

Your business plan is your company’s roadmap for growth—which is exactly why lenders want to see it. It identifies your company’s overall goals, mission, and plans for the future, and shows that you’ve put thought into what you’re building.

Your business plan also shows lenders that you’re thinking ahead. It adds credibility to your idea, and highlights the strategy behind your decisions. It also indicates how you’ll evaluate the outcomes, and how you’ll plan to overcome obstacles, including financial ones.

Ultimately, your business plan is proof that you’re serious about success, and that’s what a lender wants to see before they invest in you and your business. 

Types of loans for startup businesses 

Not every startup founder needs to follow the same route for securing funds. No matter the stage you’re at, how many employees you have, or how long you’ve been around, there’s probably a loan out there to help you and your business grow.

1. SBA Loans

Need a small loan for your small business or startup? The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) might just be the place to look. These SBA loans offer up to $50,000 and are administered by various nonprofit community lenders.

Qualifying for them is quite simple, but the funding might not always be enough for every borrower. In the 2023 fiscal year, for example, the average SBA microloan was just $15,643.

Another type of SBA loans is called the SBA 7(a) loan. This one is better suited to businesses that are able to provide collateral, like real estate, that the lender is able to sell if you were to default. Applying is a lengthy process and qualifications are strict, so start early and have all your ducks in a row if this is the route you plan to take. 

2. Self financing

While not always the safest option, some small business owners decide to take out personal loans or use their own savings to finance their business or startup. This could look like a second mortgage, borrowing against a retirement account like a 401(k), or getting an unsecured loan.

Self financing can be an easier approach and take less time—especially if you’re having trouble getting a business loan or don’t want to share a piece of the pie with an investor—but remember: you’re putting your savings and personal assets on the line.

3. Grants

Grants have their name for a reason: you don’t have to pay back the money you’re given. That said, whether you’re exploring corporate, local, state, or federal small business grants, you’ll want to make sure that your business aligns with what the grantor is hoping to achieve.

Keep in mind that the application process might be super competitive, too.

Looking to see if you’re eligible and to see what’s out there? Check out Grants.gov. You can learn the ins-and-outs of applying for federal grant opportunities, and even get writing tips for your applications. 

4. Friends or family

Have a friend or family member who’s offered to chip in? Consider the risks before you accept.

For example, if your brother Fredrik says he’s got a chunk of change to lend you, ask yourself: What are the terms of repayment? What if he wants a portion of the business? And more importantly, do you really want to give up some of your potential profits to a guy who still goes by “Fake-It-Til-He-Makes-It-Fred”? 

While accepting money from the people closest to you can seem a whole lot easier than applying to other funding sources, it’s important to think about the personal side of things.

And you know what they say: this isn’t personal—it’s business. 

5. Crowdfunding

Remember edible cups? The ostrich pillow? The Grilled Cheesus maker? All of these (very odd) products got funding. That’s the beauty of crowdsourcing for your financial needs. 

Crowdfunding platforms, like Kickstarter and Indiegogo, can help you turn an idea into a campaign, securing you funds from people all over the world. When they give you money to back your product, they typically get a reward (like the product when it launches, for example) or even equity in the business.

The process might take longer, but who knows: depending on publicity and the market, you might get exactly what you need (or more) faster than you can say, “can I get ketchup for my grilled cheesus?”

6. Business line of credit

Business lines of credit are a different type of loan. You don’t receive the total amount upfront. Instead, you have to draw money from it, which has its limits. 

That said, you’ll have more flexibility than a typical term loan because you only pay interest on the amount you borrow, which might only be a portion of your total line of credit. 

7. Asset-based lending

This is a loan that’s secured by collateral like inventory, equipment, real estate, or other property owned by the borrower. Also called asset-based financing, this type of loan can be for a business that doesn’t have enough cash flow to cover a loan, or business credit to get approved. Instead, the business offers assets as collateral. 

How to get a startup business loan

Before you start applying for a startup business loan, there are a few things you’ll need to do. Some of these steps might take longer than others, but by getting everything in order, you can increase your chances of getting the funds you need to jump into action. 

Step 1: Create a business plan

Business plans aren’t only a necessity for the lender to see, but they help you determine just how much you’ll need to take your business to the next level.

Your business plan shows lenders that you’re planning with your brain—not your gut. It shows that your ideas are viable, and that there’s a market for what you’re putting into the world. 

Step 2: Assess your personal credit

If you don’t have business credit, your personal credit history might help you qualify for financing. It can also help determine the rates and terms that you’ll receive if you’re approved.

Know your credit score before you go into the loan application, and if you need to, spend time improving it before you accept any funds. 

Step 3: Explore your financing options

Once you know how much you need and the state of your personal or business credit, you can start to explore the different types of financing available and what kind would work best for your business.

In addition to how much you’ll need to achieve your goals, you’ll also want to consider how much you can afford to borrow and what your repayment schedule could look like. 

For example, some lenders might have higher interest rates while others might be more flexible in their repayment options. 

Step 4: Review, improve, apply

Once you’ve determined your financing route, you’ll want to make sure you’re eligible for applying.

To see if you’re qualified, you’ll review eligibility and application requirements, and potentially, follow a few more steps. These can include:

• Boosting your personal credit score if it’s not up to speed
• Improving your debt-to-income ratio by staying on top of bills and having a solid business budget in place
• Assessing your collateral, just in case you need to put it up to show lenders you’re credible and reliable
• Flexing your cash flow, so lenders can see that—if it’s already running—your business is dependable.

Growing your business post-funding

Now that you’ve got your funds, are you ready to take your business to the next level? Homebase can help.

Homebase is an all-in-one platform that helps you schedule and pay your employees, and oh-so-much more. After putting in so much work to secure funding and loans for your small business, your next step is helping it grow: and that’s where we come in.

Smart businesses use Homebase for everything from HR compliance, to messaging teams about shift swaps, to tracking employee breaks.

Homebase can help you take control of your day-to-day operations. Get started for free.

The post Grow Into 2024 With These 7 Loans for Startup Businesses appeared first on Homebase.

And while entrepreneurs are concerned with inflation (78%), interest rates (65%), and commodities prices (63%), there’s still good news to be had. Sixty-six per cent of small businesses in the U.S. are currently profitable, and 76% feel that they’ll continue to stay open and profitable through the current socio-economic situation. If that’s the inspiration you’ve been looking for, well, you’ve come to the right place.

Starting a successful business in 2024 is about starting on the right foot. With the seven steps we’re sharing, you’ll have everything you need to get your business off the ground and on its way to becoming profitable. 

What’s a good small business to start in 2024?

When you’re thinking about what kind of business to start, you need to consider about two main factors:

• Does your business fill an unmet consumer need in your area?
• Are you passionate about your business and do you have a level of expertise in your business?

If you can solve a problem for people while doing something that you enjoy, you’ve found the perfect recipe for a successful business. Of course, having a great idea and passion for your business is the ideal place to start—but where do you go from there?

What do you need to start a small business?

Whether you’re opening a brick-and-mortar retail store or a service-based business, all businesses need to start at the same place. Taking time at the beginning to get all of your ducks in a row is the best way to build a solid foundation and will help you ensure your business will survive long term. 

No matter what kind of business you’re thinking of, when you’re starting out, there are some basic things you’ll need to get started.

Important things to think about:

• Market, competitor, and location research
• A business plan
• Funding
• A bank account
• Employer identification number (EIN)
• Business location
• Business structure (will you function as a corporation, LLC, sole proprietor, etc.?)
• Business insurance
• Licenses and permits as they apply to your business

How to start your small business in 7 steps

Every business is different, that’s for sure. But there are some things that every business will need to do to get started. These seven actionable steps will help you start your next small business.

Step 1: Clarify your business idea

If you’ve decided you want to start a new business, but you still need to figure out what that business should be, brainstorming business ideas is the best place to start. 

As mentioned above, finding something you’re passionate about that also fills a need in the market is a great starting point for any business. The final element is something that you can monetize. You may be passionate about books but aren’t a great writer. So, you pivot to opening a bookstore… One problem: your small town already has two independent bookstores. The solution? You decide to open a bookstore in another town. Now, you’ve found something you’re passionate about that fills a need and is profitable. 

If you don’t have a set idea of what kind of small business you want to open, try answering a few of these questions:

• What do you love doing?
• What would you rather not spend your time doing?
• What are you good at?
• What are you passionate about?
• When friends and family ask you for advice, what questions are they asking?
• If you had to talk about a topic for five minutes on the spot with no preparation time, what would it be?

The answers to these questions can show you where to focus your business. And if you already have a business idea, these answers can help you expand on that idea. Whatever idea you have, always ask yourself if it’s something that’s needed and if you’re good at it. 

Step 2: Conduct market research

A critical step in starting any business is market research. 

Market research shows whether your idea can become a profitable, successful business. It gives you insights into how your business will perform and can help mitigate some risks associated with starting a new small business.

Market research is made up of two types of research, primary and secondary information:

• Primary information is any information you gather directly from consumers. This could take the form of focus groups, surveys, telephone interviews, and questionnaires that you administer to your target market. 
• Secondary information is any information you gather from external sources. This could take the form of government census data, research reports, polling results, and research conducted by other businesses in your industry or location.

While gathering primary information is more time-consuming and expensive than secondary information, the best market research uses both primary and secondary information. 

Market research helps your business in a variety of ways:

• Validate your business idea: Market research helps you determine if your business idea is profitable.
• Get a better understanding of your customers: For demographics like age, location, and education level, market research can deliver important information about your would-be customers. 
• Find your unique value proposition: When you look closely at your competitors and their actions, you can find what sets your business apart and makes you stand out in your industry.
• Learn the best ways to market your business: Because market research helps you learn more about your customers, you can find the best ways to sell to them. Are they on social media, or more likely to consume traditional print media? Are billboards more likely to bring in new customers, or should you invest your marketing budget into email? Learning about your potential customers will help you answer these questions.

Step 3: Create a business plan

Now that you’ve tested your idea through market research, it’s time to take everything you’ve learned and create a business plan. 

A business plan is a written document that defines your business and outlines your business strategy, future goals, and how you plan to reach those goals. Think of your business plan as the map that’ll get you from Day 1 to Day 1,438 as a business owner. 

Every business should have a business plan. A lot of people assume that business plans are only for those looking for outside funding from investors or a bank. But every business can benefit from a business plan—it can help you expand on your business idea and uncover any potential issues you may have overlooked. Even if you’re not starting out, but say, looking at a second location, a business plan is an important step to validate your decisions.

Business plan essentials

Every business plan is different, but you can feel confident that you’ve created a well-rounded business plan if you include the following sections:

• Executive summary: Think of this as a paragraph or two that condenses everything you’ve written in your business plan. While this should be the first part of your business plan, most people leave it as the last thing they write.
• Company description: What is your business? What problem are you solving? Why is your solution to this problem the best on the market? These are the questions you should be answering in your company description.
• Market analysis: Here’s where your market research comes into play. This section is where you position your business against competitors. It should include your target market, market size, growth rate, trends, etc. 
• Mission and goals: It’s time to start thinking about your business’s mission. Include a brief mission statement and outline what you hope to achieve as a business. Make sure the goals you include are SMART goals.
• Products or services. This section outlines how your business operates. Are you selling a product or offering a service? Get into the details and include what you’ll offer, how much it costs, who creates the product/provides the service, and how much overhead you have.
• Background summary: Here’s where you’ll include all the historical data, research, and articles you’ve  collected. Summarize this information and outline how your findings will positively or negatively affect your business or industry.
• Marketing plan: How will you promote your business? This section of your business plan should outline your unique value proposition, marketing campaign plans, and the expected cost for all marketing efforts.
• Financial plan: Arguably the most important part of any business plan. Afterall, without money, it’s unlikely you’ll have much of a business. This section often includes a proposed budget and projected financial statements for five years, like a balance sheet, cash flow report, and income statement. This is where you outline any funding requests you’re seeking.

Step 4: Finance your small business

Now that all your ideas are on paper, it’s time to think about how you’ll finance your small business. Depending on the type of business you’re opening, you may be looking at anywhere from a few thousand dollars to a few hundred thousand dollars to get started. The average cost for a small business to start and run for their first full year is $40,000. 

No matter what your start-up costs are projected to be, don’t let this stop you yet. There are lots of funding options available to small businesses, including:

• Self-funding or bootstrapping: A lot of small businesses start off using their personal funds. But if your financial needs are high, there’s a lot of financial risk that comes with bootstrapping your business.
• Small business loans or lines of credit: There are a lot of great small business loans and lines of credit that you can use to get your business off the ground. You’ll need your business plan along with personal financial statements when you apply.
• Small business grants: Small business grants provide funding you don’t have to pay back. It can take some time to research and apply for grants, but it can be worthwhile if you can secure a grant. Check out some of the grants offered by the Small Business Administration here.

Step 5: Decide on your business structure

Choosing a business structure isn’t a decision that should be made lightly. How you structure your business will affect the tax you owe, your daily operations, and the personal risk you assume, and may have other legal implications down the road.

Here’s a rundown of the most common business structures:

Sole proprietorship is the most common business structure for solo entrepreneurs. In this business structure, the company and the owner are considered the same. Therefore, if the business fails, the owner is personally responsible for all business debts. 

Partnerships are used when starting a business with more than one individual. A partnership requires a partnership agreement, and partners have limited liability for the debts of the LLP.

Limited liability companies or LLCs can be owned by one or more people/companies and limit your personal liability for business debts. They’re one of the easiest business structures to establish.

Cooperatives are businesses or organizations that run to benefit those using the services. Industries that fall into this category include, but aren’t limited to, health care, retail, restaurants, and agriculture.

Corporations are more complex from a legal and tax point of view. Because of this, they’re more common in larger companies but can still be used by small businesses. 

Consider speaking with a lawyer or accountant before deciding to ensure you’re making the best decision for your business.

Step 6: Dig into the legal must-haves

It’s important to dot your i’s and cross your t’s when it comes to the legal ins and outs of a small business. And there are a lot of i’s and t’s to keep track of. When you’re starting a new small business, make sure you have the following in order before you begin operating:

• Register your small business: While it’s not always necessary to register your small business at a federal, state, or local level, doing so may help with your personal liability protection, and it may have some legal and tax benefits. 
• Apply for an employer identification or tax I.D. number: Your employer identification number (EIN) is issued by the IRS. You need one so you can file federal taxes, hire employees, and open a business bank account. You can apply for an EIN on the IRS website. Some states also require a state-level tax I.D. number, so check if one is needed in your state.
• Insure your small business: Even if you’re a home-based business or don’t have any employees, you need to have insurance for your small business. The kind of insurance you need depends on your business model and what risks you—and your customers—may face. Reach out to an insurance agent to get the full scoop on what kind of insurance is best for your business. 
• Open a business bank account: When you start a business, you need a separate bank account to accept payments, pay employees, and make business purchases. What kind of bank account is best depends on your business needs. Start exploring the banks in your area to find one that meets your needs.  

Step 7: Get the right tools to run your small business

Finding the right tools to run your small business is key to helping your business run smoothly. The right business tools will save you time and money and make you a desirable employer. The tools you need will depend on your small business, but looking for tools that automate repetitive tasks and lessen your workload is a great place to start. 

With Homebase, you get everything you need to take control of your business. Designed for hourly work, Homebase will help you schedule your team, track their hours, and run payroll seamlessly. You’ll also have a team communication app that keeps you and your employees on the same page. Homebase even has expert H.R. guidance to help you comply with government regulations without an in-house H.R. team.

Homebase is the all-in-one management app that simplifies running your small business. Get started now for free.

The post How to Start a Small Business in 2024 in 7 Actionable Steps appeared first on Homebase.

But keeping track of everything is tough. Employees forget to follow checklists, they don’t always track time properly, and you can’t always be at your desk to keep an eye on things. That could be why you’re looking for job tracking software to take all the messy administrative work out of your hands. 

Knowing where to start when researching the best job tracking software for your small business can be overwhelming. So, we’ve put together a comprehensive list of our top picks for 2023, giving you time back to focus on higher-priority work (and maybe even take some time off!)

In this post, we’ll look at:

• What to consider when searching for a job tracking software
• The key features, pricing, and benefits of each tool
• Our top pick out of the six best job tracking platforms currently on the market

The top 6 job tracking software for small businesses

1. Homebase: Best all-in-one solution for managing hourly teams
2. Wrike: Best for interactive Gantt charts
3. Monday.com: Best for project templates
4. ClickUp: Best for low-budget teams
5. Zoho Projects: Best for automating tasks
6. Todoist: Best for keeping track of simple tasks

What to look for in a job tracking app for your small business

Before we take a look at our top job tracking apps for 2023, here’s what to keep an eye out for when choosing a solution for your small business:

• A fully functional mobile app that’s easy to use on your feet: Being involved in the day-to-day running of a small business means that you likely don’t have time to sit for long stretches and manage all your jobs. A tool that moves with you is ideal for someone who’s on the go all day, cutting out the time you need to spend at a desk. 

• Affordable pricing that can adapt to your business needs: Small businesses often don’t have the luxury of a large budget. Your finances likely dip and rise depending on what season it is, staff turnover, and whether you’ve got anything left in the savings pot. So, it’s essential to choose a platform that has cost-effective paid plans and maybe even a free plan so the cost doesn’t cut into your budget too much.

• An app that’s designed specifically for hourly teams: Control the chaos by using a solution that can handle the needs of hourly teams. Last-minute shift changes, unexpected staffing shortages, and overtime can all be tamed using a simple solution like Homebase, which was created with small businesses in mind.

• Beginner-friendly so team members can pick it up and use it from day one: There’s no time to waste when you’ve got a lot on your plate. That’s why an app that staff can pick up and use from the get-go is essential to keeping your small business running smoothly. Slow onboarding will become a thing of the past with a beginner-friendly app that looks good too. 

• A wide range of integrations that you can adapt to the way you do business: If you’ve already got well-established processes, the last thing you need is a tool that can’t fit in with them. Look out for a solution that easily connects with the technology you already use, improving the way you work rather than making it harder and taking time away from other pressing tasks.

A detailed breakdown of the 6 best job tracking software for small businesses

1. Homebase: Best all-in-one solution for managing hourly teams

Homebase was designed with a simple goal in mind: to help owners and managers run their small businesses with one simple app. It empowers them to manage employee scheduling on the go from just about anywhere, turns any device into a time clock, and makes payroll preparation easy-peasy. It’s the ideal solution for a restaurant manager, bar owner, or local hardware store with an hourly team. 

Basically, Homebase is a one-stop shop for all your small business needs. 

Our platform is also affordably priced with plans that suit most budgets — as well as a free plan — from a brand new cafe with two employees to a booming bar with closer to thirty. 

Communication and collaboration tools

Homebase’s team communication tool makes it easy for employees and managers to stay in touch. There’s no more need to create endless group chats. Instead, you can keep everything in one place and rest assured that everyone has all the information they need to get their jobs done. 

Inevitably, things go wrong at work, and knowing the who, what, and why behind those situations is crucial. One way to do that is by keeping a note of everything that happened throughout the day with shift notes. With Homebase, they can be attached to the day’s schedule to make sure every employee rostered for that shift knows exactly what’s coming up or may have gone wrong before they signed in. No need to scramble for information when everything’s available in one place. 

Homebase also helps team members work better together by encouraging employee shout outs on shift, giving people a little morale boost when things get overwhelming. Everyone loves a little praise every now and then, so it’s great to show team members some love and let them know you appreciate their hard work. 

A wide variety of integrations

The last thing you need when running a busy hourly team is to have to learn a whole new process or change your point-of-sale (POS) system and adapt to a new app. That’s why it’s so convenient that Homebase has a range of integrations that can supercharge our existing features, saving you the hassle of starting from scratch with a new payroll system or POS if you don’t want to.

Pros and cons

Pricing

Homebase offers four tiers of plans:

• Basic — Free for one location and up to 20 employees. It includes basic scheduling and time tracking and employee management tools like messaging, point-of-sale integrations, and access to email support. 
• Essentials — $24.95 per month per location. Everything in Basic, plus payroll integrations, team communication, performance tracking, advanced time tracking and scheduling, and access to live support.
• Plus — $59.95 per month per location. Everything in Essentials, plus hiring tools, retention and performance tracking, time off controls, and departments and permissions.
• All-in-one — $99.95 per month per location. Everything in Plus, with HR and compliance, new hire onboarding, labor cost controls, and business insights.

What customers say

The average customer ratings on G2 and Capterra are:

• Capterra: 4.6/5 (+900 ratings)
• G2: 4.2/5 (+100 ratings)

2. Wrike: Best for interactive Gantt charts

Wrike is a work management platform that allows you to create personalized workspaces, work dependencies, and Gantt charts — as well as track time and get real-time updates — all in one place. Visualize tasks with project dashboards where you can filter tasks by assignee, status, due date, and important milestones. Wrike’s mobile and desktop apps also mean you can work from anywhere, providing the flexibility you need to grow your small business and help it thrive.

Top features

• Customizable project dashboards
• Pre-built project templates
• Interactive Gantt charts 
• Built-in time tracking feature

Pros and cons

Pricing

Wrike has five tiers of paid plans:

• Free — Web, desktop, and mobile apps, project and task management, board view, and table view for $0 per user/month.
• Team — 2-25 users, unlimited projects, unlimited tasks and subtasks, interactive Gantt charts, automation, and custom workflows for $9.80 per user/month.
• Business — 5-200 users, folder structure and nested projects, project blueprints, automations, resource management, workloads, and time tracking for $24.80 per user/month.
• Enterprise — Business plan features, plus 5 to unlimited users, custom access roles, customizable user types, and admin permissions. Contact Wrike for pricing. 
• Pinnacle — Enterprise features, plus 5 to unlimited users, advanced reporting features, budgeting, and billable hours. Contact Wrike for pricing. 

What customers say

Capterra: 4.3/5 (+2000 ratings)

G2: 4.2/5 (+3000 ratings) 

3. Monday.com: Best for project templates

Monday.com is a cloud-based work management platform that streamlines workflows and organizes your projects in a well-designed, attractive online space. Its user-friendly look cuts back on training time and allows business owners to focus their energies on growth and development. It’s equipped with a free project template library that’s useful for those who don’t have enough time to sit down and create custom workflows. There are over ten different views, so you can visualize your workspace in a way that suits you and set up automations to reduce the time you have to spend on tracking due dates.

Top features

• Over 200 project templates
• Team collaboration features like chat and notifications
• Project scheduling
• Time tracking

Pros and cons

Pricing

Monday.com has one free plan and four paid plans:

• Free: The Free plan includes up to 3 boards, unlimited docs, 200+ templates, up to 2 team members, and an iOS and Android app.
• Basic: Everything from Free, plus unlimited free viewers, unlimited items, 5GB storage, prioritized customer support, and the ability to create a dashboard based on one board for $8 per seat/month.
• Standard: Everything from Basic, plus timeline and Gantt views, a calendar view, guest access, automations, integrations, and the ability to create a dashboard that combines up to 5 boards for $10 per seat/month.
• Pro: Everything from Standard, plus private boards and docs, a chart view, and time tracking for $16 per seat/month.
• Enterprise: Everything from Pro, plus enterprise-scale automations and integrations, enterprise-grade security and governance, and advanced reporting and analytics. Contact Monday.com for pricing. 

What customers say

Capterra: 4.6/5 (+4000 ratings) 

G2: 4.7/5 (+8000 ratings) 

4. ClickUp: Best for low-budget teams

ClickUp takes the stress out of team collaboration and task management. It’s a cloud-based work management platform that’s suitable for teams of all sizes. Its highly customizable workspaces allow you to create workflows and processes that are unique to your business and streamline your day-to-day tasks. Its built-in time tracking tool is excellent for understanding where employees are working most efficiently and where they’re losing productivity. Make sure your work doesn’t get siloed with collaborative documents, comments, notifications, and mentions. Teams can easily communicate with each other through the chat tool as well. 

Top features

• Customizable workspaces
• Built-in time tracking feature
• Real-time reporting dashboards
• Task management with bulk rescheduling and assignation

Pros and cons

Pricing

ClickUp offers one free plan and four paid plans:

• Free Forever: 100MB storage, unlimited tasks, unlimited free plan members, collaborative docs, whiteboards, everything view, Kanban boards, native time tracking, and in-app video recording.

• Unlimited: Everything in Free Forever, plus unlimited storage, unlimited integrations, unlimited dashboards, unlimited Gantt charts, unlimited custom fields, email in ClickUp, and resource management for $5 per member/month.

• Business: Everything in Unlimited, plus Google SSO, unlimited teams, custom exporting, advanced public sharing, advanced automations, and advanced dashboard features for $12 per member/month.

• Business Plus: Everything in Business, plus team sharing, subtasks in multiple lists, conditional logic in forms, custom role creation, custom permission, and increased automations and API for $19 per member/month. 

• Enterprise: Everything in Business Plus, plus white labeling, advanced permissions, enterprise API, team sharing for spaces, default personal views, and a customer success manager. Contact sales for pricing. 

What customers say

Capterra: 4.7/5 (+3000 ratings)
G2: 4.7/5 (+8000 ratings)

5. Zoho Projects: Best for automating tasks

In Zoho Projects, all of your work information is stored in a digital cloud space where you can easily create tasks with assignees, dependencies, due dates, and time sheets. The projects tab gives you an overview of all the jobs that you’re a part of, keeping all your tasks in one handy space. Dashboards provide a high-level overview of the status of each job that’s assigned to your employees. Other support tools include time tracking for team members and the ability to log, track, and resolve issues within the tool itself. The Blueprints automation feature allows you to create project blueprints and design workflows with a handy drag-and-drop function. 

Top features

• Task management and automation
• Built-in time tracking feature
• Customizable charts and reporting
• Team collaboration tools like chat, forums, and documents

Pros and cons

What customers say

Capterra: 4.3/5 (+300 ratings)
G2: 4.3/5 (+300 ratings)

6. Todoist: Best for keeping track of simple tasks

Building a to-do list is made simpler with Todoist. The hint is in the name. Get your tasks out of your head and into Todoist’s straightforward list creation tool. Make it as simple or as advanced as you need by adding due dates, reminders, priority levels, or checklists. Collaborate with team members via comments and move tasks into projects with a simple drag-and-drop feature. You can easily delegate tasks to other team members so you can go check out that new coffee machine you’ve been eyeing up. 

Top features

• Quick-add to capture tasks in seconds
• Recurring due dates
• Sections and subtasks
• Task reminders
• Notifications for comments and complete tasks

Pros and cons

One easy app to manage your hourly team.

Get your team in sync with our easy-to-use, all-in-one employee app.

Get started for free with Homebase

Pricing

Todoist offers one free plan and two paid plans:

• Free: Five active projects, five collaborators per project, 5MB file uploads, three filters, and one-week activity history.

• Pro: 300 active projects, 25 collaborators per project, 100MB file uploads, 150 filters, reminders, unlimited activity history, themes, and auto-backups.

• Business: Everything in Pro, plus 500 active projects per member, 50 people per project, team inbox, team billing, and admin and member roles.

What customers say

Capterra: 4.6/5 (+2000 ratings)

G2: 4.4/5 (+700 ratings)

Which job tracking software is best for your small business?

The best job tracking apps will take the stress out of delegating tasks, help monitor employee productivity, promote collaboration and communication, and give you time back to focus on your small business’s growth and bigger-picture goals.

Any of the options on this list might provide you with the solution you’ve been looking for, depending on your needs and preferences.

But overall, an all-in-one team management solution like Homebase is ideal for the majority of small businesses. With features like shift notes, you can rest assured that no task gets left unfinished and no employee misses an important event taking place that day. And there’s no need to lose any time adapting to new workflows when Homebase can integrate into the way you already do business with ease.

Forget worrying about whether the last item on your to-do list got checked off, and leave it to Homebase to help you figure it out. 

The post 6 Best Job Tracking Software for Small Businesses (With Features + Pricing) appeared first on Homebase.

If you’re spending more time managing staff than tending lawns then you might have a problem.

And while apps can’t do lawn care for you, they can help in many ways, from simplifying scheduling to calculating costs and sharing great reviews.

Here’s a list of our top 10 recommended apps for your lawn care business. 

And, because we know small businesses rely on great people, we’ve started with our own app, Homebase, which specializes in scheduling, time tracking, and team communication, even across multiple locations.

So you can spend less time worrying about logistics, and more time actually building your business.

7 ways apps can help you manage your lawn care business

Here are some great ways that apps can help your business run more efficiently and save hours of time and stress — so you can get on with the lawn care.

1. Schedule staff members — Create easy, fast, and accurate schedules for your lawn care staff with apps like Homebase, so everyone knows where they need to be and when.
2. Simplify time tracking — Easily record working hours, even for remote and distributed teams, to control labor costs and avoid time theft. Homebase and Harvest excel in this.
3. Improve customer communication — Giving clients a good first impression is key, and you should always respond helpfully and promptly from the first inquiry to the final review. Jobber is a great option here.
4. Estimate material costs — Ensuring your lawn care business is profitable means correctly estimating which materials you need. Apps like Area Volume Calculator and Turf Therapy can help calculate space size, and buy the right amount of product.
5. Figure out pricing and profit — Price your services correctly to ensure profit with apps like Profit Margin Calculator. Tweak labor costs, overheads, and expenses for best results.
6. Identify different types of plants and their condition — Even experts can use some help sometimes, and apps like LeafSnap and FieldScout let you use your phone to analyze the health of lawns and plants, so you can figure out the next steps.
7. Share great reviews and drum up word-of-mouth business — Don’t let your lawn care business be the neighborhood’s best-kept secret. Apps like CamCompany let you take and share photos and videos of your work. While NiceJob collects and shares positive reviews for word-of-mouth referrals and online bookings.

The shortlist: The 10 best lawn care business apps

1. Homebase: For scheduling, remote time tracking, and team communication
2. Jobber: For customer communication
3. Harvest: For time tracking and invoicing
4. Profit Margin Calculator: For simple profit calculations
5. Area Volume Calculator: For easy volume calculations
6. LeafSnap: For instant plant identification and care
7. Turf Therapy: For simple fertilizer calculations
8. FieldScout: For soil and plant diagnostics
9. NiceJob: For customer reviews and referrals
10. CompanyCam: For field job tracking via photos and video

Homebase: For scheduling, remote time tracking, and team communication

Homebase is an all-in-one app designed for small business owners who manage a team of hourly-based staff. It makes people management much easier, so you can schedule and track your lawn care jobs, pay your team members accurately, and control labor costs. 

How does it benefit lawn care businesses?

Homebase is a one-stop shop for all team management aspects of your small lawn care business. Unlike some, its mobile app offers nearly all of the same functionality as its desktop version, so you can use it even when in the field (or backyard) on a job. 

The stand-out features include:

• Scheduling app for automated and easy shift creation, so you can schedule staff without clashes, on the go
• Time clock and timesheets for accurate hourly tracking, compliant working hours, less staff burnout, less time theft, and controlled labor costs
• Payroll for quick and easy payments that take timesheets and create accurate wages automatically. There’s no need for a separate tool, and it’s all done on the same platform.
• Hiring and onboarding including pre-written job templates, jobs board posting, job promotion, and applicant tracking.
• Team communication to empower staff to share useful job tips and hand over notes between shifts, for a better community, improved working conditions, and higher productivity — even if staff aren’t working in the same location
• Employee happiness including shout-outs for a job well done, which boosts motivation, and the option for staff to cash out wages early if needed
• HR & compliance with federal, state, and local laws, and the ability to manage HR documentation and sensitive data in one place
• Integrations with leading tools like QuickBooks and Toast, so you can remain productive with your existing business tools

How much is it?

Homebase’s app, and scheduling and timesheet tool, are completely free to use. However, if you want to maximize efficiency and get the most out of the entire software, we offer the following price options.

• Basic: Free for one location and up to 20 employees. It includes basic scheduling and time tracking, employee management tools like Messaging, point-of-sale integrations, and access to email support. 
• Essentials: $24.95 per month per location. Everything in Basic, plus payroll integrations, team communication, performance tracking,  advanced time tracking and scheduling, and access to live support.
• Plus: $59.95 per month per location. Everything in Essentials, plus hiring tools, retention and performance tracking, time off controls, and departments and permissions.
• All-in-one: $99.95 per month per location. Everything in Plus, with HR and compliance, new hire onboarding, labor cost controls, and business insights.

Users can also save 20% on their overall cost when they sign up for an annual plan.

Available on iOS and Android.

2. Jobber: For customer communication

Jobber aims to improve customer service and communication, from initial inquiry to final payment. You can send quotes by text and email, follow up easily, and save hours on invoicing. 

How does it benefit lawn care businesses?

Jobber has a wide variety of features across client messaging, invoicing, and communication.

• Mobile app designed to work on the go when in the field
• Online quote requests and jobs bookings for clients
• Automatic lawn care job scheduling to help plan your day and include breaks
• Job reminders and appointment notifications for staff and customers
• Professional quotes sent by text message and emails
• Job tracking to monitor expenses and ongoing notes
• Card reader and online payment system
• Client data storage and full client history
• Automated follow-ups to close jobs or remind clients to pay
• Batch invoicing for fast billing

How much is it?

Jobber has four levels of paid plan.

• Lite: $19 per month for one user. Unlimited client messaging, quotes and invoices, and online payments.
• Core: $56 per month for one user. Everything in Lite, plus job scheduling and management, reporting, and online request form.
• Connect: $19 per month for one to five users. Everything in Core, plus automated reminders and payments, custom forms and schedules, and integration with accounting and automation tools.
• Grow: $280 per month for one to 15 users. Everything in Connect, plus quote add-ons, automated quote follow-ups, two-way text message, and lead management.

You can also try it free for 14 days. Available on iOS and Android.

3. Harvest: For time tracking and invoicing

Launched in NYC in 2006, Harvest was one of the first mobile-friendly time trackers. It still specializes in time tracking (and says it results in 80% less admin), but now it also lets you send invoices, create reports, and monitor budgets. Harvest also has a growing range of integrations and a forever-free plan.

How does it benefit lawn care businesses?

Harvest’s features are split across three main categories: time tracking, reports, and invoicing.

• Mobile, desktop, and browser time tracking wherever you and your team are
• Tool integration for seamless time clocking and integration
• Automated reminders for staff to help ensure accurate tracking and breaks
• Budget updates and cost monitoring to keep projects on track
• Team capacity monitoring to ensure no-one’s over- or under-worked
• Time analysis to see which projects are impacting costs the most
• Detailed filters to help you make data-driven decisions
• Invoices created accurately with time tracking
• Online payments and simple accounting with integrations like PayPal, Stripe, and QuickBooks

How much is it?

There are two options.

• Free: $0. Includes “one seat” (or user), and two projects. All features.
• Pro: $12. Includes unlimited “seats” and unlimited projects. All features.

Harvest also offers a 30-day free trial. Available on iOS and Android.

4. Profit Margin Calculator: For simple profit calculations

Profit Margin Calculator helps service businesses with hourly staff to calculate their net profit margin. Not strictly an app, but an online tool from communication platform Jobber, it works on phones, tablets, and desktops. 

How does it benefit lawn care businesses?

Profit Margin Calculator lets you enter four different figures and then gives you your profit and markup. This means you can add up costs, labor, and overheads, and see where you’re overspending or not charging enough. Depending on your industry, your net profit margin is likely about 10-20%.

The calculator:

• Lets you add labor, material, and overhead costs
• Factors in the service price you charge your clients
• Shows you how much profit you’re earning on completed jobs

How much is it?

It’s free. Jobber also offers a free invoice template that you can complete and send to clients, once you’ve worked out your costs and how much profit you want to make.

5. Area Volume Calculator: For easy volume calculations

With another clear title, this app works on smartphones and tablets, and helps you calculate the area volume of a 3D shape. This is perfect if your latest lawn care or landscaping job requires you to clear or fill a space. It also calculates by area (2D) or volume (3D), using presets.  And it’s free.

How does it benefit lawn care businesses?

The tool is easy to use and works like a calculator. You type in your dimensions, and it gives you the result.

Features include:

• The ability to enter depth, height, and width dimensions
• 170+ preset shapes like cylinder or cube, plus subshapes like parallelepiped (3D parallelogram)
• Swipe through categories and shapes to select or type to search directly
• Calculation methods for partial measurements, e.g. if you only have the radius measurement
• Material selector that includes 1,500 materials, such as metals, wood, soil, or liquids
• Calculations in metric and inches, from millimeters to miles
• Illustrations of the shapes and clearly labels dimensions to help understanding

How much is it?

Free to download and use. Available on iOS and Android.

6. LeafSnap: For instant plant identification and care

Leafsnap is an intuitive app that turns your smartphone camera into an analytical lens. Snap a photo of a plant and the app identifies it, and gives you a step-by-step guide on how to take care of it. Plus, LeafSnap is aesthetically pleasing and addresses its users as “plant lovers,” which is a nice touch.

How does it benefit lawn care businesses?

LeafSnap is a simple but powerful way to identify plants and know what you’re dealing with in a garden. Features include:

• A database of 32,000 types of plants from across the world
• Reminders for your daily plant-care tasks
• Advice on the best way to photograph your plants 
• Step-by-step care guides for each plant

How much is it?

There are two ways to use LeafSnap. 

• Pro: Free to download and use. Includes ads and limits on plant identification and care guides. 
• Premium: $5 per month or $26 per year. Removes ads. No limits on plant identification or step-by-step care guides. Access to the full plant database, and advanced identification.

Available on iOS and Android.

7. Turf Therapy: For simple fertilizer calculations

Figuring out fertilizer is crucial for a lawn care specialist, since getting it wrong can be expensive and dangerous. This app helps you to calculate the granular and liquid fertilizer application rates of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), and aims to help lawn care businesses train staff and calculate quotes. As the app’s creator says: “Say goodbye to long, drawn out, mind-numbing math!”

How does it benefit lawn care businesses?

The app has several highly-focused features, including:

• Granular or liquid calculation rate options
• A “therapy journal” to monitor the products applied
• A cost calculator to keep projects on track

How much is it?

The app costs $0.99 to download, for all features. Available on iOS and Android.

8. FieldScout: For soil and plant diagnostics

FieldScout, or FieldScout GreenIndex+ Turf to give it its full name, may sound complicated but its aim is simple. It gauges turf health by measuring its relative “greenness” (or chlorophyll content.) The app uses what it calls the DGCI (Dark Green Color Index) and, through your phone’s camera, helps you determine your turf’s health, so you can decide your next steps when caring for a turf lawn.

How does it benefit lawn care businesses?

The app is relatively simple to use, with features including:

• A white balance lock for your phone’s camera, to help create the correct color reference 
• Timestamp and GPS log information (if Location Services are enabled), for use with other programs if you wish
• The ability to combine multiple samples into a single computation
• Image pairing for comparison of different sections of turf

How much is it?

The app costs $49.99 to download and use, for all features. Available on iOS.

9. NiceJob: For customer reviews and referrals

What’s better than a happy lawn care customer? A happy lawn care customer that tells everyone how great your work is and gets you lots of new business! And this app makes getting and sharing great reviews even easier. Designed for local businesses that rely on word-of-mouth, it helps you get more reviews, more referrals, more web presence, and more sales.

How does it benefit lawn care businesses?

The NiceJob platform splits its features across six categories: reviews, referrals, sites, social proof, insights, and gifts. These include:

• The ability to share reviews online and get high rankings on search engines
• Automated positive review sharing on social media to drive engagement
• Automated referral invites for customers to share recommendations to others
• Review and referral requests via text for easy communication
• Microsite web builder designed for small business owners to generate more direct bookings
• Social Proof website widget to embed positive reviews on your own site
• The ability to offer gifts for customers, including tokens and thank yous, to build loyalty
• Staff leaderboards to encourage “friendly competition” among staff members

How much is it?

NiceJob prices its monthly packages depending on how many customers you have per year. It also has a limited free option, no matter how many customers you have. 

• Free: $0. Review and referral requests, and shows reviews on your own site. Customer management.
• Grow: $75 per month for up to 2,500 customers. Everything included in Free, plus automated reviews and referral requests, automated social sharing, and staff leaderboards.
• Grow + Sites: $75 per month for up to 2,500 customers, plus $399 set up fee. Everything in Grow, plus a website, personal website coach, SEO optimization, and marketing analytics.

NiceJob also offers a 14-day free trial. Available on iOS.

10. CompanyCam: For field job tracking via photos and video

CompanyCam aims to make it easier to manage and record progress in a field job business. As its name suggests, it focuses on managing photos, videos, chats, and projects under a single digital umbrella, so you can share progress, scan documents, and improve marketing.

How does it benefit lawn care businesses?

CompanyCam uses cloud storage to manage every aspect of its tools. Features include:

• Video capture, to show details in 4K
• Photo annotation to take images and add text, drawings, and helpful notes
• Document scanning to capture PDFs and other helpful papers
• Report templates to save time on tracking projects
• Offline mode, to keep projects moving even if you don’t have a signal
• Project management, including maps, labels, contact details, and GPS stamps to stay focused
• Custom checklists and to-do lists to share project progress
• Integrations with tools including Jobber and Salesforce for a comprehensive tech stack
• High-res photos and videos to show off your results and get more bookings

How much is it?

CompanyCam offers three tiers of pricing.

• Pro: $24 per user per month. Includes unlimited projects and storage. Real-time photos, checklists, templates, website project widget, PDF photo reports.
• Premium: $34 per user per month. Everything in Pro, plus logo stickers, 4K videos and high-quality photos, 10-minute videos, chat, email, and phone support, plus onboarding help
• Enterprise: Price on request. For 50+ users. Everything in Premium, plus quarterly business reviews, locked contract rates, onboarding training, success manager, and VIP chat, email, and phone support. 

CompanyCam also offers a 14-day trial of its Premium plan. Available on iOS and Android.

From Harvest to Homebase: The best lawn care business apps

When you use apps to automate your lawn care business, you can spend more time focusing on actually caring for lawns (and less time on admin.)

Depending on your needs, an app like Jobber can help you improve customer communication, get online quotes, and send invoices promptly. There’s Harvest for time tracking and budgeting; LeafSnap for step-by-step guides to beautiful plants; and Profit Margin Calculator for, well, calculating profit. 

Then there’s NiceJob and CompanyCam, which enable you to document and share your work in the best possible light, for effective marketing and excellent online reviews.

And for an all-in-one app, you can choose Homebase to manage priorities like scheduling, time tracking, and team communication. It also gives you must-have tools like payroll, hiring, HR management, labor cost controls, and compliance, all under the same digital roof. So you can manage your people, just as well as you manage your plants.

Because there may be an app for pretty much everything, but the fewer you need to juggle, the better. 

The post The best 10 lawn care business apps (free and paid) appeared first on Homebase.

However, some time tracking systems are better suited to hourly, shift-based work than others. The right tools for employers in the restaurant, wellness, and hospitality industries should offer:

• Simple and easy-to-automate shift scheduling features
• A mobile app that allows team members to track time, update their availability, and swap shifts with minimal effort from managers
• A messaging tool for better team communication

To equip you with the knowledge you need to find the right software for your business, we review and compare two of the most popular time tracking and scheduling solutions available right now: Homebase and Clockify. We’ll explore both platforms feature by feature and explore how they measure up to each other in terms of functionality, usability, and pricing, so let’s begin.

Why choose Homebase over Clockify in 2023?

While Clockify provides accurate time tracking, employee scheduling, and project management tools for startups and remote teams, it doesn’t have the capabilities small business owners need to handle their HR and compliance and hiring and onboarding tasks. And these features are essential for employers that want to grow their business in a legal and sustainable way without having to hire an HR expert or add more software to their toolkit.

Homebase also offers more value. Our free plan includes basic scheduling and time tracking for up to 20 employees at one business location. And for more advanced features, customers can sign up for one of our per-location paid plans, which means their subscription costs won’t increase as they add team members to their roster. Clockify, on the other hand, follows a per-user pricing model, which can get expensive as you hire more people. 

Ultimately, Homebase is more suitable for small business owners in the restaurant, hospitality, and wellness industries that rely on hourly staff for their day-to-day operations. Clockify, however, is ideal for tech companies, consultants, and freelancers that need a simple tool for accurate time and project tracking.  

Comparison chart: Homebase vs. Clockify at a glance

Scheduling	✓	✓
Time tracking	✓	✓
Payroll	✓	✘
HR and compliance	✓	✘
Team communication	✓	✘
GPS capabilities	✓	✓
Mobile app	✓	✓
Project tracking	✘	✓
Customer service	✓ — phone, email, and chat	✓ — phone, email, and chat
Pricing	Plans range from free to $100 per location per month. Homebase payroll costs a $39/month base fee and $6/month per active employee. Users save 20% when they commit to an annual plan.	Plans range from $4.99 to $14.99 per user per month.

How Homebase and Clockify stack up against each other

Homebase and Clockify both offer teams time tracking and scheduling tools. However, Homebase is designed to accommodate hourly, shift-based workers. For example, it lets employers create, publish, and share employee schedules. Then, team members can punch in and out of their shifts from their phones or a clock-in kiosk within the same app. 

Unlike Homebase, Clockify was built for billable project work, which means that employees have to start and stop their own timers based on the tasks they have scheduled within their calendars.

Additionally, Homebase offers tools that Clockify doesn’t — full-service payroll, team communication, and HR and compliance features make it easier for business owners to coordinate and manage their teams.

Both Homebase and Clockify have GPS capabilities. However, while Clockify allows managers to track team member locations and productivity, Homebase’s GPS time clock ensures employees start their shifts in the right place and prevents buddy punching.

Both platforms also come with mobile apps, but Clockify’s is meant to be used exclusively for project-based time tracking and productivity monitoring. In contrast, Homebase customers can use the mobile app to track time, create and publish schedules, update availability, run payroll, hire and onboard new employees, and communicate with team members.

An in-depth breakdown of Homebase’s features and fees

Homebase is a team management app that’s designed to make work easier for both small business owners and their teams. It’s a perfect option for employers who are experts in their industry but aren’t experienced when it comes to the HR and administrative tasks they need to get through to stay compliant with tax and labor regulations. 

That being said, let’s look more closely at the features Homebase offers to its over 100,000 customers.

Scheduling

Homebase’s drag-and-drop schedule builder couldn’t be easier to get the hang of. Once employees upload their availability, managers can start creating timetables from scratch without having to worry about conflicts. They can then turn their best schedules into reusable templates, so they can plan out shifts weeks and even months in advance. And because it’s an intelligent platform, Homebase can pull from previous scheduling data to auto-populate timetables for the future, saving you hours of work.

With Homebase’s built-in labor forecasting tool, you can also build schedules based on trends and patterns throughout the year. That allows you to schedule more team members during busier periods — and vice versa — so you’re never short-staffed.

Time tracking

With the Homebase app, any device can become a time clock, which prevents long lines at the sign in station during busy shifts. For more security, prompt employees to punch in with their own unique PIN or enable geofencing around worksites so team members can only start their shifts once they’ve arrived at work.

When employees finish for the day, our app will automatically convert their hours into timesheets that are ready for payroll. And Homebase can also track breaks, overtime, and paid time off (PTO), so you don’t have to worry about any discrepancies around payday.

Another great Homebase feature is that our platform sends automatic reminders about upcoming shifts and clock outs, which helps reduce instances of accidental time theft and no shows.

Payroll

Another feature that sets Homebase apart from Clockify and other similar platforms is its payroll tool. Because our time clock and timesheets tools automatically generate and update timecards, half the work is done for you. Before running payroll, all you have to do is double-check them for accuracy and potentially add additional information for holiday pay, tips, PTO, and sick leave. 

Homebase payroll also takes care of withholdings, files taxes, and sends them to the appropriate state and federal tax authorities. And once you’ve run payroll, you can submit paychecks to your team members via direct deposit. That way, you won’t have to worry about physical paychecks getting lost in the shuffle.

Within the Homebase app, team members can also review previous pay stubs and check them against their tax information, which makes filing yearly tax returns easier.

Team communication

Homebase makes keeping everyone on the same page easier with our team messaging app. Staff members can chat with each other, and managers can send announcements, group messages, and individual messages to notify employees about upcoming events and check in about tasks that need to be completed.

Managers can also use our messenger to send documents and files for new hires to sign during onboarding. They can even get confirmation when team members receive and read messages.

HR and compliance

Homebase does a fantastic job of simplifying even the most daunting human resources tasks. With so many federal and state-specific employment regulations to consider, HR and compliance can quickly become a full-time job. Homebase streamlines those tasks by allowing you to store key employee information, tax documents, and certifications within the platform. You can also send documents to team members for them to e-sign through the app, so you don’t have to worry about losing track of paperwork.

Homebase can also notify customers about updates to state and federal regulations and give them access to our extensive database of HR materials and resources. Finally, business owners can get in touch with one of our HR experts directly and get answers to any questions they have about their own policies and procedures. These HR professionals can even create an individualized employee handbook for you, which is a great time saver for first-time or just downright busy employers.

Extra tools and features

With Homebase hiring and onboarding, employers can post job openings on several top job sites in a matter of minutes. Our platform even comes equipped with templates for roles like cashier, bartender, barista, manager, or youth counselor, which can provide inspiration when you’re at a loss for what to write. Managers can then screen, schedule interviews, hire, and send important onboarding documents directly through the app for e-signing. Once new team members complete their paperwork, leaders can store it all directly within the Homebase app in accordance with federal compliance requirements.

Homebase also comes with an employee happiness tool that managers and staff can use to send each other shoutouts and celebrate wins and milestones. In addition, employees can rate their shifts when they clock out of work and send feedback to managers, allowing leaders to make updates so shifts are easier, more enjoyable, and more effective.

Last but not least, employees can cash out up to $400 of their next paycheck without any cost to the employer. This can help team members deal with any emergencies or unexpected bills that crop up before they get paid again.

Mobile app

Homebase’s mobile app is perfect for busy business owners who need to coordinate their teams off-site or manage multiple locations. Compared to Clockify, Homebase’s mobile app is more functional because it allows managers to share and publish schedules, communicate with staff, run payroll, and even hire and onboard new joiners.

Employees can use the app to track time, update their availability, swap shifts with coworkers, and text their manager or teammates.

Pricing

Homebase’s basic scheduling and time tracking features are completely free. To get the most out of our platform and access more team management features, we offer the following price options:

• Basic. Free for one business location and up to 20 employees. It includes basic scheduling and time tracking, employee management tools like messaging, point-of-sale integrations, and access to email support. 
• Essentials. $24.95 per month per location. Everything in Basic, plus payroll integrations, team communication, performance tracking,  advanced time tracking and scheduling, and access to live support.
• Plus. $59.95 per month per location. Everything in Essentials, plus hiring tools, retention and performance tracking, time off controls, and departments and permissions.
• All-in-one. $99.95 per month per location. Everything in Plus, with HR and compliance, new hire onboarding, labor cost controls, and business insights.

Users can also save 20% on their overall cost when they sign up for an annual plan.

An in-depth breakdown of Clockify’s features and fees

Scheduling

Clockify’s simple scheduling tool lets employees block out their day with the projects and tasks they need to accomplish. It also syncs with other project tracking and calendar apps like Google’s G-suite, Asana, Trello, and ClickUp, so team members can see their entire schedule in one app. 

Once you’ve tracked tasks, the calendar automatically compares planned time versus tracked time side-by-side. This is convenient for teams that need to increase their productivity and efficiency rates and identify ways they can reduce the time they spend on different tasks and projects.

Time tracking

When employees want to track their hours with Clockify, they simply have to enter the project or task they’re working on and hit start. They can also add in hours manually afterwards, which can save managers the trouble of editing employee timesheets. 

And if team members enable the auto-tracker tool, the platform will continually monitor the time they spend on other websites and apps. The best part of the auto-tracker is that it ensures privacy — the app keeps all recorded activities stored on the employee’s computer, so managers and coworkers can’t view them.

Mobile app

Clockify’s mobile app lets employees track time for any of their scheduled tasks. They also have the option to enter their hours into their timesheet manually. In addition, team members can assign tags like meeting or office to their projects or add client-specific tags to keep projects separate. Then, they can mark specific projects as billable so it’s easier for employers to monitor their productivity and see which clients or projects require the most time.

Pricing

Clockify has a free plan that includes basic time tracking and scheduling tools. For more advanced features, paid plans range from $6.99 to $14.99 per user per month.

Homebase vs. Clockify’s integrations compared

Integration
Square	✓	✘
Clover	✓	✘
Shopify	✓	✘
Toast	✓	✘
Revel	✓	✘
Lightspeed Retail	✓	✘
Lightspeed Restaurant	✓	✘
Rippling	✓	✘
Indeed	✓	✘
Quickbooks	✓	✓
Jira	✘	✓
Asana	✘	✓
monday.com	✘	✓
Zapier	✘	✓
Salesforce	✘	✓

Scale your team operations with Homebase

The good news about both of these software solutions is that they offer free plans for you to try before you decide which one is right for you. They also offer tiered paid plans, so you can upgrade as your business priorities change.

Still, no matter how much you upgrade your Clockify plan, you’ll still be missing out on the key team management features that Homebase provides. If keeping your hourly team focused and organized — and your business compliant — is important to you, Homebase is the best solution for you. 

In addition to our scheduling and time tracking tools, our communication, HR, and payroll features simplify tedious tasks and help small business owners do more with less.

The post Homebase vs. Clockify (2023): Which is best for your business? appeared first on Homebase.

Still, well-designed time tracking, scheduling, and restaurant operations platforms can help you make more cost-effective decisions, follow labor laws, and find ways to enhance team efficiency. 

A platform like Jolt offers industry-specific tools for food safety and inventory management, as well as basic features for time tracking and scheduling. But, as Jolt users will tell you, it isn’t beginner-friendly or designed for small businesses that need more HR and administrative support. Plus, your small business staff may need extra training to use Jolt.

To steer you toward a better option for your small restaurant, cafe, or bar, we’ve reviewed the top six Jolt alternatives and consulted real customer reviews from G2 and Capterra in June 2023. Our comparison below highlights the best use cases, key features, and pros and cons of each platform so you can transition to a better restaurant management solution with confidence.

What is Jolt and what is it used for?

Jolt is a restaurant operations software that business owners can use to handle their food safety, inventory management, and team management tasks. Jolt customers also get access to integrated devices for meat thermometers, refrigerators, freezers, line prep stations, and bread proofers. This hardware makes it a solid option for busy restaurant managers that struggle to stay ahead of food safety regulations and inspections.

The platform also provides tools for inventory management and list making so the back of house stays organized and clean, and its information library allows managers to consolidate recipes and training docs for new and experienced team members.

Why might you need a Jolt alternative?

Jolt has plenty to offer to larger restaurants and franchises that need to update their food handling systems. But it’s not a perfect fit for food and beverage businesses of all sizes, and it has limitations when it comes to team operations.

You’re looking for more user-friendly team management tools

With its features and connected devices for handling food safety and inventory processes, Jolt is a useful solution to have in your restaurant technology toolkit. But Jolt’s team operation features aren’t as flexible or as intuitive as other platforms. The design of its time clock, scheduling tools, and chat features aren’t designed with users in mind, and they’re not mobile-friendly, which isn’t convenient for restaurant and cafe owners that often run their teams from off-site. 

As one Jolt user put it, “The design could be better. When it comes to using all-in-one software, design is critical, especially for kitchen staff that is quite busy. The simpler, the better.”

You need a solution with less of a learning curve

Many Jolt users agree that the current customer support team is readily available to teach them how the software works and troubleshoot issues. One user even says that, without customer support, they would have been “lost and overwhelmed.”

While it’s great to have a reliable service team on your side, very few small restaurant, cafe, and bar owners have time to reach out to customer support simply to learn how their software works. It’s important to find an alternative you — and your staff — can pick up and learn within a few hours so you can use it every day.

You’re looking for a better small business solution

The majority of Jolt customers are mid-market restaurants and chains, which means they employ 50 to 1000 staff members. Considering that, Jolt users likely have bigger budgets to spend on additional software to support them with essential tasks like storing paperwork and documentation, calculating paychecks, and automatically remitting payroll taxes — all of which Jolt doesn’t handle. 

Small business owners in the restaurant industry need software that enables them to do more with less. When you’re an owner-manager with a lean team, it’s crucial you have more versatile communication, scheduling, time tracking, payroll, and HR and compliance.

Key features to look for in a Jolt alternative

If you’ve been struggling to find a Jolt substitute, it’s possible you haven’t considered options that offer the following elements:

• Designed for small businesses — You don’t have to be an expert in HR, employee law, compliance, or accounting to run a small business, but regulations will still apply to you. Consider prioritizing a team operations platform with built-in notifications and reminders that keep you on the right side of labor regulations. And it’s best if it connects you with HR resources, templates, and experts who can guide you along the way.
• Usability — User-friendly software reduces the risk of mistakes or oversights during shift checks, availability updates, or clock-ins and outs. When a platform layout is well-organized, users can easily navigate its workflows without getting confused or frustrated. This means you’ll spend less time fielding employee questions or providing training.
• More team management tools — Many platforms only focus on features like time tracking, scheduling, and communication, which are key for busy restaurant owners who want to keep their staff in the loop and make sure team members have what they need to collaborate effectively. Still, there are options that also offer tools for running payroll, hiring and onboarding, and centralizing team information and documentation. That allows small business owners to keep their software tool kit manageable, their processes streamlined, and their business expenses under control. 
• Affordability — Every solution has its own pricing model, and not all are suitable for small business teams. It’s best to start with a platform that has a comprehensive free plan. For example, Homebase lets you access their time tracking and scheduling tools for free for up to 20 employees. For more advanced features, make sure the solution you choose offers per-location rather than per-user pricing. That way, you can avoid paying more as your team grows. 

The 6 top Jolt alternatives

Each solution on our shortlist of recommendations is designed to optimize your restaurant staff management: 

• Homebase: Best all-in-one solution
• 7shifts: Best for tip pooling
• HotSchedules: Best for labor forecasting
• Push Operations: Best for performance management
• Restaurant365: Best for managing business expenses
• Sling: Best for scheduling on a tight budget

1. Homebase: Best all-in-one solution

“There’s a lot to love about Homebase. 

The website and app are extremely user-friendly. Perhaps my two favorite parts about the app are the ability for my staff to request time off via the app, and to trade or cover shifts. I was getting several texts throughout the day, and this is much less invasive.”

— Homebase user

 

With its intuitive team management tools, Homebase helps restaurant, cafe, and bar owners reduce their workload and keep their teams organized. Our mobile GPS time clock lets you set up authorized worksites so employees can clock in and out from the right place. Automatic reminders for upcoming shifts, breaks, and clock-outs help you avoid timesheet errors. Additionally, our drag-and-drop employee scheduling tool lets team members swap shifts and pick up open slots with minimal manager effort — team leads only need to approve or deny swaps and shift changes with a click. 

Homebase is also highly accessible for new business owners. A free account only takes a few minutes to set up, and it’s easy for staff to use. Your team can use the free mobile app every day to check their schedules, update their availability, track time, communicate with their teammates, check their pay stubs, and even cash out up to $400 of their next check ahead of payday. 

Finally, with our per-location pricing, Homebase is well-priced for small businesses, especially considering how comprehensive our solutions are. With a paid plan, you’ll have access to the hiring and onboarding and HR and compliance tools you need to grow your business sustainably and responsibly. Plus, you’ll get access to a team of HR professionals who can review your policies, answer your burning questions on issues around employment law and tax regulations, and even design your first employee handbook. That’s great news for small business owners with limited HR knowledge.

11 features that simplify your team management workload and keep you compliant 

• Mobile time tracking with GPS and geofencing tools to prevent time theft
• A time clock that auto-converts hours into timesheets complete with wage and overtime data
• An intuitive employee scheduling tool that can auto-populate timetables with shifts every week
• Simple shift-swapping features that reduce manager workload
• Full-service payroll software that calculates wages, sends payments, and files taxes for you
• An employee messaging app you can use to send messages to individuals, custom groups, or the entire team 
• Hiring and onboarding tools with job description templates, digital new hire onboarding, and document storage tools
• HR and compliance functions that make it quick and easy to create policies and procedures and centralize staff information
• Workforce forecasting tools that help you make money-saving scheduling decisions
• A cash out feature that lets employees withdraw up to $400 of their wages
• A mobile app that empowers managers and employees and lets them manage everyday team tasks from anywhere

Pros and cons

Pros

👍 Free account includes scheduling and time tracking for up to 20 employees

👍 Takes a few minutes to set up

👍 Beginner-friendly with no learning curve

👍 Built-in payroll, compliance, and HR features help you avoid legal issues

Cons

👎 Not designed for large businesses and enterprises

👎 Can’t view multiple work locations at the same time

Pricing

Homebase’s basic scheduling and time tracking tools are 100% free. Here’s a breakdown of all the plans we offer so you can make the best choice for your small business:

• Basic — Free for one location and up to 20 employees. It includes basic scheduling and time tracking and employee management tools like messaging, point-of-sale integrations, and access to email support. 
• Essentials — $24.95 per month per location. Everything in Basic, plus payroll integrations, team communication, performance tracking, advanced time tracking and scheduling, and access to live support.
• Plus — $59.95 per month per location. Everything in Essentials, plus hiring tools, retention and performance tracking, time off controls, and departments and permissions.
• All-in-one — $99.95 per month per location. Everything in Plus, with HR and compliance, new hire onboarding, labor cost controls, and business insights.

Users can also save 20% when they sign up for an annual plan.

Homebase payroll is an extra add-on and costs a base fee of $39/month plus $6/paid employee per month.

2. 7shifts: Best for tip pooling

As a team management solution designed for restaurants, 7shifts includes tools for scheduling, time tracking, hiring and onboarding, and task management. Employees can use the 7shifts mobile app to punch in and out of their shifts, check their schedules, and communicate with their teammates and supervisors. 7shifts also lets you consolidate your training videos in one place, which is especially helpful when you need to quickly orient seasonal employees.

7shifts is also a solid option for restaurants that need to make sure they’re handling tipping according to state and federal regulations. Managers can create custom tip pools for every shift to avoid shorting any staff members, and they can also process tips during payroll so they don’t have to worry about accounting for them separately.

Top features

• Drag and drop scheduler that lets you create customizable templates for future use
• Mobile time clock with buddy punching and time theft prevention tools
• Hiring and onboarding feature with built-in employee document storage
• Tip pooling and tip payout tools
• Team communication and task management functions

Pros and cons

Pros

👍 Integrates with well-known point-of-sale (POS) systems

👍 Simplifies scheduling and team communication

👍 User-friendly

Cons

👎 Shift-trading feature is difficult to use

👎 Doesn’t allow you to create rules for requesting time off

👎 Plans are expensive compared to competitors

Pricing

7shifts offers free scheduling and time tracking for up to 30 employees. For more advanced features and larger teams, pricing starts at $29.99 per location per month.

3. HotSchedules: Best for labor forecasting

HotSchedules powered by Fourth is a restaurant and hospitality management platform with a suite of tools for inventory management, team operations, and scheduling. HotSchedules is Fourth’s dedicated team scheduling software, and it allows managers to create and share schedules with team members via the HotSchedules mobile app. 

On its own, HotSchedules is a straightforward scheduling solution that any small business owner can use to create and publish employee timetables, although it lacks built-in time tracking tools. Combined with the other products available with Fourth’s platform, it’s probably best suited to larger restaurants and franchises.

Top features

• Employee scheduling with shift-swapping tools
• Access to Fourth’s integrated software for inventory management, labor costing, and applicant tracking
• Time off request management
• In-app messaging
• Analytics and reporting

Pros and cons

Pros

👍 Great for scheduling and labor forecasting

👍 User-friendly platform

👍 Useful shift swapping function

Cons

👎 No time tracking tools

👎 Set up can be challenging

Pricing

HotSchedules pricing isn’t readily available.

4. Push Operations: Best for performance management

Push Operations is a people management platform that combines hiring and onboarding, payroll, HR tools, time tracking, and scheduling in one cloud-based platform. With its scheduling feature, platform administrators can set time off and shift swap request rules so managers don’t have to double-check the schedule before approving changes. Additionally, its payroll feature accommodates tax rules in both the USA and Canada, which is perfect for restaurant owners that want to open locations in both countries.

What makes it stand out is its hiring and onboarding feature, which allows you to monitor employee KPIs throughout their journey with your business. You can also track employee raises, promotions, and milestones, making it easier to identify workforce trends within your business.

Top features

• Applicant tracking software (ATS) that makes hiring and onboarding more efficient
• Payroll tools that handle your tax filings and withholdings for you
• Time tracking feature with built-in time theft prevention
• Scheduling tool that allows you to create shift swapping and time off rules

Pros and cons

Pros

👍 Intuitive platform that works well from any device

👍 Friendly, efficient customer service team

👍 Scheduling feature saves managers time

Cons

👎 Availability settings for scheduling can be complicated

👎 Occasional glitches

Pricing

Push’s pricing starts at $5 per employee per month. 

5. Restaurant365: Best for managing business expenses

Restaurant365 is an accounting and operations platform that business owners can use to manage expenses, finances, inventory, and restaurant staff. Its team management platform — called R365 Workforce — provides hiring, onboarding, scheduling, and benefits administration, making it a great fit for established restaurants and franchises that are well-positioned to offer health insurance to their employees.

Its accounting software — R365 Accounting — lets you run in-depth menu item analysis, cash flow, profitability, and profit and loss reports so you can keep your restaurant as cost-efficient as possible.

Top features

• Employee scheduling feature with shift swapping tools
• Hiring and onboarding tools that allow you to grow your restaurant team
• Full-service payroll
• Accounting software that lets you monitor and control your business expenses
• In-depth analytics and reporting

Pros and cons

Pros

👍 Easy-to-learn system

👍 Great customer service

👍 Ideal for training managers on revenue and labor costs

Cons

👎 Not cost-effective for restaurants with small budgets

👎 Not time tracking tools

👎 Lacks communication tools for employees

Pricing

Restaurant365 plans start at $435 per location per month, and users are billed quarterly.

6. Sling: Best for scheduling on a tight budget

Sling is an employee scheduling app that also incorporates features for time tracking, labor costing, team communication, and task management. Employees can use Sling’s mobile app to track time from any device, and the app also notifies them when it’s time to clock in and out. Team members can also communicate with each other within the app, and managers can send team-wide announcements to keep everyone updated.

With a free Sling plan, managers can create employee schedules for an unlimited number of employees and locations. That’s why Sling is a viable option for new restaurant owners looking for basic scheduling features on a tight budget.

Top features

• Mobile and kiosk-friendly time tracking that syncs with payroll
• Employee scheduling feature with shift swapping and template creation tools
• Task management tools that let you delegate tasks for every shift
• Communication app for easier employee messaging
• Labor costing tools to help you make better scheduling decisions

Pros and cons

Pros

👍 The free version works well and is easy to use

👍 Short learning curve for new employees

👍 Allows managers to quickly view who’s working

Cons

👎 Occasional bugs and glitches

👎 A few features can be hard to locate on the dashboard

👎 Chat notifications can be overwhelming and difficult to filter

Pricing

Sling’s free plan offers basic scheduling and time off management tools for unlimited employees and locations. For more advanced features, pricing starts at $2 per user per month.

Turn up your team productivity with Homebase

Jolt can simplify your restaurant’s food safety and inventory management, but the right restaurant management platform shouldn’t make you sacrifice crucial team management tools in favor of other processes.

Whether you’re looking for integrated payroll, expert HR advice, or more intuitive scheduling tools, you’ve got options. If you’re looking for a tool that has more advanced tip-pooling features, you may prefer 7shifts. On the other hand, you may want to opt for a platform like HotSchedules that offers added labor forecasting functionality. 

But if you’re looking for a flexible, all-in-one option for delegating all-consuming team management tasks, we recommend Homebase. With Homebase, scheduling and time tracking for employees is intuitive and  simple — and free for up to 20 team members. 

Plus, Homebase customers love how easy it is to start using our platform. It doesn’t require training, which is perfect for time-strapped business owners who need to get up and running fast.

The post Top 6 Jolt alternatives and competitors (in-depth comparison) appeared first on Homebase.

Running an HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) business comes with many ups and downs—and we’re not talking about the temperature. From managing field teams to navigating unpredictable schedules, there’s a lot you need to get right to deliver a stellar customer experience and grow your business.

Keep reading as we break down how you can use time tracking and HVAC business software to take your business to the next level.

What is time tracking?

Time tracking is the process of recording employee working hours and tasks to optimize labor costs and manage payroll. 

Tracking employee time helps you stay up to date on the hours your team spends working on different projects and tasks. This is particularly important for businesses with hourly employees since it directly impacts much you’re spending on labor costs.  

If you’ve never tracked time before, it can sound a bit tedious. Your mind might be envisioning the chaos of 100 spreadsheets. But you won’t need those, because with the right HVAC business software, time tracking can seamlessly fit into your day-to-day.

The benefits of using HVAC business software for time tracking

The advantages of time tracking for any business are crystal clear. But an HVAC business isn’t just any business. Between managing a wide range of services, products, and employee work locations, running an HVAC business can get a little… complicated.

So what makes time tracking and HVAC business software so valuable for your HVAC business? Let us tell you.

1. Time-tracking software makes it easy for you to stay on top of labor costs

When you’re trying to grow your business, every dollar counts. Labor can account for up to 70% of your total business expenses, so you definitely don’t want to play guessing games with your employee working hours. If you’re not time tracking, you could find yourself short-changing yourself or your employees—and nobody wants that.

An HVAC business software with time-tracking tools makes it easy for employees to clock in and out. You’ll be able to track the right number of hours worked down to the minute. This way, you’ll have an accurate record of labor costs for future forecasting. No time-tracking spreadsheets needed.

And of course, when payday rolls around, you can run payroll with confidence knowing everyone is getting paid the right amount. 

Don’t take the heat for overtime: HVAC systems don’t break on schedule, which means some weeks might be busier than others. Those emergency repair calls might accidentally push your employees into overtime. Time tracking means you’ll always know when an employee is about to hit overtime, so you can either switch up the schedule or adjust payroll accordingly. 

2. HVAC business software makes scheduling a breeze

Managing an HVAC business schedule is a bit of a juggling act. You’ve got to factor in client appointments, employee schedules, and employee availability. And on top of all that, you need to consider all the travel to different locations. 

Using HVAC business software helps put scheduling stress in the rearview mirror. It collects your team’s availability, labor forecasts, and sales targets all in one place, so you can create a seamless schedule that meets all your business needs.

Once your schedule is perfected, you’ll easily be able to compare your tracked time and scheduled hours side by side. So you know that your team is clocking in and out right on schedule.

3. A time clock app helps you grow your HVAC business

Save yourself the battle over the thermostat—or rather, the time clock. 

With an old-school punch clock, employees have to physically come to a central location to clock in and out of their shifts. While this might work for some businesses, most HVAC technicians spend their day on the road going from customer to customer. 

When you use a time clock app, employees can clock in and out remotely right from their phones, a laptop, or other systems. This way, instead of paying your team to travel to your office to clock in and out, you can send them directly home to save on labor costs (and gas). Or, you can even re-allocate that time to squeeze in a few extra customers each day. 

If a digital time clock app has you worried about time theft, we’ve got you covered too. Because…

4. HVAC business software reduces time theft with GPS and geofencing capabilities 

Your employees spend most of their day in the field with customers. So it’s almost impossible to stay on top of your team’s comings and goings. Unfortunately, that means that there’s a chance you’ll experience time theft.

Time theft is when employees are paid for hours that they aren’t actually working. In your HVAC business, time theft might look like:

• An employee going for an (unauthorized) coffee break between appointments.
• An employee showing up late for a customer service appointment, but clocking in before they arrive so it doesn’t look like they were late.

Time theft isn’t always intentional. But even those small 10-15 minute increments of lost time can cost you a pretty penny.

The solution to reducing time theft? GPS time clocks.

GPS time clocks use location-based data on your team’s mobile device to help you get a better sense of where they are when they clock in and out.

For example, GPS snapshots capture your employee’s location when they clock in. And geofencing helps you set up authorized workplaces, meaning employees can only clock in when they’re on site. It’s the perfect solution for your remote and field HVAC team.

5. HVAC business apps keep you up to date with team communication tools  

Any HVAC business has a lot of moving parts. Appointment schedules are constantly changing, there are parts that need to be ordered, and you’ve got employees running all over town.

To keep things running smoothly, your team needs to be able to stay in touch. But if you rely on texting or phone calls, your team will probably spend more time on the phone than actually installing HVAC systems. Plus, it’s probably best your field techs aren’t answering their phones while on a ladder anyways.

Say goodbye to phone calls and use a team communication app instead. 

Send messages to individual employees, share team-wide updates, or get updates from employees on their service calls—all from your phone.

Last minute HVAC appointment? Fill urgent repair requests in a snap with Homebase’s built-in free team communication app. Just add an open shift and employees can pick up and trade shifts in just a few clicks.

6. Time tracking software improves employee accountability

In a business where your employees are always on the go, you can’t always be there to supervise and make sure they’re getting the job done. Employees need to be able to self-manage and motivate themselves to be productive.

When you first introduce time tracking, it can feel a bit like you’re micromanaging your team. But it can actually empower them to be more accountable for their work and make them happier on the job. 

Time tracking not only helps improve employee productivity by tracking their tasks and service calls. (There’s a reason time tracking is gaining popularity even for non-hourly workers!) It can also help foster trust and transparency by keeping a clear record of their work hours, so they know they’re being paid correctly.

7. Time tracking helps you stay compliant 

When it comes to shift work, it pays to follow the rules. Or rather, it helps you save on unnecessary fines.

While time tracking offers major business benefits, one of the biggest is helping you stay compliant with local labor laws. For example:

• Overtime laws. Eligible employees are required to be paid 1.5x their usual hourly rate any time they work over 40 hours in a single work week. Time tracking tells you exactly when employees go into overtime.
• FLSA record-keeping requirements. Employers are generally required to keep clear records of wages earned and hours worked for up to three years. Time-tracking software can help you keep these records organized and secure.
• Paid time off accruals. Some states require employers to provide paid time off. Time tracking can help you and your employees accurately calculate accruals.

The last thing you want is to find the Department of Labor knocking on your door for labor law violations.

8. HVAC business software can help you automate tasks

Let’s face it, you’re passionate about HVAC; not admin. Instead of spending time on tedious and repetitive tasks, why not automate them with your HVAC business software?

 For example, your software can automatically

• Turn time tracking into timesheets to make payroll prep easier
• Track breaks, calculate overtime, and manage PTO accruals
• Schedule shifts based on forecasts and employee availability

All that time saved can be better used to help continue growing your business.

The best HVAC business software: Homebase

You spend your days helping customers get top-of-the-line tools to heat and cool their homes, you deserve the same for your business.  Homebase’s all-in-one business software makes managing your employees feel like a breath of fresh air.

Time clocking on the go

You bring your HVAC expertise to your clients and your tools should come with you. Compatible with most iOS, Android, or POS devices, Homebase’s time clock for HVAC businesses makes it easy for employees to clock in wherever they are.

Stress-free scheduling

Create the perfect schedule for your team using Homebase’s templates or auto-scheduling tool. Keep your team on track by color-coding and assigning different roles, so everyone knows what they’re scheduled to do. 

The best part? When things change, you can edit your schedule right from your phone.

Employee perks

As a small business with mobile employees, you might not be offering cold brew on tap anytime soon. But you can still offer your team some pretty rad perks that they actually want.

Homebase makes employee happiness a priority with features like Cash Out pay advances and easy PTO management, right within the app.

HR without the hassle

Compliance can be tough, but Homebase makes managing a team of employees easier than ever before. From employee information tracking and custom PTO policies to tools that help you stay on top of federal, state, and local rules, Homebase makes staying compliant easier than deciding to turn on the AC on a hot summer day.

Hiring without the hassle

As your HVAC company scales, you’ll need to hire more employees to serve your growing customer base. Homebase makes it easy to find and onboard new hires all in one place. From creating and promoting your job posting to scheduling calls with candidates, you’ll be able to find the perfect candidate faster.

Is your HVAC business ready to start time tracking?

Homebase’s time clock is the breeziest in the biz. From time tracking to employee scheduling, your HVAC business will be heating up in no time. Did we mention it’s free? Get started today.

HVAC business software FAQS 

What is time tracking?

Time tracking is the process of recording employee working hours and tasks. Businesses, like HVAC companies, often use time tracking to stay on top of how many hours employees are working and what tasks are getting completed. This information is then used to help determine employee payroll, manage labor costs, and even client billing.

Why should my HVAC business use software?

Your HVAC business should use software to streamline your workflows. For example:

• Time tracking helps you optimize your labor costs and keeps track of employee hours for payroll
• Payroll software helps make the process of paying your employees faster and simpler
• Time clocks with GPS features can help reduce employee time theft
• Automated employee scheduling software makes it easier to create an optimized schedule

How does HVAC business software help me grow my HVAC business?

An HVAC business software can help you grow your HVAC business by streamlining your workflows and processes so you can take on more clients. By using time-tracking features within your software, you can also stay on top of labor costs. This will help you improve your profit margins or even give you a competitive advantage in the HVAC market.

What features should I look for in HVAC business software?

Your HVAC business software should offer features that help you work smarter and better, including:

• Time clocks to help you keep track of employee hours
• Payroll software that makes prepping for payroll simpler
• HR and compliance tools to help you stay on top of labor costs
• Team communication features to help you and your team keep in touch while on the job

The post HVAC business software: 8 benefits of using it for time tracking appeared first on Homebase.