The Pavado Blog
Signal over hype.
Page 7 of 34. Evidence-based guides on building custom CRM systems and earning visibility in AI search. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. Written by the Pavado team.
Custom CRMCheapest CRM for Small Contractors: $29 vs $29
Two contractor CRMs both list at $29/mo in 2026. One gives one user and no QuickBooks sync, the other unlimited users and QuickBooks. Here is the math.
16 min
Custom CRMDo I Need QuickBooks if I Have a CRM? 4 Jobs
Your CRM sends invoices, so why pay for QuickBooks too? Because four accounting jobs live outside it, and one of them is a six-year legal obligation.
15 min
Custom CRMGoHighLevel for Contractors: 6 Things It Won't Do
GoHighLevel is an agency platform contractors buy direct. HighLevel closed its own field service request. The 6 gaps, the real cost, and the exit test.
17 min
Custom CRMHousecall Pro Alternatives: 3 Pricing Models
Housecall Pro charges $100 per extra seat, so at 7 users the cheap plan costs more than the expensive one. Sort alternatives by pricing model, not features.
15 min
Custom CRMHow Long to Switch Field Service Software: 5 Clocks
Published answers run from 24 hours to 6 months, a 100x spread. Five clocks run at once and only one of them is the one your vendor quotes you.
16 min
GrowthHow Much Profit Should a Contracting Job Make?
Published benchmarks put the same work anywhere from 12% to 65% gross margin. Here is how to derive the one number your jobs actually have to hit.
17 min
GrowthHow Much to Charge Per Day for a Crew: $704/Man
Fifteen working contractors posted their day rates. The median is $704 per man per day and the range is 3x wide. Here is what actually explains the spread.
17 min
GrowthHow Much Should I Pay My First Employee: 4 Numbers
Wage surveys disagree by 50% on the same job title. Work the number backwards from your billing rate, utilization, burden and target margin instead.
16 min
GrowthPressure Washing Per Square Foot: A 4x Spread
One 5,000 sq ft driveway, one thread, quotes from $750 to $3,250. Here is the production-rate math that decides your real per square foot number.
17 min
GrowthHow to Build Overhead Into Your Prices: 4 Bases
The same $20,000 job carries $1,200 or $3,000 of overhead depending on one choice nobody explains: the allocation base. Here is how to pick it.
17 min
GrowthRecurring Revenue in a Trade Business: 5 Tiers
The average home service company churns 40% of customers a year. Best-in-class churns 7%. The gap is which tier of recurring revenue you built.
14 min
GrowthHow to Calculate Your Hourly Shop Rate: 3x Wage
Eight real wage-and-rate pairs put the shop rate multiplier just over 3x. Here is the formula, the divisor everyone guesses, and the double-recovery trap.
14 min
Looking for something specific? Browse all articles.