Mike runs a contracting business in Stamford. Good guy. Builds beautiful kitchens. Was also spending every Saturday night doing QuickBooks instead of watching the game.
The Saturday Night QuickBooks Blues
20+ invoices to create. 15 to follow up on. 3 hours minimum. Every. Single. Saturday.
The "I Can't Take This Anymore" Moment
Picture this: It's 9 PM on a Saturday. Mike's daughter has a soccer game at 8 AM Sunday. He's still at his desk creating invoices for last week's jobs.
His wife walks in: "You coming to bed?"
"Just 10 more invoices."
"You said that an hour ago."
That's when Mike called me. Not because he wanted automation. Because he wanted his life back.
What We Actually Did (No Magic)
Look, I'm not going to pretend this was rocket science. QuickBooks has automation features. Most contractors just don't know they exist or think they're too complicated.
Here's the dead simple setup:
Job Completed
Mike marks it done in his app
Invoice Created
Automatically that night
Email Sent
8 AM next morning
Follow-ups
Every 7 days until paid
The beautiful part? Mike didn't have to learn anything new. Still uses QuickBooks the same way. It just does more of the work for him.
The Money Part (This'll Make You Sick)
Before
- 💸 $18,000 stuck past 30 days
- ⏰ 15-20 hours/month on invoices
- 😤 Awkward payment calls
- 🏈 Missing Saturday night games
After (First Month)
- ✅ Collected $12,000 in old invoices
- ✅ 2 hours/month on invoices
- ✅ Automatic friendly reminders
- ✅ Home for kickoff
Here's the kicker: The follow-up emails? They're friendly. Not those corporate "Per my last email" nightmares. Just:
"Hey John, hope the kitchen's treating you well! Just a heads up - invoice #1234 for $3,200 is still open. Here's the link to pay online, or give me a call if there's any issues. -Mike"
People actually pay faster when you're not being a jerk about it. Who knew?
The Real Win
Mike texted me last month: "Watched the entire Giants game with my daughter. Didn't check QuickBooks once. Invoice still went out Monday morning. This is what I was missing."
This Works for Any Contractor
Doesn't matter if you're:
- Electrical, plumbing, HVAC, landscaping
- 1-person shop or 10-person crew
- Using QuickBooks, FreshBooks, or carrier pigeons
If you're manually creating invoices and chasing payments, you're doing it wrong. Not because you're dumb. Because nobody told you there's a better way.
The Connecticut Contractor Problem
You're competing with NY contractors who have office managers. Automation is your office manager. Costs less than a tank of gas per month.
Still doing QuickBooks on Saturday nights?
Let's fix that.
Tom
Connecticut Business Automation
Former GM of a $17M Amazon business. Managed IT systems for 5 restaurant locations. Now helping Connecticut small businesses automate the repetitive stuff so they can focus on what actually makes money.
Real Experience:
- Ran $17M/year operation with 30,000 sq ft warehouse
- Managed IT for 5 Archie Moore's locations
- Built automation systems processing 100+ orders daily
- Connecticut business owner helping Connecticut businesses