What i wish i knew sooner: Invoicing
Don Taylor
If I could go back and tell my younger self one thing, it would be this: always invoice the day of service.
I spent 20 years running my own heating and air company and 15 years as a Trane dealer before learning this lesson the hard way.
Here’s the truth: when you delay invoicing, you delay getting paid. And when payments get delayed, your cash flow suffers—and cash flow is everything for a small business.
In my early years, I assumed customers would pay as soon as they got the invoice. But I learned that the longer you wait to send that bill, the more likely the payment gets lost in the shuffle—whether it’s forgetfulness, disputes, or just plain inertia.
The reality is, small business owners don’t have a big cushion of cash or a finance department keeping track of every penny. You’re wearing all the hats, and every dollar counts. If you wait, you lose. Period.
For me, the biggest hit was collections. I’d provide great service, but if I didn’t get that invoice out right away, I’d end up chasing payments for weeks. That’s wasted time, wasted energy, and money left on the table.
Here’s what I know now: invoicing promptly isn’t just about getting paid faster—it’s about running a smoother, healthier business. The sooner you send the invoice, the sooner you free up your time, reduce your stress, and create room to grow.
So if you’re still waiting days or weeks to invoice, learn from my mistakes. Don’t wait. Send it the day of service. You’ll be surprised at how quickly your business (and your peace of mind) improves.
If I could give one piece of advice to anyone running a service business, it would be this: never let a call go unanswered. Every missed call is missed revenue—and the cost of those lost opportunities adds up fast.
In the early days, most service businesses rely on hustle—answering phones manually, juggling schedules, and patching together tools that were never really designed for the trades.
But the truth is, no matter how hard you hustle, humans can’t answer 10 calls at once. And every call you miss is another job going to a competitor.
The Lesson
Here’s what I wish I had understood sooner:
- Missed calls are lost jobs. If you don’t answer, someone else will.
- Efficiency drives growth. When scheduling, dispatching, and communication run on autopilot, your team can actually scale.
- AI isn’t the future—it’s already here. The businesses using it today are already miles ahead.
- Scalability matters. AI doesn’t get tired, distracted, or overwhelmed. It can consistently handle demand that people simply can’t.
Why This Matters
AI isn’t about replacing people—it’s about freeing them. Answering, scheduling, dispatching, follow-ups—these are tasks that can run automatically so your team can focus on the work that really matters: serving customers and solving problems in their homes.
The companies that embrace this now will thrive. The ones that wait will fall behind.
So here’s the simple truth I wish I’d embraced earlier: AI isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s the key to growth, consistency, and long-term success in field service.
