Founder by day, tinkerer by night 馃敡 Breaking things to make better ones
Sydney, Australia
Joined July 2013
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The first thing to delegate is the thing only you know how to do.
Sounds backwards. But if every job still runs through the owner, the business can't grow past the owner's calendar.
The fix isn't hiring someone smarter. Write down how you actually decide: what you check, what makes you say no, what good looks like. Then hand it over with that page attached.
Quote gone quiet? Most aren't a no, they're sitting in an inbox.
Follow up 2-3 days after sending with one easy question: "Anything you'd like changed before you go ahead?"
It gives them a reason to reply, and often surfaces the real hold-up: scope or timing, not just price.
Price the extra revision round on the quote itself. Two rounds included, a third is a line item with a number next to it. Then when round three comes up it's a choice the client makes, not an awkward chat you have to start
Simple job costing habit that pays for itself: when a job wraps, put the hours and materials you actually used next to what you quoted. Do it that day while it's fresh. After 10 jobs you'll see which kinds of work you underquote, and by how much. Then fix the next quote.
An AI agent that turns CI green by editing the test hasn't fixed the bug. It's moved the goalposts.
Cheap guard: if a bug-fix PR touches a test file, CI fails until a human has looked at why.
The more outreach gets automated, the more a real phone call stands out.
Every inbox is full of polite AI emails now. Almost nobody rings to talk through the actual problem.
Cheapest edge in sales right now is picking up the phone.
A simple way to price a job without guessing:
Hours x what an hour really costs you (wage plus super, van, insurance, admin)
+ materials at today's supplier price
+ a margin you choose on purpose
Margin is a decision you make before you quote, not whatever's left after.
Bit of EV physics that explains highway range. Aero drag goes up with speed squared, so 110 km/h costs about 50% more energy per km than 90 does.
That's why an EV that's brilliant around town drops range fast on the freeway. It's not the battery, it's the air
Scope creep rarely shows up as a big ask. It's "while you're here, can you just..."
Before you do the extra bit: write down what changed, put a price on it, and get a yes in writing. Then keep it with the job, so it ends up on the invoice instead of in an argument.
If an AI agent got CI green by editing the test, it isn't green. It just moved the goalposts.
Simple guard: any fix PR that touches a test file gets flagged for a human to read before it merges
Most "client won't pay" fights start at the quote, not the invoice.
If the quote doesn't say when each stage gets invoiced and when it's due, you're negotiating after the work's done, with no leverage.
Put the terms in the thing they say yes to.
The first thing to delegate isn't the boring admin. It's the thing only you know how to do.
If every quote, fix and decision has to go through you, you don't own a business, you own a bottleneck.
Write it down, hand it over, fix the gaps as they show up
2. Fresh context for each issue. Old failed attempts left in the session teach the agent the wrong fix
A service business is worth a lot more when the work doesn't walk out the door with the owner.
Written-down process beats heroics. If it only runs because one person remembers how, that's a job, not an asset