We’ve all heard the grind-it-out advice: hustle harder, take more jobs, stay late, do whatever it takes. But here’s the thing—more hours doesn’t guarantee more profit. In fact, if your business isn't built on the right pricing and structure, working more might just be digging you deeper into the hole.
In Episode 6 of the Total Profit Podcast, T2 and Tommy P break down how to increase revenue without sacrificing your sanity or your Saturday.
The Myth of More Work = More Money:
The contractor hustle is real—early mornings, late nights, weekends, and overtime. But too often, that hustle leads to exhaustion, not expansion. Why? Because the structure underneath the revenue is broken.
You’re either:
Underpricing jobs to stay competitive
Burning labor hours on inefficient workflows
Or relying on volume to cover weak margins
It’s not that you need more work. You need better-paying work, more strategic customers, and scalable systems that don’t depend on you working 80 hours a week.
Three Ways to Grow Without the Grind:
Raise Your Prices (For Real):
If you haven’t raised prices in over 12 months, inflation already gave you a pay cut. Most businesses are too scared to adjust pricing, thinking they’ll scare customers off. But the right customers understand value—and those are the ones you want.
Pro tip: A 10% price increase on your top 3 services could increase your profit significantly—even if you lost a few clients.
Upsell or Cross-Sell Existing Clients:
Your existing customer base is a gold mine. It’s 5x easier to sell to someone who already trusts you. Think about what else they need that you can offer:
Maintenance packages
Premium add-ons
Priority scheduling
Extended warranties
Consulting or design upgrades
Streamline What You Sell:
Not every service is equally profitable. Stop saying yes to everything. Instead, double down on the jobs with the best margins and repeatability. Less complexity = more scalability.
What You Should Be Tracking:
Revenue per job
Profit per job
Time/labor per job
Repeat customer rate
Action Step:
Review your last 10 jobs. Where did you make the most money with the least headache? Now ask: how can you sell more of those?
Final Word:
This isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing smarter. Revenue should work for you, not burn you out. More income, less exhaustion—that’s how real businesses scale.