Outfit a service van
The tools of the trade you already own. This is the rest of the van: the shelving, the labels, the safety kit, the drop cloths, the invoice pad for the driveway, and the card reader for the customer who wants to pay right there.
Contactless card reader
Tap, chip and phone wallets, paired to a phone or tablet. Pick the reader made for the processor you'll actually use.
Buy on AmazonAll-in-one printer with document feeder
Prints, copies, and — the part that matters — scans a stack of receipts and invoices straight to a folder. The bookkeeping machine.
Buy on AmazonABC fire extinguisher
For everything that isn't grease. One at the exit, one in the van; check the gauge monthly and write the date on the tag.
Buy on AmazonCanvas drop cloths
Lay one down before the first tool comes out. Customers remember a clean floor longer than they remember the repair.
Buy on AmazonOSHA-compliant first aid kit
Wall-mounted, restocked, and where everyone knows it is. Required once you have employees, sensible before.
Buy on AmazonSafety glasses and work gloves, multipack
Keep a box in the van so there's never a reason not to wear them. Cheap, and the difference between a scratch and an ER visit.
Buy on AmazonPortable cash box
Lockable, with a removable tray. The market-day register, and the float goes home in it.
Buy on AmazonCarbonless invoice book
For the driveway, when the phone's dead and the customer wants paper. Two-part, numbered, and the copy goes in the office pile.
Buy on AmazonLabel maker
Shelves, bins, cables, files, the breaker panel. Labeled things get put back; unlabeled things get bought twice.
Buy on AmazonVan shelving unit
Steel, bolted to the floor, with bins. Ten minutes a day hunting for a fitting is forty hours a year — this is the fix.
Buy on AmazonCustom vehicle magnets
Your name and number on the van door, on and off in a minute. A wrap is better and ten times the price; start here.
Buy on AmazonFolding hand truck
Cases of cups, a chafer set, a water heater. Folds flat against the van wall between jobs.
Buy on AmazonGel work knee pads
Tile, subfloor, crawlspace. The trade's most-skipped purchase, and the one your forties will thank you for.
Buy on AmazonHeavy-duty outdoor extension cord
12-gauge, 50 feet, rated for the load. Market power is always one outlet farther than your cord.
Buy on AmazonLatching storage bins, set
One bin per station: cups, lids, signs, cash box, cleaning. Load the car in the order you unload it.
Buy on AmazonRechargeable headlamp
Attics, crawlspaces, under sinks and the back of a truck at 6 a.m. Hands free beats a flashlight in your teeth.
Buy on Amazon
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