May 12, 2025 - Daily Recap

A Tough Time to Lose Help
The day started off rough. I found out my new guy picked up another job — right in the middle of May, our busiest month. That left me scrambling to fill the gap. Luckily, I lined up two people for a trial run tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Stop 1: Clear Tent Cleanup, Partially
Back again at the wedding site with the clear tents. The rain turned everything into a swamp. I didn’t feel comfortable having the crew take down the tents in those conditions, so I asked the client if we could return later in the week. They agreed.

Still, we had to pick up the sub-rented garden chairs and cocktail tables. And that alone took nearly an hour. Not because there was so much — just because everything was a muddy mess and we had to move slower. Another reminder of why I’m not wild about sub rentals — someone else’s timeline, not mine.

Stop 2: Wet Tent Takedown and a Missing Toolbox
After dropping the sub rentals back at the larger company’s warehouse, we headed to take down a 15x15 tent from Friday’s install. I hate taking tents down wet, but I needed the concrete blocks for tomorrow’s job.

To make matters worse, I forgot my Husky toolbox, which had the tent bag inside. So we had to load the tent directly onto the truck floor — messy and inefficient, but we got it done.

• Revenue: $1,077

• Total Job Cost: $258

• Profit: $819 (76.05%)

• ARA Calculator Profit: $792 (73.56%)

• Difference: -2.49%

Stop 3: Better Timing, Lower Margins
Our last stop was picking up tables and chairs from the job that closed out Friday. That day, it took us an hour just to get there. Today, only 25 minutes, thanks to better traffic timing.

Profitability is based on warehouse distance, so it worked out — but it’s never an exact science.

• Revenue: $786

• Total Job Cost: $243

• Profit: $543 (69.09%)

• ARA Calculator Profit: $516 (65.68%)

• Difference: -3.41%

• Margins were on the lower side, but still acceptable. Maybe easy jobs = light margins?

Inbox Overflow & Bigger Tent Trends
Back at the warehouse, I let my guy head out without unpacking the truck. He’d done enough for the day, and honestly — I had a mountain of inquiries and messages waiting for me.

A pattern’s becoming clear:
People may be hesitant to pay our advertised price for 30-wide tents... until rain enters the picture. Then suddenly, pricing becomes irrelevant. I’m not trying to build a business on last-minute panic calls, but it stings to miss opportunities I know we could’ve handled with more bandwidth.

Until next time
P.S. Don’t miss out on future updates! Subscribe to the newsletter to stay in the loop.