May 14, 2025 - Daily Recap

A Full Circle Anniversary
Today marked one year since I went full-time with this business. I’ll save the numbers and reflections for a separate blog post, but just know — it’s been a ride. And fittingly, today was very much business as usual: wake up early, move fast, and hope the rain holds.

Early Install for a Familiar Client
We kicked things off with a repeat client who runs a customer appreciation block party a couple times a year. This was our third time supporting it. The job? 22 pop-up tents, all set up before the event starts.

In past years, we’ve arrived by 7 a.m. and had everything done before they even showed up to work. This time, my main guy was coming straight off his overnight shift and couldn’t meet me until 7. We rolled in to the site by 8 a.m., just as vendors were showing up. Not ideal.

There had been thunder and rain earlier that morning, so conditions were less than perfect — but we were still done by around 9:30 a.m., and I think the client was happy. (Hard to read sometimes, but I’ll take a quiet thumbs-up over a loud complaint.)

Midday Shuffle: Admin, Lunch, and a Tag-In
Dropped my guy back at the warehouse, then jumped into email responses and new inquiries — the rain has everyone anxious again. I also squeezed in lunch and a few errands while waiting for our college teammate to meet me at 2 p.m. so we could head back for takedown.

Back for Breakdown — And a Sub Rental Scramble
We got back on-site at 3 p.m. to start breaking everything down. It was my new guy’s first time handling pop-up tents, and he picked it up quickly. We had it all loaded up in about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Then came the fun part: I had to race across town to return six sub-rented tents to one of the bigger rental companies. I was right up against their closing time, and if I didn’t make it, my whole week’s schedule could’ve unraveled.

Luckily, they let me in after hours — shoutout to that team for always being friendly, flexible, and clutch under pressure.

Job Metrics: 22 Pop-Up Tents

• Revenue: $4,799

• Total Job Cost: $1,319

• Profit: $3,480 (72.51%)

• ARA Calculator Profit: $3,076 (64.09%)

• Difference: -8.42%

• There’s a big gap between our calculation and ARA’s. That makes sense — ARA’s formula factors in mileage and sub-rental logistics, which hit harder here. Still, the margin in dollars was strong. Lower margin %, higher total profit — classic case of what the business books tell you to expect on larger jobs. And while this might not be considered a big job for some companies, for us, it’s on the higher end in terms of gross revenue — which makes the strong dollar margin even more meaningful.

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