Starting out? Build the habits, not the overhead.
In the first months you've got a truck, a phone, a few customers and no systems. Here's the software a new contractor business actually needs in month one, what can wait until you're busier, and how to run it for $0 until the first invoice goes out.
The trap in year one
When you're new, every dollar is spoken for and every customer feels like the only one. So you keep it all in your head and your phone, and that works for the first ten jobs. Then it's busy, and you're rebuilding your customer list from old messages at midnight, guessing which quotes are still open.
The fix isn't buying a big system on day one. It's starting with one habit: every customer and every job goes in one place the day it happens. Do that from the first job and you never have a migration project later. That matters more with Redline than most, because there's no import: what you add as you go is what you have.
Your month-one checklist
Get a link people can find
Claim a free Pro Page: your trade, area, a few photos of your work and a quote request form. Hand out the link instead of a camera roll.
Put every lead in one list
The day someone calls, tell the chat: "add Ana Moreno, Waltham, two drywall patches and a ceiling repaint." It's a contact with a job before you hang up.
Set a monthly goal
Sign-up asks for one, from $5K to $100K+. Home shows it as a ring, so you know mid-month whether to go find more work.
Quote from the driveway
Send photos to the chat and ask for a quote. It saves as a draft you check, and you email it from your own Gmail. See quotes and estimates.
Let the calendar find the time
Ask for a slot and Redline offers up to 3, grouped with jobs in the same town, so a new business doesn't waste half a day driving.
Move to Solo for the first invoice
When you want a customer to pay by card from a link, turn on Solo ($29 a month, with a 7-day free trial on the web) and set up Stripe payouts from Money.
First real job, first week
Here's Ana Moreno in Waltham as a customer, with a $650 drywall and paint job in Quoted. Confirm and I'll save it.
Saved. Want me to move the job to Accepted? Thursday at 9 is wide open, so I can book the visit there.
All on Free. Job changes wait for your OK; calendar bookings go straight on.
What you need now, and what can wait
| Stage | What you need | Redline plan |
|---|---|---|
| First customers | One list of leads and jobs, a calendar, quotes, a page to send people to | Free, $0 |
| First invoice | Card pay links, deposits, overdue alerts, expenses, profit per job | Solo, $29 a month |
| First hire | A board to hand out jobs and an app for your tech | Team, $129 a month with 3 seats |
Free includes the AI chat, contacts, the job pipeline, the calendar with the scheduling assistant and repeating visits, quotes by chat, Quick-Sort, reminders, email from your own Gmail and a Pro Page with 3 revealed quote requests a month, for one person, with 4,000 AI credits for the life of the account. Invoices, card pay links, deposits, overdue alerts, expenses and reports start on Solo at $29 a month.
What Redline won't do for a new business
Starting a business takes more than software. These parts are on you, or on a professional.
Redline helps with
- Keeping track of every lead and job from day one
- Quoting fast and following up on quiet quotes
- A free page with a quote form
- Getting paid by card, once you're on Solo
- Seeing whether you're hitting your monthly goal
Redline doesn't
- Form your LLC, get you licensed or insured
- Do taxes or bookkeeping
- Run marketing or guarantee leads
- Invoice on the Free plan
Questions contractors ask
Do I even need software in month one?
For a handful of jobs, a notebook works. The cost shows up later, when you have to move it all somewhere. Since Redline has no import, the cheapest time to start is with your first customer.
What's the cheapest way to start?
Free, with no end date. You'll pay $29 a month once you invoice through Redline. See free contractor software for exactly where Free stops.
Do I need a website?
Not on day one. A free Pro Page gives you a link and a quote form. See free business page for contractors.
How do I know what to charge?
Our free hourly rate calculator and markup vs margin calculator help you work out a number. Once you tell Redline your prices, it remembers them for the next quote.
Free paperwork for your first jobs
- Contractor invoice templateUntil you're on Solo
- Contractor estimate templateWith a deposit line
- New lead response email templateYour first reply to a new request
- HandymanLots of small jobs while you build a list
- Pressure washingQuotes from a driveway photo
- DrywallPatches, hangs and finishes
- PaintingInterior and exterior jobs
Put your first customer in today.
Start on Free. When the first job's done, turn on Solo with a 7-day trial and send the invoice.
Keep reading
- Free contractor softwareWhat's free with no end date, what isn't, and when $29 starts to make sense.
- Free business page for contractorsFor contractors with no website: a free page that takes quote requests.
- Software for solo contractorsFor one-truck owners: the office manager's job, done from the cab.
- PricingFree to start. Solo $29, Team $129, Team+ $299 a month.