A new landscaping or lawn care business does not need a fleet-management suite. It needs the phone caught, the estimate approved fast, the weekly route confirmed without a phone call, and the invoice paid before the next cut. Here is what to set up, what to skip, and what we would start you on.
A new landscaping business needs four things from software: one inbox where calls, texts and website enquiries land; estimates a homeowner approves by text; recurring jobs on a route with a reminder the night before; and invoices with card payment plus a review request after the job. TradesBackbone does all four on one system, web and Android, with a free trial. Add ReputeLift when you want every customer asked the same way. Skip everything else until the second season.
The first season is about winning the recurring accounts and keeping them. Every piece of software you buy before then should serve one of these four jobs.
Built for trades and home-service shops of three to twenty-five: customer contacts and job history, scheduling and dispatch, estimates the customer approves by text, invoicing with card payments, automated follow-ups by text and email, and job photos. Recurring service and route management are on the Pro plan; the Starter plan covers jobs, scheduling, estimates, invoices and basic reminders, which is where a first-season business lives. Office work from a desk, field work from a phone, on the same data. Web and Android today; an iOS app is built and going through App Store review. Every plan starts with a free trial and there are no annual contracts. TradesBackbone pricing.
TradesBackbone sends a review request after a job. If you want a dedicated tool that asks every customer by SMS or email with the Google link and a QR code for the truck, with no gating and opt-outs enforced on every send, that is ReputeLift. It does not pull your reviews in from Google or post replies for you; you add the reviews you receive and copy a drafted reply across. See review automation.
Once you have accounts, Mycel is where the business remembers them: connect your TradesBackbone and ReputeLift accounts and everything that happens files into one memory, with a ranked list each morning of what needs you. Free tier to start. Not needed before the first customer.
The whole new-business stack, including the CRM choice for non-trade businesses, is on the hub page.
The deeper page on what we automate for established landscaping companies, including spring pre-book and seasonal upsells, is landscaper automation.
Martello Systems is a small team, led by Artie, directing an engineering fleet. TradesBackbone runs real businesses and is still young: some corners are rough and some features a bigger vendor has, we do not have yet. What early customers get in exchange is a direct line to the people who build it, and a product that bends toward how a real landscaping crew works. There is no special early-user price. If that trade sounds right, start the trial; if you want the most polished option on the market, we will say so on the call.
Fifteen minutes with Artie, the founder. Tell us what you are opening, how customers will reach you and when you expect the first job; you leave knowing which product to start on, what to switch on first, and where to send the feedback that shapes the next version.
Book 15 minutes with ArtieOne system that catches calls and texts in one inbox, sends estimates a homeowner approves by text, schedules recurring jobs with a reminder the night before, and invoices with card payment and a review request after the job. TradesBackbone does all of that on the web and on Android. Route optimisation, full accounting and marketing suites can wait until the second season.
No. In TradesBackbone the estimate the customer approved by text becomes the invoice in one tap, and the customer pays by card on the link. A separate invoicing app means retyping every job, which is how a new business ends up with two customer lists that disagree.
Ask every customer, the same way, the day after the job, with the Google review link in the message. TradesBackbone sends that request after a completed job. ReputeLift is the dedicated tool if you want SMS and email requests, a QR code for the truck, and opt-outs enforced on every send. Never gate or filter who gets asked; it is against Google's policy and the FTC's rules.
Yes. TradesBackbone is built so technicians work from a phone and office staff from a desk on the same data. It runs on the web and on Android today; the iOS app is built and going through App Store review, and we do not put a date on it until it is out.
Each product publishes its own pricing on its own site and we link to those pages rather than repeat the numbers, because the live page is the one that is true. Every product has a free plan or a free trial you can start today without a call, and none of them requires an annual contract. There is no special new-business discount and we would rather say so than invent one.
Live, running our own business every day, and still young. Martello Systems is a small team, led by Artie, directing an engineering fleet, and the products are shaped by the people using them. Early customers reach the team directly, and what they ask for is what ships next. If you want the most polished option on the market, a bigger vendor is the safer choice and we will tell you that on the call.
Yes. The studio's done-for-you service sets up the stack around your business, writes the first-reply, follow-up and review messages with you, migrates any contacts you already have by export, and runs it month to month. It is quoted on a 15-minute call; see the pricing page. Most new businesses start self-serve and call when the volume outgrows the owner's phone.
Pick a time and it lands on Artie's calendar directly. You will get a confirmation by email and, if you leave a mobile number, a reminder by text. That booking system is the same one we run for clients.
Loading the calendar. If it does not appear, open it here.