Start with positioning, not channels
The most common planning mistake is starting with "should we do Google Ads or Facebook Ads" before deciding who you're trying to reach and why they should choose you. Positioning — the trade you specialize in, the customer you want more of, the claim a competitor can't casually copy — determines which channels even make sense. A remodeler positioned around high-end kitchen renovations plans differently than one positioned as the affordable option for any job, even though both could technically run the same ad platforms.
Write the positioning down in a sentence or two before touching a budget spreadsheet. Everything downstream gets easier once it exists.
Work backwards from your revenue goal
Start with the number you actually want: revenue growth for the year, or for a season. Divide by your average job value to get the number of jobs required. Divide that by your close rate to get the number of leads required. That single calculation turns a vague goal ("grow this year") into a concrete target ("47 more leads over the next two quarters") — and it's the number every channel decision should be measured against.
If you don't know your close rate or average job value precisely, estimate conservatively and start tracking both starting this month. The plan gets more accurate every quarter you keep the numbers.
Choosing two or three channels
Resist the instinct to be everywhere. Two or three channels, run consistently and measured properly, outperform five channels run halfheartedly. Choose based on how your positioning and your customers' buying behavior line up: emergency-driven trades lean toward Google Business Profile, local SEO, and search ads; considered purchases lean toward website content, reviews, and social proof; commercial and B2B trades lean toward direct relationships and business development over advertising.
It's fine — often smart — for one of your two or three channels to be a free one, like a disciplined Google Business Profile and review program, rather than assuming a real plan requires paid spend.
Assigning ownership and budget
Every channel needs a name attached to it, not just a line item. Someone owns posting to and maintaining the Google profile. Someone owns responding to leads within minutes. Someone owns the ad account if you're running one. In a small company this might all be the same person — the point is that it's explicit, not assumed.
Budget follows the math from the previous section: what a customer is worth, what you can afford to pay to acquire one, and how many you need. That produces a number you can defend, instead of a percentage picked because it sounded reasonable.
The monthly review that keeps a plan honest
Set a recurring time — even fifteen minutes — to look at five numbers: leads by source, cost per source, leads-to-estimates and estimates-to-jobs, revenue by source, and average response time. This is what separates a plan from a document that gets written once and ignored. Adjust one thing at a time based on what the numbers show, rather than overhauling everything whenever a month feels slow.
A simple one-page structure
In practice, the whole plan can live in a document with six headers: Positioning. Revenue goal and required leads. Channels (2–3, each with an owner and budget). What we're tracking. This month's priority. Next review date. Nothing about this requires software or a consultant to start — it requires making five decisions on purpose and revisiting them on a schedule.
If you'd rather talk it through, that's what Karen does: a focused conversation about your goals and constraints, and a clear read on what to fix first.