January Tune-Up: Set Your Team Up for Success in 2026

January is the month when smart contractors reset their plan for the year ahead. Crews are lighter, job pressure is low, and you finally have room to think instead of react.

The contractors who use this window well by planning, tightening processes, and getting equipment ready, tend to run smoother and more profitably once work ramps up.

Four moves for a strong 2026:



1. Tighten Your Job Costing. Review last year’s jobs and separate them into “wins” and “drains.” Look for patterns including labor overruns, material mismatches, or scope creep. Fixing just one recurring issue now can lift margins all season.
2. Get Equipment Ready Before It Breaks. January is the cheapest time to service your equipment. Check on everything before the busy season starts. A few preventive repairs now cost far less than emergency fixes in April when crews are stacked up.
3. Plan Your Materials Strategy Early. Even with stable supply chains, spring puts pressure on common SKUs. Share your early project list with your distributor so they can stage the products you’ll need when the season accelerates.
4. Invest in Crew Skills. Training sessions on troubleshooting, proper installation, or new-product updates reduce callbacks and speed up job completion. A sharper crew is one of the easiest ways to grow profit.

January builds the systems, tools, and mindsets that protect revenue all year long. A disciplined setup is the quiet advantage that shows up on every job in 2026.

— The Team at Aqua-Flo Supply

7 Important Financial Benchmarks in a Contracting Business

Want real time insights on your business’ health? These seven easy-to-calculate benchmarks help you know where you stand.

Monthly sales vs. monthly goal – helps you see if your booking work at the right rate. (Compare to prior year too.)

Billable hours vs. hours worked – particularly helpful in evaluating your service technicians. A similar measure is comparing estimated hours for a job versus actual hours needed.

Overtime worked – a measure of the correct staffing level, and overall scheduling efficiency.

Gross margin % - measures how well your pricing and job site performance deliver results.

Net to owner – track owner’s total compensation (salary and perks) plus company bottom line profit. Is the business generating a healthy result for the owner who is taking the risks of operations?

Job costing trends – how accurate are initial estimates of job costs versus actuals? Where are the gaps? What needs to improve?

Return on assets – how efficiently are you using the assets in the business? Do you have too much or too little equipment?

Tap and Expand Drain Lines Easily with InsertaTee

Need to add a new line to a drainage system? Make the connection fast and easy. Inserta Tee® provides a three-piece lateral connection consisting of a PVC hub, rubber sleeve, and stainless steel band. 

Inserta Tee boasts the broadest line of lateral connections in the world and can connect to all solid wall, profile, closed profile, and corrugated pipe manufactured today with unparalleled performance.

Watch the video to learn more.

Lettering Your Vehicles to Generate More Business

Contracting business owners are often really picky about their vehicle fleets. But they neglect the opportunity to use them to generate more sales.

1) Use color. Maximize the impact of your moving billboards by wrapping the vehicle or using large colorful graphics. Stand out in traffic!

2) Your brand, not large photos. Customers know what beautiful landscapes look like. They know what a sprinkler looks like. Focus on promoting YOUR name and brand, not on pretty pictures.

3) Bigger is better. Many service contractors are switching to vans instead of pickups to maximize the impact of their branding on the road.

4) Emphasize your name. That's what you want them to remember. They'll google you for the rest.

5) Skip manufacturer logos. Advertise for yourself, not others. Anyone can say they sell "brand X" - but only YOU can sell YOU.

Drain Smarter, Dig Cleaner: The Seymour Midwest Drain Spade

When crews are hand-digging trenches for drainage, irrigation repairs, or clean-outs, tool choice matters. A sloppy shovel wastes time and energy. The Seymour Midwest Drain Spade with a steel handle is built for this exact moment.

Why it works in the field:

• Narrow, deep blade: Designed for tight trenches. You remove soil without over-widening the cut, which means less backfill and cleaner installs.
• Steel handle durability: This is a jobsite tool, not a homeowner special. The steel handle stands up to prying, rocky soils, and repeated daily use.
• Sharp, straight edges: Cuts roots and compacted soil cleanly, reducing fatigue and speeding up trench runs.
• Better control: The blade profile keeps the trench straight, which matters when setting pipe grade or correcting drainage slope.

Where it earns its keep:

• French drains and downspout tie-ins
• Irrigation mainline and valve box work
• Repair jobs where machines can’t reach

For specs and manufacturer details, see seymourmidwest.com.

(c) 2026.