The problem
'How much to move a sofa from Hove to Worthing?' Every small job starts with five texts back and forth about the item, the stairs, the price and a time. If a one-van owner handles 25 inquiries a week at about 10 minutes each, that's 250 minutes a week, nearly 18 hours a month (250 x 4.3), much of it typed in a lay-by.
What the AI does
ServiceM8 is job management software for trade and service businesses. Its UK pricing page lists online booking on every plan: clients get an instant price, select a time, then book a service with your business, and they get a booking confirmation by email or text. Set up your simple, fixed-price services, such as a single item within 5 miles or a two-hour slot with one person, and put the booking link on your website and Google listing. Bigger or awkward jobs still come to you to price.
A worked example
An owner-driver in Brighton with one Luton van does single-item moves, student moves and tip runs, about 10 jobs a week. Most inquiries come in by text and Facebook messages.
Before
25 inquiries a week at about 10 minutes of messaging each: about 18 hours a month
After
About 10 of the 25 book themselves online each week, saving 100 minutes a week, about 7.2 hours a month
What it's worth
About $190£143€170A$275C$269 a month saved in messaging time, against $33£25€30A$48C$47 to $78£59€70A$113C$111 for ServiceM8. That's about 7.2 hours (100 minutes x 4.3) at an assumed $27£20€24A$38C$38 an hour. ServiceM8 is priced by jobs, not users: Starter is $33£25€30A$48C$47 a month for 50 jobs and Growing $78£59€70A$113C$111 for 150, excluding VAT, so 10 jobs a week (about 43 a month) fits Starter.
How to set it up
- Sign up for ServiceM8 and list your fixed-price services with clear limits: distance, floors, number of items and time.
- Set your working hours and travel buffers so online bookings can't land back to back across town.
- Write what's included and what costs extra next to each price, such as stairs without a lift or waiting beyond 15 minutes.
- Put the booking link on your website, Google listing and Facebook page, and send it in reply to simple inquiries.
- Check each new booking the same day and ring the customer if the job looks bigger than the service they chose.
What goes wrong
- An instant price is only as good as your limits. If '1 item' can mean a piano, say so in writing.
- Every job counts towards the plan, so a busy month can push you past Starter's 50 jobs into Growing at $78£59€70A$113C$111.
- Customers book what they think they need. Ask for a photo of anything big before the day.
- Online bookings rely on your diary being up to date in the app; jobs booked by phone must go in it too.