Introducing The Service CEO by Todd Shillington

Most contractors didn't start their businesses to become overworked managers answering emergency calls at 8:00 PM on a Sunday. They started because they were skilled tradespeople who wanted independence, financial freedom, and control over their time.

Yet, after years of hard work, many trade business owners find themselves trapped in a dangerous cycle: generating six or seven figures in revenue while working 60 to 70 hours a week, struggling with unpredictable cash flow, and realizing the entire operation collapses the moment they step away for a vacation.

That is why I wrote The Service CEO: Build a Business That Works Without You—a practical, no-nonsense roadmap designed specifically for residential contractors, trade business owners, and field service leaders.

Why Most Contracting Businesses Fail to Scale

When a skilled technician launches a service business, they usually rely on personal heroics to get off the ground. They answer every call, quote every job, perform the work, send the invoices, and fix every customer issue personally.

In the beginning, that hustle works. But as job volume grows, personal heroics become the biggest bottleneck in the business. Without clear standard operating procedures, accurate job costing, and structured delegation, the owner becomes the bottleneck for every single decision.

In The Service CEO, we break down why relying on memory and willpower guarantees exhaustion—and how replacing chaos with simple, repeatable systems transforms your business into a self-sustaining asset.

What You Will Learn in The Service CEO

This is not a theoretical business textbook filled with corporate jargon. Every chapter is built on real-world field experience owning, operating, growing, and advising trade businesses.

• The Technician-to-CEO Shift: How to rewire your daily routine so you stop doing $25/hour administrative tasks and focus on $250/hour strategic growth decisions.
• Pricing & Profit Mechanics: How to calculate your fully burdened labor cost, allocate overhead properly, and eliminate margin leaks using proven contractor pricing formulas.
• Crazy Simple SOPs: How to document workflows so technicians and office staff execute tasks to your standard every time.
• Predictable Referral Networks: How to build relationships with non-competing service owners through Trade Circle Network strategies to drive qualified leads without paid ads.
• Valuation Engineering: How to structure your financial records, recurring revenue, and team so your business commands a premium valuation when you decide to sell.

Connecting the Book to Your Daily Operations

Reading a great business book gives you clarity—but real transformation happens when you put those principles into action. That is why The Service CEO integrates directly with the digital resources in the Service CEO Toolbox.

When the book teaches you how to analyze labor burden, you can log into our Hourly Rate Calculator to run your actual numbers. When the book shows you how to structure employee reviews, you can open our Employee Scorecard Builder. The book gives you the vision; the Toolbox gives you the machinery.

Get Your Copy Today

The Service CEO: Build a Business That Works Without You is available now on Amazon in Kindle eBook, Hardcover, Paperback, and Audiobook formats.