Set your boundaries and check each lead in five steps
In short
Start with the suburbs you can reach profitably for the work you want. Check realistic travel time, the number of visits, job costs and crew availability before widening coverage. Screen each enquiry against those limits before spending on contact details or a site quote. Narrow your area when distant jobs repeatedly miss your profit target, and pause new enquiries when you cannot take more work. A bigger area can bring more enquiries without bringing more worthwhile jobs.
Step 1
Fill in a job-fit worksheet
Use this worksheet before changing a listing or paying for leads. Write separate rules for short maintenance visits and larger projects if you offer both. The entries below are examples of decisions to make, not recommended distances, prices or industry benchmarks.
Your service-area and lead-fit worksheet
| Decision | What to write down |
|---|---|
| Work you want | Job types you are licensed, equipped and staffed to deliver; work you will decline or refer elsewhere. |
| Core area | Suburbs or postcodes you can routinely cover, checked against journeys at your likely work times. |
| Travel limit | Maximum total travel time and vehicle cost for each job type, including quoting and return visits. |
| Exceptions | When a more distant job is worthwhile, such as a larger project or several confirmed jobs on one route. |
| Cost and profit | Expected labour, materials, travel, lead and quote costs, overhead allowance and required profit. |
| Capacity | Earliest realistic start, available crew hours and space for delays or callbacks. |
| Missing lead details | Facts you must clarify before committing: scope, location, access, timing and who can approve the work. |
Step 2
Check routes rather than relying on kilometres
Choose a manageable core area from your actual starting point and recent jobs. Check sample journeys at the times you normally travel. Bridges, toll roads, school traffic, parking and access can make nearby suburbs take very different amounts of time to reach. A map radius is a coverage boundary; it is not a promise about driving time.
Count every likely trip: inspecting and quoting, collecting supplies, doing the work, returning for another stage and attending a callback. For a two-day job, allow travel on both days. For maintenance work, assess the day's route between customers rather than assuming every job starts at your depot.
Keep a written exception rule for work outside your core area. A larger project may absorb additional travel, but check the numbers before accepting it. Do not depend on another nearby booking unless it is confirmed, and check the licensing and insurance requirements if expanding into another state or territory.
Step 3
Compare the whole job cost with the likely revenue
business.gov.au recommends including materials, labour and overheads when setting prices. Business Queensland also notes that service pricing depends on available working time. Apply those principles to the hours spent driving, preparing quotes and arranging the job, as well as the hours on site. Use your internal labour cost or an agreed value for your own time, not the customer charge-out rate by default.
Illustrative example, with all amounts excluding GST: an $800 job has $300 of materials, $180 of on-site labour, $120 for two hours of travel time, $30 of vehicle and parking costs, $40 allocated for lead acquisition and $60 of overheads. Total cost is $730, leaving $70 before income tax. If the same job needs only 40 minutes of travel, valued at $40, and all other costs stay the same, the remainder is $150. These figures demonstrate a method; they are not Australian trade rates or a profit forecast.
Use consistent GST treatment and avoid counting the same expense twice if it is already included in your labour or overhead allowance. Allocate unsuccessful quoting and paid-lead costs across the work you win, then compare the result with your required profit. A customer's budget or an automated estimate still needs checking against your own scope and costs.
Step 4
Check the brief before paying or travelling
Read the customer's description, answers and photos when available. Check that the requested work falls within your licence, skills and equipment, then compare the location and timeframe with your worksheet. Separate facts supplied by the customer from estimates or summaries. Missing information is a reason to clarify the scope, not proof that the lead is unsuitable.
For a paid lead, check what you can see before purchase, the charge and current refund terms. If contact details are locked, decide whether the visible information justifies the cost of asking the remaining questions. Do not assume payment buys exclusivity, a site visit or a job. Decline when a known constraint makes the work impractical.
Step 5
Review completed jobs and update your coverage
Keep one record per enquiry with the area, job type, quote time, travel time, lead spend, outcome and actual job costs. Review after enough jobs have finished to compare estimates with reality. Keep unfinished jobs separate and do not treat one distant loss or one large win as a reliable pattern.
Narrow coverage when an area repeatedly costs too much to serve. If travel is reasonable but the job types are wrong, clarify your services instead. When your crew is fully booked, update your advertised start dates or pause new enquiries; when capacity returns, resume with the hours you can actually offer. Existing customers still need their agreed work and communication.
Sources and useful links
Sources checked 6 October 2026
- business.gov.au: choose a pricing strategy
Cost inputs and pricing decisions; checked 6 October 2026. The worksheet and travel example are editorial planning tools, not government benchmarks.
- Business Queensland: pricing products and services
Fixed and variable costs, available working time and reviewing prices; checked 6 October 2026.
