Double Your Profit Day #5 Can Zero-Based Budgeting Save Your Business Money?
Aug 5, 2025
Discover how zero-based budgeting can transform your business finances by starting budget planning from scratch. Learn why it's essential to justify every expense and align them with profitability. Explore practical tips for cutting overhead costs and improving cash flow while focusing on your biggest expenses first. This method redefines budgeting by ignoring last year’s numbers, promising significant savings and a clearer path to growth for service-based businesses.
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volunteer_activism ADVICE
Zero-Based Budgeting Basics
Start zero-based budgeting by setting your overhead budget to zero and justifying every expense line by line.
Focus first on the largest expenses for biggest impact and question every legacy cost and software usage.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Budget Often by Department
Perform zero-based budgeting at least annually, ideally every 90 days by department for best results.
Break down budgeting for departments like call center and marketing to test assumptions more frequently.
insights INSIGHT
Align Budget with Strategy
Zero-based budgeting is not just about cutting costs but aligning spending with long-term strategic goals.
It eliminates sunk costs that prevent reinvestment and accelerates reaching business milestones.
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Double Your Profit Day 5: Zero-Based Budgeting for Home Service Businesses, Contractors, and Small Business Owners
Welcome to Day 5 of the "Double Your Profit" 30-Day Challenge — your go-to business growth series for home service business owners, contractors, and small business entrepreneurs looking to boost profit margins fast.
Today’s strategy? Zero-based budgeting — one of the most powerful financial tools for HVAC companies, plumbing businesses, electrical contractors, cleaning service operators, and anyone in the trades or service-based industries.
🔧 Most small businesses budget based on last year’s expenses. Not here. We’re showing you how to start from scratch — building your 2025 home service business budget from zero, line by line. Every expense, every tool, every salary, every marketing dollar must be justified and aligned with profitability.
✅ What is zero-based budgeting and why it works
✅ How to apply it to your contractor business
✅ Tips to cut overhead, improve cash flow, and increase EBITDA
✅ Why it’s a game-changer for scaling your field service company
🔑 What You’ll Learn Today:
What zero-based budgeting actually means Why you should ignore revenue when setting budgets How to start from zero and justify each expense Re-evaluating overhead like marketing, admin, and utilities Focusing on your biggest costs first for faster savings
💼 This Episode is Brought to You by Avoca AI!
Looking to train your call center and improve technician performance? Avoca AI helps teams identify issues, improve call quality, and drive results from start to finish.
John Wilson, CEO of Wilson Companies Jack Carr, CEO of Rapid HVAC 📌 Disclaimer: Some links may include UTM parameters or affiliate relationships, meaning we may earn a commission if you make a purchase. Episodes may feature sponsors, but all opinions expressed are our own.