revsetThere is no single sensible budget for every HVAC contractor. Start with the work you can fulfill, the contribution available after delivery costs and a conservative acquisition allowance. Include agency fees, content, software and staff time alongside any media spend when comparing channels.
Decide which work the budget is meant to create
A repair call and a replacement installation have different delivery costs and sales cycles. Identify available appointment capacity and the type of work you want. Spending to fill a calendar that dispatch cannot serve can create delays and unhappy customers instead of useful growth.
Calculate a planning limit
Use completed-job economics, not the full invoice amount, to assess what acquisition can reasonably consume. Treat repeat purchases as uncertain until you have reliable retention records. Work through low, expected and high conversion assumptions. Your accountant or finance owner should review the resulting allowance against overhead and cash needs.
Review a complete cost picture
Cost per inquiry equals defined acquisition cost divided by valid unique inquiries. Cost per completed acquired job uses completed jobs from the same group. Do not divide one month’s spending by unrelated jobs from earlier leads. Organic work has costs too, even though individual search clicks do not carry an ad charge.
A practical example
Fictional arithmetic: a $1,200 test produces 20 valid inquiries, eight confirmed appointments and four completed jobs within the observation window. That is $60 per inquiry, $150 per appointment and $300 per completed job. If fees were excluded, these are incomplete costs. The numbers say nothing about profit without delivery costs.
What to do next
Choose one service and one bounded test. Write down the spending limit, cost categories, available capacity and review date before launching or increasing the budget.
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