1. W-9’s
If you pay subcontractors for labor, collect a W-9 before you cut the first check, not in January.
Starting with 2026 payments, you’ll owe a 1099-NEC to any sub you pay $2,000 or more in the year, up from $600. Those forms are due January 31, and chasing a crew member for a tax ID after the job is done is a headache nobody needs.
In QBO, set each sub up as a vendor and check “Track payments for 1099.” Come year-end, the report is already built. One note: payments made by credit card are reported by the card processor, so those stay off your 1099s.
2. Workload
Every week has more to do than hours to do it. The trap is spending those hours on what’s urgent or easy instead of what actually moves the business forward.
Before the week starts, pick the one or two things that matter most, like a bid that needs to go out or a client call you’ve been putting off, and do them first while you’re fresh. Everything else fills in around them.
The busiest days are rarely the most productive ones.
3. Willingness
Not every client relationship runs smoothly. Invoices get questioned, timelines slip, and sometimes the mistake is ours.
In our experience, clients are more bothered by surprises than by problems. Telling someone early and plainly what happened, what it means for them, and how we plan to fix it goes a lot further than an apology after the fact.
A willingness to work with people, whether that’s adjusting a timeline or walking through a bill line by line, builds trust that lasts well beyond the issue itself.
Until next week
