How Much Emergency Board Up Owners Make: $85k Pay, $255k EBITDA

Qualified Calls to Completed Jobs

Emergency call volume only turns into income when a call becomes a completed job and a collected invoice. With $965,000 in Year 1 revenue and a $536 weighted average ticket, the business needs about 1,800 completed jobs a year, or roughly 150 jobs a month. Here’s the quick math: more answered calls help, but missed after-hours calls, slow dispatch, or no crew availability push demand into lost revenue.

24/7 On-Call Labor Model

Labor is the owner’s biggest fixed bet. Year 1 staffing totals $267,000 a year: one $85,000 general manager, two $55,000 lead technicians, one $42,000 dispatch coordinator, and a half-time $60,000 sales and partner liaison. That is about 28% of the model’s $965,000 Year 1 revenue, before overtime. The payroll supports 90-minute response, but it cash-flows before every truck is fully booked.

Here’s the quick math: fixed labor runs at about $22,250 per month. If call volume softens, owner pay gets squeezed fast because wages do not wait for invoices. Subcontractors can lower fixed payroll, but they can also weaken control over timing and quality. Owner-performed work can help early cash flow, but it still has to be priced as labor.

Average Ticket and Job Scope

When the average ticket rises, cash and gross profit rise faster than call volume. With a $536 weighted ticket and 73% gross margin, each completed job throws off about $391 of gross profit before overhead ($536 × 73%), so scope mix matters more than raw leads.

The mix matters too: 75% of Year 1 work is emergency board-up at 4 hours and $125/hour, while 5% is commercial securing at 8 hours and $140/hour. Openings, property type, access difficulty, after-hours urgency, and materials all push invoice size up or down, so pricing has to hold margin on every job.

Lead Source Mix And Referral Relationships

Lead mix changes both call volume and acquisition cost. In Year 1, $45,000 of marketing at $150 CAC means each new customer is costly, so paid ads can fill dispatch gaps but will pressure cash. By Year 5, $85,000 of marketing and $125 CAC improves efficiency, but only if those leads turn into completed jobs and collected invoices.

Referrals from restoration contractors, property managers, landlords, and commercial accounts can lower CAC, but only when they send profitable completed jobs. Insurance-related work can look strong on paper and still strain cash if collection timing slips. Cheap leads that don’t collect don’t pay crews.

Response Coverage And Dispatch Speed

24/7 coverage with a 90-minute response target can lift close rates and referral trust, but it only helps if calls turn into completed jobs. The cost side is real: fuel and vehicle maintenance are modeled at 6% of revenue, and disposal plus cleanup add another 3%, so wide coverage can eat margin fast.

Here’s the quick math: more miles and standby hours raise labor time, and long drives can make a high-priced job less profitable. Dense routes matter because one truck can finish more jobs with fewer wasted miles. If the owner is the dispatcher and the tech, coverage risk turns into burnout risk, and that can cap take-home pay.

Materials And Job Cost Control

On a board-up job, margin leaks fast if you waste plywood, fasteners, fuel, or labor time. In Year 1, direct job costs are 27% of revenue: 14% lumber and plywood, 4% hardware, 6% fuel and vehicle maintenance, and 3% disposal. That means every $100 billed leaves about $73 before overhead, so small job-site waste directly cuts owner pay.

What this includes is simple: sheet count, fastener use, blade wear, truck repairs, and repeat trips. The main inputs are job count, materials per job, drive miles, and scrap rate. If crews miss inventory or have to return for parts, a profitable call can turn into thin cash flow. One clean rule matters most: buy, use, and restock by job.