Service mix is where most of an electrical shop's profit is decided, and most owners have never written theirs down. The mix just happens: whatever calls come in, whoever answers, whatever the crew is good at. We turn it into a decision. Each type of work gets a score for gross profit per crew-day, close rate, season, office load and risk, and you choose the blend you want to grow.
We advise on which work to pursue and how to market it. We don't perform or assess electrical work, and your licensed team remains the judge of what each job requires.
The job types we usually compare
The answer depends on your market, but most Canadian electrical shops choose among the same six families.
- EV charger installs. Often fast, and easy to package at one price. Quality varies hugely with panel capacity and run length.
- Panel and service upgrades. Larger tickets, sometimes triggered by heat pumps, chargers, renovations or insurer questions. They involve utility coordination and permits, so scheduling is slower.
- Standby generators. High ticket, seasonal interest after outages, more coordination with other trades and suppliers.
- Commercial service and maintenance. Lighting retrofits, tenant service, recurring maintenance. Steadier, but slower to pay.
- Renovation and new-construction wiring. Volume through builders and renovators, usually at thinner margins and on their schedule.
- Residential service calls. Troubleshooting, devices, lighting. The daily backbone; margin depends heavily on pricing discipline.
What's included
We work from your data, not industry averages.
- Six to twelve months of jobs, tagged by type. We use invoices and your job-management export.
- Gross profit per crew-day for each type. Invoice minus materials, direct labour and permits, divided by crew-days spent.
- Close rate and cycle time. How many quotes close, and how long from first call to deposit.
- Seasonality and office load. When each type peaks, and how many calls, visits and emails it takes to book.
- A target mix. For example: lift charger installs from 10% to 20% of crew-days, hold panels steady, trim low-margin builder work.
- The shift plan. Pricing, dispatch rules, marketing and hiring changes that move the schedule toward the target.
A worked comparison
Here is the core calculation with example numbers.
| Job type | Avg invoice | Direct cost | Gross profit | Crew-days | GP per crew-day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 2 charger, simple | $1,600 | $1,050 | $550 | 0.5 | $1,100 |
| 200 A panel upgrade | $4,200 | $2,900 | $1,300 | 1.5 | $867 |
| Builder rough-in, per unit | $6,500 | $5,400 | $1,100 | 3 | $367 |
On these numbers, a simple charger earns three times the builder rough-in per crew-day. That doesn't mean dropping builders; they may fill winter. It means not letting builder work crowd out the higher-margin jobs in spring. The service mix guide shows how to run this with your own figures.
Timeline
- Weeks 1–3: data pull, job tagging, gross-profit-per-crew-day table.
- Week 4: target mix and shift plan agreed with you.
- Months 2–6: changes to dispatch, prices and marketing, reviewed monthly.
How we measure it
The scorecard tracks share of crew-days by job type, gross profit per crew-day overall, average days from call to deposit, and the share of the schedule booked more than a week ahead. A good mix shift shows up as a higher blended gross profit per crew-day with the same or fewer hours worked.
Mistakes to avoid
- Chasing the biggest invoice. Big tickets that tie up a crew for days can earn less per day than small, quick jobs.
- Adding a service without a capacity check. A generator line that needs a second crew is a hiring decision too; see hiring plans.
- Ignoring receivables. Commercial work that pays in 60 days needs cash to carry it.
- Marketing everything at once. Pick two job types to push at a time; the marketing tied to margins service sets the budget for each.
Ready to look at your own mix? Contact us with your province and your three most common job types.
Frequently asked questions
Should every electrical shop do EV chargers?
No. Charger installs can be quick, well-margined work in areas with garages and driveways, and slow, awkward work in older neighbourhoods with long runs and full panels. Your own job history decides, not the headlines.
Are standby generators worth adding?
They can be in areas with frequent outages and rural service, but they tie up capital in equipment, need coordination with other trades for fuel connections and are lumpy in demand. We model them before you commit.
What about commercial service?
Recurring commercial service and maintenance can smooth out residential seasonality and bring steadier cash flow. It also brings longer payment terms, so we look at receivables as well as margin.
How long does a mix change take to show up?
Booked-work changes show within one or two months once marketing and dispatch rules change. The margin effect is usually clear in the quarterly numbers.