How many garage door jobs does a two-van team need?
Build a garage door service ticket, calculate two-van break-even, and test first-time completion, parts, route capacity and safety boundaries.
Published by StartFigures · Editorial standards · Correction guidance
A two-van garage door service should plan from completed, collected jobs rather than leads or first visits. In the StartFigures case, a weighted $475 retained job and 72% contribution margin leave $342 per completion. With $21,417 of monthly fixed costs, the continuous operating threshold is about 2.89 completed jobs per field day across the company. The practical Year-three plan uses four.
The case covers a staged U.S. residential service with a paid owner-manager and lead technician plus one employee technician. Diagnosis, adjustment, spring, cable, roller, track and opener work remain inside a documented service menu. Commercial doors, fire doors, gates, structural framing and new-construction electrical work stay outside the base scope.
The ticket, outcome mix, job volume, 28% sales-linked cost envelope and completion rates below are authored assumptions. They are planning inputs, not national prices, local quotes or repair instructions.
Define one completed job
A lead, booked appointment or technician arrival is not automatically a completed job. The job record closes in one mutually exclusive outcome:
- a diagnostic or minor-adjustment service is completed and collected;
- an authorized repair is completed, tested, accepted and collected;
- supported opener or door-section work is completed, tested, accepted and collected.
An open estimate, ordered part, unpaid balance or unresolved callback remains visible outside completed-job revenue. Retained revenue excludes sales tax and true pass-through customer purchases. Discounts, credits, refunds, warranty work and no-charge returns reduce retained revenue or contribution.
Intake records the door type, size, material, operator, symptoms, damage, prior work, access and photos when appropriate. That screen protects route capacity, but it does not replace diagnosis or authorize work.
Build the $475 weighted ticket
The StartFigures mix uses three mutually exclusive completed outcomes.
| Completed outcome | Mix | Retained ticket | Weighted sale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diagnostic or minor adjustment | 25% | $185 | $46.25 |
| Standard spring, cable, roller or opener repair | 55% | $425 | $233.75 |
| Supported opener or door-section work | 20% | $975 | $195.00 |
| Weighted retained job | 100% | — | $475.00 |
Angi's 2026 consumer guide places many garage-door repairs between $160 and $380, with an average around $260, while some panel and replacement work is higher. That broad marketplace range supports using a mix rather than one universal charge; it does not validate the StartFigures $475 retained ticket. Angi garage-door repair questions.
Retail opener prices also vary by product before professional diagnosis, installation, hardware, warranty and local labor. A current retail category is useful for component context but not for setting a service invoice. Garage door openers at The Home Depot.
Calculate operating break-even
The model assigns 28% of retained revenue to parts, hardware, payment fees, route fuel and other sales-linked leakage. At $475, that is $133, leaving $342 contribution per completed job.
Year-three fixed operating costs total $257,000: $165,000 payroll and $92,000 for vehicles, insurance, tools, storage, software, marketing and other overhead. The calculator rounds that to $21,417 per month.
$21,417 ÷ $342 ÷ 5 ÷ 4.33 = 2.89 completed jobs per field day. Because jobs are whole and uncertain, three is the simplified minimum day. The Year-three plan uses four across two vans.
At four completed jobs, monthly retained revenue is 4 × $475 × 5 × 4.33 = $41,135. Contribution is $29,617, leaving a simplified $8,200 monthly operating surplus.
The annual case uses 50 field weeks and produces $475,000 of revenue, $342,000 of contribution and an $85,000 operating result. The monthly and annual views differ because the calculator uses 51.96 weeks and rounded monthly fixed cost.
Stress ticket, margin and fixed cost
| Case | Ticket | Margin | Fixed/mo. | Jobs/day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer-range ticket | $260 | 72% | $21,417 | 5.29 |
| Base | $475 | 72% | $21,417 | 2.89 |
| Higher-scope mix | $650 | 72% | $21,417 | 2.11 |
| More parts and callbacks | $475 | 60% | $21,417 | 3.47 |
| Higher fixed cost | $475 | 72% | $25,000 | 3.38 |
The $260 case requires more than five completions per day before fixed cost is covered. That does not make the consumer range wrong; it shows why a two-van company must measure the actual outcome mix, technician hours and parts rather than quoting from an average.
Make first-time completion a capacity metric
Four completed jobs can require more than four dispatches. If a technician diagnoses the system but must return with a part, both visits consume route and paid time even though the financial record may remain one completed job.
| First-visit completion | Dispatches needed | Operational reading |
|---|---|---|
| 100% | 4.00 | Every dispatch closes |
| 90% | 4.44 | One extra dispatch about every two days |
| 80% | 5.00 | One extra dispatch each day |
| 70% | 5.71 | Almost six dispatches for four completions |
These are capacity examples, not observed completion rates. Keep screened, booked, arrived, diagnostic-only, authorized, completed, planned-return, no-charge-return, canceled and collected outcomes separate. Parts research, ordering, loading, travel and documentation remain paid time.
The matching paid financial model uses active customers, average billable hours and hourly rates by service level. Translate every completed outcome into billable hours and rates, preserve nonbillable route and parts time, and reconcile the workbook to invoices. Garage Door Service financial model.
Control the work scope before dispatch
Census places garage-door installation inside NAICS 238290, Other Building Equipment Contractors. That category also contains other building equipment work, so its 2023 employer count cannot be presented as a garage-door-only market size. Census NAICS 238290 and 2023 County Business Patterns.
California's D-28 classification provides one example of a jurisdiction that separately addresses doors, gates and activating devices. It does not establish authority elsewhere. Build a state and local scope matrix before advertising. California CSLB D-28.
OSHA's hazardous-energy material addresses servicing and maintenance when unexpected energization, startup or stored energy can injure workers. A garage door also introduces weight, spring, cable, pinch, fall and electrical hazards. Use task-specific training, procedures, rated equipment and manufacturer information. OSHA control of hazardous energy.
CPSC summarizes the mandatory safety standard for automatic residential garage-door operators. The exact operator, installation, entrapment-protection tests and local code still govern the job. CPSC automatic residential garage-door operators.
Pay both technicians and count nonbillable work
BLS reports 27,120 mechanical door repairers in May 2025, with a $26.79 median hourly wage and $55,720 median annual wage. That is national occupational context, not a local recruiting offer. BLS May 2025 national estimates.
Year-three payroll is $165,000 for paid owner-manager and lead-technician work, one employee technician and employer-cost allowances. Add local wages, overtime, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, benefits, training and leave. IRS Publication 15 supplies federal payroll-tax guidance, not the full burden. IRS Publication 15.
Owner time spent on intake, difficult diagnosis, parts, scheduling, callbacks and technician coaching remains labor. Removing it from payroll overstates the case's operating result.
Read the five-year case
| Year | Completed jobs/day | Revenue | Operating result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | $237,500 | -$24,000 |
| 2 | 3 | $356,250 | $29,500 |
| 3 | 4 | $475,000 | $85,000 |
| 4 | 5 | $593,750 | $136,500 |
| 5 | 6 | $712,500 | $183,000 |
| Year | Sales-linked costs | Payroll | Other overhead |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $66,500 | $120,000 | $75,000 |
| 2 | $99,750 | $145,000 | $82,000 |
| 3 | $133,000 | $165,000 | $92,000 |
| 4 | $166,250 | $188,000 | $103,000 |
| 5 | $199,500 | $215,000 | $115,000 |
The result excludes depreciation, financing, income tax, replacement capital, working-capital timing and owner distributions. The $50,000 opening reserve exceeds the simplified Year-one loss, but monthly parts, payroll, van repairs and collection timing can still require more cash.
The next test is 30 paid calls in a narrow supported door and operator menu. Record the screened system, outcome, retained invoice, billable and nonbillable hours, parts, first-time completion, planned and no-charge returns, safety stops and collection. Release the second van only after the evidence supports qualified demand and technician capacity.
The Garage Door Service case contains the full allocation and forecast. Its evidence register separates sources from assumptions, while the business plan and financial model explain product fit and the completed-job-to-hour bridge.