Everything in writing
Scope, price and date, before the work.
Not the cost. The three contractors who didn't call back about a job too small to interest them.
Small property jobs are unattractive to larger operations, so they sit. A yard gets away from you, a driveway stains, a garage fills up, and each one gets more expensive the longer it waits.
What makes them work is ordinary reliability: a written estimate so the price isn't a surprise, a confirmed date, and a crew that turns up on it.
And honesty about limits. Work needing a licensed trade should go to one the first time, not after someone unlicensed has made it worse and more expensive.
Scope, price and date, before the work.
Confirmed the day before, every time.
Electrical, plumbing, roofing, arborist work. Always.
Tell us what needs doing. Free, in writing, no obligation.