A license isn’t a business yet. Here’s how you build one.

01The 2026 insurance change that caught everyone off guard

Start here, because it’s the one most likely to surprise you. As of April 20, 2026, Utah DOPL raised the minimum general-liability insurance for contractors to $1,000,000 per occurrence— up from the old $100,000. That’s a 10× jump, and the aggregate minimum went up too.

There’s no grandfather clause (existing license holders meet it at their next renewal), and it applies to every classification — generals, specialty trades, even registered handymen.

• General liability: $1M per occurrence minimum (confirm the exact aggregate on your DOPL application — sources vary between $2M and $3M, so verify the current number).
• Workers’ comp: required the moment you have employees. No employees? File for a waiver from the Utah Labor Commission.
• Surety bond: DOPL may require one based on a financial-responsibility review — typically $15,000–$50,000 by class.

02Get paid: Utah’s 20-day lien clock

This one costs new contractors real money, and almost nobody explains it. If you want the right to lien a property when a customer doesn’t pay, you must file a preliminary notice within 20 days of starting work — filed electronically with the Utah State Construction Registry (SCR).

Miss that window and you can lose your lien rights for everything except the last five days of work before you finally file. On a big job, that’s the difference between getting paid and eating the loss.

• Preliminary notice: within 20 days of starting, via the SCR — on every job, even ones you trust.
• The lien itself: file within 180 days of finishing the contract (or 90 days after a Notice of Completion, whichever is first).
• Good news: Utah does not require a separate “Notice of Intent to Lien” — though sending one is still a great way to shake a slow payer loose.

03Keep your license alive

• Renewal: every two years, on November 30 of even-numbered years. Put it in your calendar now — a lapse means you can’t legally pull permits or bid.
• Continuing education: 6 hours per cycle — 3 “core” (Utah law/rules) + 3 “professional” (your trade).
• Fee: roughly $82 (confirm current with DOPL).
• B100 vs. specialty: a B100 covers jobs with two or more unrelated trades; specialty (S-class) covers a single trade. Generals need ~2 years / 4,000 hours of experience plus a 5-hour business-and-law course.

04Set up the business so it doesn’t bite you later

• Form an LLC with the Utah Division of Corporations — it separates your personal assets from the business if a job goes sideways.
• Get an EIN free from the IRS in a few minutes online. Don’t pay a service for it.
• Register for sales/use tax with the Utah State Tax Commission. On most real-property improvement work the contractor pays sales tax on the materials as the final consumer — build that into your pricing so it doesn’t eat your margin.
• Open a separate business bank account on day one, and track every dollar. Mixing personal and business money is the fastest path to a brutal tax season.

05Google Business Profile — your #1 free lead source

If you do one marketing thing this month, do this. For local trades, a Google Business Profile (the listing with the map pin, hours, and reviews) is the single biggest source of inbound calls — and it’s free. When someone Googles “concrete near me” or “electrician [your town],” the map results show first. You want to be in them.

Set it up right:

• Claim and verify your profile at google.com/business. Verification can take a few days — start now.
• Pick the right primary category (e.g. “Concrete Contractor,” “Roofer”) and add secondary ones. This is most of how Google decides when to show you.
• Set your service area — the towns you actually cover, not the whole state.
• Add 10–20 real photos of your work, your truck, your crew. Profiles with photos get far more calls. Add a few every week.
• Keep your name, address, and phone identical everywhere online (website, Facebook, directories). Google trusts consistency; mismatches hurt your ranking.
• Post updates (a finished job, a season special) every week or two — it signals you’re active.

06Your website — make it work, not just exist

Your website’s job is simple: in five seconds, prove you’re real and make it dead easy to contact you. Most contractor sites fail because they’re slow, vague, or hard to act on. A clean site that loads fast beats a fancy one every time. (You just claimed one of ours — here’s what to make sure it does.)

• Say what you do and where — trade and service area, above the fold. A homeowner should know in two seconds they’re in the right place.
• Click-to-call on mobile — most visitors are on a phone. Your number should be one tap.
• A quote/contact form that captures name, phone, and what they need — so a lead never slips away.
• Real photos of your work — before/afters do more than any paragraph.
• A few reviews on the page — proof other people trusted you and were glad they did.
• Fast and mobile-first — if it’s slow or clunky on a phone, you lose the lead before they read a word.

07The review engine — get to 10 fast, then never stop

Reviews are the deciding factor when a homeowner is choosing between you and the next guy. Your goal: get to 10 real Google reviews as fast as you can, then keep them coming steadily. Five honest reviews already put you ahead of most new contractors; the contractor with 40 looks like the safe, obvious choice.

Make it a system, not an afterthought:

• Ask every happy customer, the day you finish — when they’re happiest. Don’t wait a week.
• Make it one tap. Text them the direct Google review link right there. The harder it is, the fewer you get.
• Use a simple script so asking never feels awkward:

• Respond to every review — good or bad. A short, professional reply to a bad review earns more trust than a wall of perfect ones.
• Turn reviews into content. Screenshot a great one and post it. A real customer’s words sell better than anything you can write about yourself.

08Tell everyone you know (the right way)

The week you’re open for business, your job is to make sure everyone who knows you hears about it. Not a hard sell — just letting people know what you do now so you’re who they think of.

• Make the list. Phone contacts, past coworkers, neighbors, family, your church or gym, the parents at your kid’s games, old customers from a previous job. Aim for 50–100 names. Everyone knows more people than they think.
• Send a real announcement. A text or a personal Facebook post beats a flyer. Tell them you got licensed, what you do, the area you cover, and — this is the key part — ask them to keep you in mind and pass your name along.

• Then stay in touch. Post your finished jobs. When you do good work for someone in your circle, ask them for a review and a referral. One happy neighbor can become five jobs on the same street.

09Build referral partners who feed you work

Some people send jobs your way over and over once they trust you. Go meet them on purpose:

• Other contractors and GCs. They sub out overflow and the trades they don’t self-perform, constantly. Be the reliable sub who answers the phone, shows up, and does clean work, and you’ll stay busy without spending a dollar on ads.
• Supply houses and lumberyards. The counter staff know every contractor and every homeowner starting a project. Get known there.
• Real estate agents and property managers. They need trustworthy trades for repairs, turns, and pre-sale fixes — and they need them fast. Become their go-to and the work is steady.
• Trade complements. A plumber and an electrician on the same remodels can hand each other work for years. Find the trades that show up where you do.

10Pick your lanes

• Facebook — start here. It’s where most homeowners and local groups live. Set up a business page, then get active in local and neighborhood groups and Nextdoor, where people ask “who do you recommend for…” every single day. Marketplace works for some trades too. Be helpful and responsive — never spammy.
• Instagram — if your work is visual. Concrete, landscaping, remodels, tile, decks — before/afters and short clips do great here, and it doubles as a portfolio you can send to leads.
• TikTok — for reach and the younger crowd. Short, satisfying job clips (a clean pour, a transformation, a quick tip) can travel far for zero dollars. Optional, but powerful if you enjoy it.

Pick one or two and actually keep them up. Two consistent accounts beat five dead ones every time.

11What to post — “document, don’t create”

You don’t need to be a content creator. You need to show your work. The easiest habit: snap a few photos and a short video on every job. That’s your content for the week — no scripting required.

• Before / after — the bread and butter. Transformations sell.
• In-progress shots — a clean job site, a tricky detail done right.
• Finished work with one line about what it was and where.
• A quick tip — homeowners love “watch for this” advice, and it makes you the expert.
• A happy customer / review screenshot — proof beats bragging.
• You and your crew — people hire people. Let them see who shows up.

Aim for once or twice a week. Consistent and simple beats viral and burned-out.

12Turn followers into booked jobs

• Put your offer where they can act. Phone number and website link in every bio. A post that gets people excited with no way to hire you is a wasted post.
• Reply fast to comments and DMs. A “how much for something like this?” comment is a hot lead — treat it like a ringing phone.
• Point traffic to a quote. “Want a number for your driveway? Drop your address on our site and get a ballpark in minutes.” Make the next step obvious and easy.

13Speed-to-lead: answer fast or lose

When someone reaches out, they’re usually contacting a few contractors at once. The one who responds first has a massive edge — responding in minutes instead of hours can multiply your odds of landing the job. People hire whoever makes them feel taken care of first.

• Answer or text back within minutes, even if it’s just “Got your message — I’ll have a number for you by tonight.”
• Never let a missed call die. An automatic text-back on missed calls (“Sorry I missed you — what can I help with?”) catches the leads you can’t pick up on the job.
• Capture every lead’s info so no one falls through the cracks. A name and number on a notepad you lose is a job you lose.

14The quote follow-up (most jobs are won on touch 2–5)

Sending a quote isn’t the end — it’s the start. Life gets busy on the customer’s end; a polite nudge is often all it takes, and it’s usually what separates you from the contractor who quoted and vanished.

• Day 1: send the quote, fast, while you’re fresh in their mind.
• Day 2–3: “Just making sure you got my quote — any questions I can answer?”
• About a week: “Still happy to do this for you — want me to pencil you in?”
• Later: a check-in or a seasonal nudge. A “no” today is often a “yes” in three months.

It feels pushy the first time. It isn’t — most people are just busy and appreciate the reminder.

15Your past-customer goldmine

The cheapest job to get is the next one from someone who already loves your work. Keep a simple list of every customer, and stay in touch:

• Ask for the review and the referral at the end of every job.
• Check in seasonally — a quick “heading into winter, want me to take a look at X?” brings in repeat work.
• Send the occasional note so you’re who they think of when a neighbor asks. A customer list you actually use is worth more than any ad budget.

16Know your numbers and charge right

The fastest way to go broke while staying busy is underbidding. You can’t fix what you don’t measure:

• Know your real cost on every job — materials, labor, fuel, overhead — before you put a price on it. Guessing at the kitchen table is how good builders lose money on busy years.
• Build in a real margin. You’re not just covering costs; you’re paying yourself, your taxes, your slow weeks, and your truck. Price for the business, not just the labor.
• Track your close rate. If you win nearly every bid, you’re too cheap. If you win almost none, your pitch or speed needs work. The number tells you which.

17The daily & weekly rhythm

Every day

• Respond to every new lead fast — same day, ideally within minutes.
• Ask any finishing customer for a review (and snap a job photo for content).
• Log the day’s job — what you spent, what’s left, what’s next.

Every week

• Follow up on every open quote — don’t let one go cold.
• Post once or twice (your week’s job photos).
• Ask one happy customer or contact for a referral.
• Look at your numbers: what came in, what went out, what’s owed.

18Pay yourself and set aside taxes

• Separate the money. Business income goes in the business account, not your pocket.
• Set aside for taxes every time you get paid — a percentage off the top into a separate spot. Nobody enjoys the April surprise.
• Pay yourself a real, steady amount so the business is actually supporting you, not just spinning.
• Keep clean books from job one. A simple system you actually use beats a shoebox of receipts and a stressful tax season.

This blueprint is a practical orientation from one builder to another — not legal, tax, or insurance advice. Rules and fees change, and a few 2026 figures are still being finalized by the state. Always confirm current requirements directly with Utah DOPL, the Utah State Tax Commission, and your own insurance agent before you act. Last reviewed June 2026.