Former enterprise software developer turned snow removal contractor shares the systems he uses to run storm operations across more than 400 commercial properties
David LaFore, founder of PropTech Pros, has released From Chaos to Control: The Field Service Operator’s Guide to Technology, Automation, and Profit. The book is a practical guide for owners of snow removal, landscaping, janitorial and facilities maintenance companies who want to replace spreadsheets, phone calls and paper tickets with systems that scale.
LaFore wrote the book from two careers. He spent roughly twenty years building enterprise software before starting a commercial landscaping and snow removal company in Colorado that now services more than 400 commercial properties. That combination shapes the book. It is written by an operator who has lived through 3 a.m. storm dispatches, disputed service tickets and slow-paying accounts, and who also knows how to build the technology to fix them.
“Most snow contractors don’t lose money on the plowing. They lose it on everything around the plowing: documentation, billing, disputes and follow-up,” said LaFore. “I wrote this book for the operator who knows there has to be a better way to run the back office but doesn’t know where to start.”
The book covers:
- Storm billing and documentation: how time-stamped photo documentation ends service disputes and speeds payment
- Automation: moving work order data electronically into customer platforms to ease administrative effort on both you and your customers without double entry
- AI in the field: using image analysis to spot property issues and create new service revenue
- Scaling: building operations that hold up as a company grows from dozens of sites to hundreds
Each chapter includes “From My Experience” sections, first-person accounts of what worked and what didn’t in LaFore’s own company.
LaFore is also the creator of FieldVision by DTSI, a field service management platform built to automate the flow of field data into enterprise systems. He speaks regularly on technology and operations in the field service and property management industries.
From Chaos to Control is published by PropTech Press and is available on Amazon in Kindle ($9.99) and paperback ($25.09) editions at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H7NQTXW1. An audiobook edition is in production.