It’s the first question almost every tradesperson asks me, and the honest answer is: it depends, but probably less than you think to get started.
There’s no magic number. What you should spend depends on three things: what a job is worth to you, how competitive your area is, and how much work you can actually take on. Here’s how to work it out.
Start with what a lead is worth
Before you think about budget, think about value. Ask yourself:
- What’s an average job worth to you?
- Out of every 10 enquiries, how many usually turn into paid work?
Say an average roof repair is worth £600, and you win 3 out of every 10 enquiries. That means each enquiry is worth around £180 to you before costs. If Google Ads brings in enquiries for £50 to £80 each, that’s a good deal. If they’re costing £250, something needs fixing.
Once you know what a lead is worth, the budget question gets much easier.
Typical starting budgets
These are rough ranges for local trades in an area like Norfolk. They’re not rules, just a sensible place to begin:
| Trade | Typical monthly starting budget |
|---|---|
| Roofers | £500 to £1,500 |
| Plumbers & heating engineers | £500 to £1,500 |
| Electricians | £400 to £1,200 |
| Builders | £600 to £1,500 |
| Landscapers | £300 to £1,000 |
Emergency work, like burst pipes or storm damage, usually costs more per click than planned work, because more businesses are competing for it.
Too small a budget can waste money
It sounds backwards, but spending too little can be just as wasteful as spending too much. If your budget only buys a handful of clicks a day, it takes months to learn what works, and your ads may stop showing by mid-morning.
A better approach is to spend properly on a narrow focus. For example, put the whole budget behind roof repairs in three towns, rather than spreading it thinly across every service and the whole county.
Where most of the money gets wasted
In nearly every account I look at, a big chunk of the budget goes on searches that were never going to book a job:
- People looking for materials or suppliers
- DIY searches like “how to fix a leaking tap”
- Job seekers searching for work
- Areas you don’t actually cover
Cutting these out often lets you get more enquiries without increasing your budget at all. One roofing account I manage got 28% more leads in a month on the same spend, mostly by blocking the wrong searches.
How to set your budget
- Work out what a lead is worth to you.
- Pick one or two of your most profitable services to start with.
- Start with a budget you’re comfortable running for at least two to three months.
- Track every call and enquiry so you know your real cost per lead.
- Once it’s working, increase the budget on what’s bringing in the best jobs.
The short version
Most local trades can start with somewhere between £400 and £1,500 a month. More important than the number is making sure every pound goes on people who actually want to hire you.
If you’re already running ads and you’re not sure whether the money’s well spent, my £150 Ads Audit will show you exactly where it’s going and what to change.