Why I’m Building Rose: 30 Years of Lessons Turned Into AI Tools

By Mike Warner · Last Updated: January 2026 · 15 min read

Rose is an AI-powered business management system built specifically for contractors. It handles lead response, scheduling, estimates, customer communication, and back-office tasks—so solo operators and small crews can focus on the work instead of paperwork. Rose is currently in development, with beta testing planned for 2026.

The Kitchen Table

For most of my career, my office was the kitchen table.

After a full day hanging drywall or installing mini-splits in an attic that felt like the surface of the sun, I’d come home, shower, eat dinner, and then sit down to do the other job.

Return phone calls from leads who’d called while I was on a roof. Write up estimates from the three bids I’d done that week. Schedule next week’s jobs. Send invoices. Chase the invoice I sent three weeks ago. Answer emails from customers asking when I’d be there. Update the calendar. Order materials.

My wife and kids were in the next room. I could hear them laughing at something on TV.

I told myself this was temporary. Once the business grew, I’d hire someone for the office stuff. Once things slowed down, I’d have more time. Once I got caught up, I’d take a weekend off.

Thirty years later, I was still at that kitchen table.

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What 30 Years Actually Taught Me

I’ve done bathroom remodels, kitchen renovations, HVAC installations, mini-splits, commercial buildouts, and just about everything in between. I’ve worked in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and a few states I’d rather forget. I’ve run crews and worked solo. I’ve had years where I made great money and years where I wondered if I’d make rent.

Here’s what I learned:

Knowing the trade is maybe 40% of the job.

You can be the best craftsman in your county. You can do work that makes other contractors jealous. You can have 30 years of experience and a reputation for quality.

None of that matters if you don’t answer the phone.

The other 60% of this job is running the business: answering leads, writing estimates, scheduling jobs, communicating with customers, following up, invoicing, collecting payment, managing your calendar, and somehow finding time to do the actual work you’re supposedly in business to do.

Most of us got into the trades because we’re good with our hands. We like building things. We like solving problems. We like seeing the finished product.

Nobody told us we were signing up to be a one-person office staff.

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The Real Problem Nobody Talks About

Every contractor I know wears the same hats:

• Owner — Making the big decisions
• Estimator — Bidding jobs, calculating costs
• Scheduler — Managing the calendar, juggling timelines
• Office manager — Paperwork, invoices, permits
• Marketing department — Getting the phone to ring
• Customer service — Handling questions, complaints, updates
• And the technician — Actually doing the work

All of these roles. One person. One paycheck.

The industry data backs this up. Contractors spend 30-40% of their working hours on non-billable tasks. That’s not “part of the job.” That’s a second job—one that doesn’t pay but will absolutely sink you if you ignore it.

Here’s what that looks like in real numbers:

If you bill out at $75/hour and work 50 hours a week, you’re theoretically earning $3,750 per week. But if 35% of that time is non-billable admin work, you’re only actually billing 32.5 hours. That’s $2,437 per week.

You’re losing $1,300 every single week to paperwork.

That’s $67,600 a year. Gone. Not because you’re bad at your trade—because you’re stuck doing work that doesn’t generate revenue.

And that doesn’t count the jobs you’re losing because you didn’t respond fast enough. Or the customers who went somewhere else because you forgot to follow up. Or the estimate that’s been sitting in your truck for two weeks because you haven’t had time to write it up.

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The Day I Lost a $40,000 Job

A few years back, I was knee-deep in a bathroom remodel. Tile work. Couldn’t stop in the middle of it.

My phone buzzed. I glanced at it. Missed call, unknown number. Probably another spam call about my car’s extended warranty. I went back to work.

Six hours later, I listened to the voicemail.

A homeowner had called about a full kitchen remodel. Wanted someone to come out that week. Budget around $40,000. She’d found me through a referral.

I called her back the next morning.

She’d already hired someone else. “Sorry, I needed someone who could get back to me quickly. I called four contractors and you were the only one who didn’t answer or call back within a few hours.”

I lost a $40,000 job because I was too busy working to answer the phone.

That’s when I started researching. What I found made me sick.

• 78% of customers hire the first contractor who responds. Not the cheapest. Not the best. The first.
• The average contractor takes 42-47 hours to return a lead. Almost two full days.
• Only 0.1% of contractors respond within 5 minutes. Less than one in a thousand.
• 30% of leads are never contacted at all. Not even a callback.

I’d like to tell you I was better than average. I wasn’t. I was just like everyone else—too busy doing the work to run the business.

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Why Contractors Fail (It’s Not What You Think)

The trades have a brutal failure rate. Depending on whose numbers you trust, somewhere between 50-80% of contractor businesses fail within the first five years.

Most people assume it’s because of:

• Bad economy
• Too much competition
• Not enough leads
• Underbidding jobs

Those things matter. But they’re not the main killer.

Most contractors fail because they’re great technicians and terrible business operators.

They can frame a wall, run electrical, or install a furnace with their eyes closed. But they can’t:

• Respond to leads fast enough to win the job
• Follow up consistently enough to close the sale
• Communicate well enough to keep customers happy
• Manage their time well enough to stay profitable
• Systematize their operations well enough to scale

The best craftsman in town loses to the contractor who answers faster, follows up more, and communicates better. I’ve watched it happen for 30 years. I’ve been on both sides of it.

Your competition isn’t the guy with better skills. It’s the guy with better systems.

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What I Wish Existed

For years, I looked for a solution.

I tried hiring office help. Hard to justify the cost when you’re solo. And when I did have someone, they didn’t understand the work well enough to answer customer questions.

I tried virtual assistants. Better than nothing, but they were working from scripts. Couldn’t handle anything outside the basics.

I tried the big software platforms. ServiceTitan, Housecall Pro, Jobber. They’re good tools, but they’re built for companies with dedicated office staff. For a solo operator or small crew, they add work instead of removing it. You’re feeding the system instead of the system feeding you.

I tried automations, Zapier workflows, AI chatbots. Pieces of solutions. Nothing that actually handled the full picture.

What I wanted was simple:

Something that could answer my phone when I couldn’t. That could respond to leads instantly—not with a generic “we’ll get back to you” but with a real conversation. That could schedule estimates without me checking my calendar. That could follow up on quotes I’d sent. That could keep customers updated so they’d stop calling to ask “when will you be here?”

Something that could handle the business side so I could focus on the work.

It didn’t exist. So I started building it.

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What Rose Is (And Isn’t)

Rose is an AI-powered business management system built specifically for contractors.

Not adapted from generic business software. Not a CRM with some AI features bolted on. Built from the ground up for how contractors actually work.

Here’s what Rose handles:

Lead Response

When a lead comes in—phone call, web form, email—Rose responds immediately. Not with a canned autoresponder, but with an actual conversation. Rose can answer basic questions, qualify the lead, and schedule an estimate. While you’re on a job site, Rose is making sure you never miss another opportunity.

Scheduling

Rose manages your calendar. Customers can book estimates. You can block out time for jobs. Rose handles the back-and-forth of “does Tuesday work? No, how about Thursday?” so you don’t have to.

Estimates & Follow-Up

Rose helps you send estimates faster and follows up automatically. No more quotes sitting in your truck for weeks. No more forgetting to check in on that bid you sent.

Customer Communication

Rose keeps customers updated throughout the job. “Your contractor is scheduled for Tuesday between 8-10am.” “Work is progressing, here’s a quick update.” “The job is complete, here’s your invoice.” The communication that keeps customers happy and keeps them from calling you ten times a day.

The Back Office

Invoicing. Payment collection. Appointment reminders. The administrative stuff that eats your evenings—handled.

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What Rose is NOT:

Rose is not a replacement for your skills. It doesn’t do the work—you do. Rose handles the business side so you can focus on the craft you spent years mastering.

Rose is not enterprise software. It’s not built for 500-truck operations with dedicated dispatch centers. It’s built for the solo operator, the two-person crew, the small company that doesn’t have (or want) a full office staff.

Rose is not another app you have to babysit. The goal is less screen time, not more. Rose works in the background so you can work in the field.

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The Roadmap

I’m building Rose in public. Here’s where we are and where we’re going:

Current Status (January 2026)

🔨 In Development

• Core AI conversation engine
• Lead response automation
• Calendar integration
• Basic scheduling

📝 In Planning

• Estimate generation assistance
• Customer communication templates
• Follow-up sequences
• Invoicing integration

What’s Next

Phase 1: Lead Response & Scheduling
The foundation. Answer leads instantly, schedule estimates automatically, never miss an opportunity.

Phase 2: Customer Communication
Automated updates, appointment reminders, the communication that keeps customers happy without keeping you on the phone.

Phase 3: Estimates & Follow-Up
Help generating estimates, automated follow-up on open quotes, tracking your pipeline.

Phase 4: Full Business Management
Invoicing, payment collection, job tracking, reporting. The complete back office.

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I’ll update this section as we hit milestones. Bookmark this page and check back.

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Follow the Build

I’m not building Rose in a vacuum. I’m building it with input from contractors who live this reality every day.

Here’s how to follow along and get involved:

On X (Twitter)

I post daily about contractor operations, AI for small businesses, and behind-the-scenes updates on Rose.

Follow @_Mike_Warner on X →

Newsletter

Weekly insights on running a contractor business, plus Rose development updates and early access opportunities.

Subscribe to the Newsletter →

Early Access

Want to be one of the first contractors to try Rose? Join the waitlist and help shape what this becomes.

Join the Rose Waitlist →

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A Note on How I’m Building This

I spent 30 years learning these lessons the hard way. I don’t have a venture capital fund or a team of 50 engineers. I’m building Rose the same way I built my contracting business—one step at a time, solving real problems, listening to the people doing the work.

That means I want to hear from you.

What’s the biggest headache in running your business? What would actually help? What have you tried that didn’t work?

DM me on X. Reply to the newsletter. I read everything.

This isn’t software built by tech people who’ve never held a hammer. It’s built by someone who spent 30 years at the kitchen table, wishing something like this existed.

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Frequently Asked Questions

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About the Author

Mike Warner is a U.S. Army veteran with over 30 years of experience in residential and commercial construction, including bathroom remodeling, kitchen renovations, and HVAC installations. He’s the founder of Kore Komfort Solutions, an educational resource connecting homeowners with vetted contractors across Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. He’s currently building Rose, an AI-powered business management system for contractors.

Follow him on X: @_Mike_Warner

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Last updated: January 2026. This is a living document—I’ll update it as Rose develops. Bookmark and check back.