Tracking Ownership in Your Home Service Business: Spreadsheet, Pulley, or Carta?
Starting a home service business – whether you're a handyman, HVAC tech, or general contractor – often involves partners or early investors who put money into a new work van or tools. Keeping track of who owns what percentage of your business, especially if shares change hands, can cause huge problems down the road. These issues pop up when you want to sell, take on more funding for expansion, or simply confirm ownership with a business partner. The real question isn't if you should track ownership carefully, but which tool makes sense for your business right now.
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The Quick Answer
Start with a simple spreadsheet when it's just you and a partner, or if you've only taken money from a family member for your first truck or specialized power tools. Move to Pulley if you bring on more serious investors for a new fleet of vehicles or a bigger shop, need to clearly show ownership to a bank for a loan, or have more than a handful of co-owners or key employees with profit shares. Carta is usually only needed if large, institutional investors with deep pockets come on board, often for very fast-growing, multi-location businesses, and they specifically demand it.
Side-by-Side Breakdown
Spreadsheet: Free. Good for when it's just you and one or two partners, or if you've only had a friend invest $10,000 for a new pressure washer or HVAC testing equipment. Can easily lead to mistakes as your business grows. Remember, a spreadsheet isn't the legal proof of ownership; that comes from your actual business agreements or share certificates.
Pulley: Costs around $500-$1,000 per year. Offers a clear way to see who owns what. Useful for showing potential buyers or bank loan officers exactly how your plumbing, remodeling, or painting business is split up. Helps you plan for future partners or investments, like if you want to open a second location or buy a new fleet of service vehicles. Cheaper than Carta for smaller, growing businesses.
Carta: Starts around $2,400-$3,000 per year. This is the top-tier tool, often used by big tech companies. You'll likely only need this if major investment firms are putting millions into your company, or if you're building a national chain of home service franchises. It handles complex ownership structures and keeps everything ready for big sales or mergers. It's expensive and usually overkill for a local home services business unless you're scaling very rapidly.
When to Use a Spreadsheet
When you're just starting your independent handyman service, painting company, or HVAC business, and it's mostly you. Or if you have one or two partners who put in some cash for initial tools, uniforms, or a work truck. Maybe you've had a family member lend you money to buy a new specialized ladder or concrete mixer. If you have fewer than 5 people who own a piece of the business, and your lawyer is handling formal partnership agreements, a spreadsheet is fine for keeping your own quick notes on who owns what.
When to Choose Pulley
You've brought in a serious investor for a new office, a fleet of specialized plumbing trucks, or to expand your remodeling business into new neighborhoods. You need to show them a clear, professional breakdown of business ownership. You plan to give profit shares or 'phantom stock' to your lead technicians or general managers as a bonus, and you have 5-20 of these key employees. You want to see how different investment offers or new partner splits would affect ownership, but you don't want to pay high prices. Pulley is good when your home service business is growing fast, perhaps making over $500K-$1M a year, but you're not a multi-million dollar corporation yet.
When to Choose Carta
A very large investment fund, maybe one that specializes in rolling up regional home service companies, is putting millions into your business, and they demand Carta. You're expanding quickly, maybe acquiring other local HVAC companies or setting up a franchise model across several states. Your business is getting very complex with different types of investors or partners, and you have a dedicated person (or team) focused just on managing ownership records. This is for when your independent electrician business is becoming a national brand, not just a local provider.
The Verdict
Pulley is a strong choice for home service businesses that are past the 'just me and a buddy' stage but not yet at the level of big, national chains. If you're bringing in outside investment for new equipment or expanding your territory, giving key employees a piece of the pie, or planning to grow significantly, start with Pulley. Only move to Carta if a huge investor demands it or when your business becomes incredibly complex with multiple locations and partners. Don't rely on a basic spreadsheet once you have more than a couple of partners or investors; mistakes can be costly, and it looks unprofessional when trying to get bank loans or sell your successful handyman operation.
How to Get Started
Spreadsheet: For a simple start, list owner names, how much money or work they put in (like buying the first work van or specialized tools), and their percentage of the business. Update it any time an owner changes their stake or a new investor comes in, even if it's just a small loan for a new piece of equipment.
Pulley: Go to pulley.com. You can either upload your existing owner list or start fresh. Make sure to link any official business partnership papers or investment agreements.
Carta: Visit carta.com. Their team can help transfer your current ownership records. Expect it to take a few weeks to get everything set up if you're switching from a spreadsheet or Pulley.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is a 409A valuation and why do I need one?
A 409A valuation is an independent appraisal of your company's common stock fair market value. You need it to price your stock options. If you grant options at a price below fair market value, employees face immediate tax liability and IRS penalties. Get a 409A before issuing your first option grant and refresh it annually or after material events.
What is an option pool and how large should it be?
An option pool is the block of shares reserved for employee equity compensation. Typical pool sizes: 10-15% of fully-diluted shares at pre-seed, 15-20% before a Series A (investors often require a top-up). The pool is dilutive to founders — create it thoughtfully and model the dilution before your next fundraise.
Do SAFEs appear on my cap table?
SAFEs appear as a note in your pre-money cap table, not as shares — they convert to shares in the next priced round. Your post-money cap table should model the SAFE conversions so you can see the fully-diluted ownership picture before closing a priced round.