By 9:45 a.m., my phone had already rung three times.
First call: “Boss, we’re out of bug spray. Should we head back to the shop or…?”
Second call: “Hey, the office chair finally gave up. It sounds like a goose dying every time I swivel. Can I get a new one?”
Third call: “The mouse on my computer keeps double-clicking itself into oblivion. Do I need to submit a request form or…?”
At that point, I wasn’t running a land surveying business. I was running a dollar store complaint hotline. And let me tell you, that wasn’t exactly the career goal I had in mind when I hung out my shingle.
That morning, somewhere between the goose-chair and the bug spray crisis, I realized I was micromanaging $12 problems when I should’ve been managing $12,000 projects. So I made a new rule: every employee gets fifty bucks a month. Don’t call me. Don’t ask me. Don’t apologize. Just fix the little stuff.
And the funny thing? The world didn’t end. In fact, the business ran smoother.
Think of it like PTO—but for cash. Each employee, from the greenest rodman to me in the corner office, gets $50 a month to spend however they need. No need for permission slips or budget committee approval.
Need orange paint? Grab it. Gloves ripped? Replace ’em. Coffee pot died? Pick one up on your way in. If I trust a crew chief with a $50,000 truck and a $20,000 total station, I can trust him with a $20 can of bug spray.
What I found is that small fixes—those little purchases—keep the bigger work moving without me playing referee.
The best part? If they don’t use their fifty, it rolls over month to month, even year to year. Suddenly, it’s not just about small things—it’s about giving people the freedom to improve their work life in ways that actually matter.
One rodman saved up for solid work boots. An office manager stockpiled hers for an ergonomic chair that didn’t feel like sitting on a sack of survey stakes. Another employee bought noise-canceling headphones to drown out the plotter’s screech. It’s like a Christmas bonus, except you don’t have to wait for December to open it.
This really shines in the field. Anyone who’s run crews knows how many little things can throw off a day. Flagging tape runs out. Rebar caps get forgotten. Ice melts in the cooler when it’s 100 degrees out. Need one of those battery operated around the neck fans to keep you cool.
Before, I’d get a call asking if it was “okay” to spend five bucks. Now, they just solve it. No wasted time, no project delays, no grown men standing in a ditch debating whether a Gatorade is “in budget.”
That’s surveying project management at its best—cutting out the bottlenecks and keeping the job moving.
The office gets the same treatment. Want to upgrade your computer. Want a snazzy new desk lamp. Private coffee pot.
This isn’t glamorous stuff, but it matters. You try billing fifty projects with a keyboard missing the “0” key. Or typing up plats on a monitor that looks like it was salvaged from a yard sale.
Surveying office management isn’t about fancy software alone—it’s about making sure the people doing the work aren’t battling broken gear all day.
Fair is fair. Managers and even owners get the allowance too. A PM might grab donuts to sweeten up a cranky inspector or pick up a whiteboard for project planning.
And yes, I once spent my own fifty on a pizza run after a brutal week. Best ROI of my career. The crew still talks about it like I handed out gold bars.
I also eventually saved mine up for a lumbar cushion. Because apparently sitting like a collapsed tripod isn’t sustainable long-term. Who knew?
This little program costs next to nothing compared to what it saves. Employees feel trusted, morale goes up, and bottlenecks vanish.
The only thing more expensive than bug spray is turnover. And the only thing more ridiculous than a broken mouse is a business owner wasting half his day authorizing someone to buy a new one.
Running a survey company isn’t about squeezing every penny until it squeals—it’s about smart spending that supports field productivity, project management, and office sanity.
“Cheap” can be expensive. Fifty bucks for bug spray is nothing compared to three guys scratching mosquito bites while your client wonders why the topo isn’t done yet.
Give your people fifty bucks, let it roll over, and watch the little things add up to big wins.
“If you pinch pennies too hard, they scream and run away. Give your people fifty bucks, keep your sanity, and save your business a fortune.”