- Business: Noble Barnes LLC
- Location: Fate, Texas
- Interesting Fact about Noble Barnes LLC: They do a lot of charity work, especially with Rockwall Adoption Center and Women In Need. Those are two of their biggest passions.
- Interesting Fact about Candace Barnes: They just finished visiting all 50 states, which was their goal before Lucas started school. They have some plans to go back to other areas.
When Candace Barnes’ son, Lucas, started helping his neighbors with odd jobs as a teenager, she and her husband, Daniel, had no idea it would soon become the family business. From picking up after his neighbor’s pets to vacuuming homes, his business grew quickly through word of mouth and referrals. With a team of employees ranging in age from 18 years old to 72 years old, Noble Barnes LLC needed a time-tracking solution that was easy for every single person on their team to use, and ezClocker’s intuitive interface was just the answer they were looking for.
An Accidental Family Business
When Lucas first hopped on his bike, searching for odd jobs around the neighborhood, Candace thought he’d earn enough to buy a car. Instead, he built a booming business. Eventually, both Candace and Daniel would be the company’s first employees.
As a child, Lucas completed chores around the house for a nickel or a quarter. Every year, he sat down with Candace and Daniel to renegotiate his “salary” and take on new responsibilities. But as he approached his teen years, it was time for a shift. Chores were a labor of love for the household. If he wanted luxuries, like a car, he’d need a way to earn the money to pay for it, along with extra expenses, like gas.
“He got on his bike and went through the neighborhood and asked everyone how he could help…poop scooping, vacuuming,” Candace says. “He made $22,000 his first year in business between 13 and 14 years old.”
When he started looking for work around the neighborhood, Candace thought Lucas would earn about $6,000 for a car. They had plans to match whatever he earned. But after such a successful first year in business, they needed to reevaluate their approach. They challenged him to reinvest his earnings back into his business. He decided to purchase a truck and some lawn equipment.
“It was growing faster than we thought it would. We never thought we’d have trucks on the road,” Candace says.
A picture of Lucas Barnes, who also flies planes
It turned out that Lucas’s business venture was just getting started. The business began growing rapidly, even after the COVID pandemic.
Mom, Dad…& 40 Employees
Daniel and Candace were there every step of the way. Daniel drove the truck, and he or Candace went with Lucas on every job. In Year 2, Daniel quit his job to work in the business full-time. Eventually, Candace followed, leaving a job she’d held for 22 years.
Daniel handled the operations. Candace handled all the administrative tasks, including timesheets. They began to add employees as needed. At their first holiday party, there were just five attendees: Lucas, Candace, Daniel, and two employees.
Now, they have almost 40 employees, ranging from 18 years old to 72 years old. They help customers with pet care, home care, and yard services. In some cases, their team has grown along with the business. Candace has watched employees buy their first cars, rent their first apartments, and move into their first homes.
“They’re all at different stages of life, and what’s incredible is that they share their knowledge,” Candace says. “Whether they’re a grandmother or just starting off with their first baby, they’re all going through life.”
With a small team, time tracking was simple. But as the team expanded, they needed another time tracking solution that was digital and easy to use.
A Solution Everyone Loved
Candace began asking other business owners in her networking groups for recommendations for time-tracking apps, but quickly realized that what worked for those entrepreneurs wouldn’t work for Noble Barnes LLC.
Most of those businesses focused on one service, like landscaping or pet care. Noble Barnes LLC has three divisions: Pet, Home, and Lawn. Employees work across divisions. There are three shift changes between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., and employees clock in as early as 5:30 a.m. “They might be in the pet division in the morning and house cleaning in the afternoon,” Candace says. “They jump in and out, which works for us and works for them.”
Noble Barnes LLC needed something that worked on every employee’s phone and was simple enough for every employee to use. Candace estimates she researched five or six apps and tested three. “It was about finding something fundamentally one-and-done, clock in and out, easy to use,” Candace says.
Most of the apps were too difficult to navigate, with interfaces that weren’t intuitive to use. Then, she found ezClocker. The mobile app worked with every employee’s phone. And clocking in and out was as simple as pushing a button. “There was no, “Oh my gosh, where am I clicking?’ There’s not a lot of wondering about what you’re doing,” Candace says.
It was exactly what they needed, and Candace knew it was the right fit within a few days.
“It was much easier. Everyone was like, ‘Gosh, this is so much easier.’ We were hearing it from everybody,” Candace says.
Empowering Employees & Saving Time
Noble Barnes LLC’s myriad service offerings mean they constantly have employees on the road, from the early morning to the late evening. ezClocker helps Candace keep an eye on everyone’s progress – and safety – while still empowering employees to manage their own work. “I don’t have to micromanage,” Candace says. “It gives them the power to do their job.”
In order to stay on schedule, every job is allocated a certain amount of time. But things happen, and when jobs take a little longer than expected, employees use ezClocker’s notes section to communicate with Candace. “They can add notes if anything changes. Sometimes things happen, like a dog gets sick. It helps me know they were over their time for 10 minutes,” Candace says.
ezClocker also helps Candace ensure everyone stays safe when on the road. She receives a notification on her phone whenever someone clocks in or out.
“It gives me a sense of, ‘they’re home and ok,’” Candace says. “They’re young and they’re on the road.”
Planning for the Future
Now, Lucas is in college. He just received his pilot’s license and studies at LeTourneau University. He still works in the business when he’s at home, while Candace and Daniel run the day-to-day operations.
Their growing staff continues to serve the local community. They now have two locations, each serving a different section of the business. Though Candace and Daniel don’t know exactly what the future holds, they hope a break is in their future. “We’d like to retire at some point in our lives,” Candace says.
In the meantime, they’re focused on expanding their unexpected family business. As Candace puts it, they opened the doors, but Lucas walked through them.
“It’s been really exciting watching him tackle each task growing up,” Candace says. “He’s been one of those kids you need to challenge along the way. He wants to win the race, always…It’s been great to watch it grow.”
