#1 Tradesmen digital toolbox

How job management software helps your trade business

How job management software helps your trade business

If you have yet to come across job management software then you’re about to have your eyes opened to a world of possibilities. This software has been developed for tradespeople, just like you. Those who want to get on with the job and also actually have some free time and rewards.

Tradespeople are skilled at what they do and they have a passion for it. Where passion is often lacking is when they are chained to a desk for hours on end. Often this will be after hours or over the weekend. The vital admin tasks are a must, but they become a drain.

If you are manually sending out invoices, chasing timesheets, or keeping written copies of potential quotes, the chances are that you are making things much harder than they need to be.  A job management app can change all of that.

Read on and see how utilising job management software can be a game-changer. Learn how you can get back to the job that you love while the other side of the business becomes a breeze. That’s the power of this software – it gives you your life back!

How will job management software help me?

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It’s all well and good spouting that job management can give you your life back, but we understand that you want to know exactly how. We know how a business can start when you have a trade. You start with taking phone calls and then scribbling onto any piece of paper that you can get your hands on.

The pieces of paper build up. The chances are that, at some point, one of those pieces of paper will go astray. The result? You potentially miss a job or you have to quickly redo a quote. Either way, this can cost you money – a hastily put together quote is unlikely to be as accurate as the full quote you’d done earlier.

Every day is spent out on the job and every evening is spent trying to rearrange those pieces of paper. Then you’re trying to plan where you are tomorrow, where you are sending your team, and are wondering if you’ve actually been paid for the last few jobs.

Here’s how job management software puts an end to all of that:

  • Those pieces of paper are gone – everything is now in one place
  • Jobs are booked in and followed through from start to finish in an app
  • You can view in an instant where your team are going to be and the hours they’ve worked
  • Invoices are sent through the software and you can instantly see if these have been paid
  • You regain your evenings and weekends
  • You keep your staff happy

Sound good so far? Let’s go into a little more detail.

Job management software gets you organised

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When you start your trade business you go into this as you have faith in your skills and abilities. You may be running as a one-man-band. You may be subbing out to others. You may even be expanding and growing a team. Regardless, the longer that you are operating, the more there is to keep track of.

Have you ever lost out on a job because you didn’t get a quote out quick enough? Have you ever under or overpaid someone because of issues chasing timesheets? Have you ever gone more than 30 days without an invoice being paid and has this played havoc with your cash flow?

None of these things happen by plan. Quite the opposite, they happen because it is so easy to lose track of what needs doing and when. As a business owner, you desperately try to master the art of juggling. Inevitably, a few balls get dropped along the way. Job management software becomes your safety net and catches any balls that go astray.

Job management software sees you recording all of the information that you need to during your normal working day. There is no scrawling notes and then spending your evenings transferring these to the right place. You are organised and everything is instantly in the right place.

Bill accurately and get paid faster

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It is not uncommon for trades to experience issues with cash flow. It is not always down to customers taking too long to pay: often it is down to not getting an invoice out quickly enough. The norm is that you will be collecting job sheets throughout the week and then spend one evening, or perhaps sometime over the weekend, sending all the invoices out at once.

If you use a job management app, there is no need to operate like this anymore. The app will allow you to invoice there and then while you are still on site. You can access the invoice on the system and ensure that it is accurate and then simply send. What is really great is that you don’t even have to chase payment: job management software will do this for you automatically.

We have heard of tradespeople who have realised after the fact that they have undercharged. By keeping manual records, they have missed the odd detail here and there. This has seen them undercharging for the hours worked or materials used and their profit margin plummets. Job management sees accurate records maintained throughout and sees you billing your client for the right amount.

Make it easy for your clients to pay you

Part of getting paid quicker, is ensuring that your clients have plenty of ways that they can pay you. Do you really want to be waiting on a cheque arriving in the post? Do you have any desire to travel back to the site to collect cash? Neither of these benefits your cash flow and both have the potential to drain your time.

Job management software can be integrated with various payment gateways. What this means is that your clients can pay you online. You can accept an array of card types and there is no need to go back on-site and physically see your client again. There is also no tales of cheques getting lost in the post to endure either!

Get digital

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With tax approaching being digital, doesn’t it make sense for the rest of your business to be too? How do digital records help? Imagine it has come to the time when you need to issue an invoice. You spend hours trawling through receipts and scraps of paper to give an accurate figure. Then imagine that there is a customer complaint. How long does it take you to track down all of the information that you need to respond to?

If you’re doing things the old way, you are going to have to revisit emails, text messages, and rely on memory. If you are using a job management system this is no longer the case. You will have been able to keep updates on each job as and when you are doing them. You will have even been able to add notes and photos. If you have any complaints or invoice queries, everything is at your fingertips in an instant.

Dealing with complaints, or even just putting together an accurate invoice, drain your time! You started your business because you love your trade. Not because you want to be bogged down by admin. A job management app frees you from all of this so you can focus on getting the jobs done.

The end of problematic timesheets

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Are you reliant on timesheets right now? If you are like most tradespeople, these are a vital part of your business. Without them, you are unable to invoice correctly and you can’t be sure that your team are getting paid correctly. As important as they are, they always seem to create a nightmare.

How long have you spent chasing timesheets from your team? How often have you settled down on an evening to sort your payroll only to realise that the timesheets that have been submitted are incorrect? How many times has this seen your blood boil?

A job management app does away with these issues. Rather than manually filling out and submitting pieces of paper, your team can update their hours from their smartphones or tablets. The moment that they submit their details, you can access them in an instant. No more chasing and no more errors!

Improve communications

If you have a team, are you like many tradespeople who waste an hour or so a day just by meeting up? Do you all meet at a single location so that you can brief your team members on the jobs for the day and where they will be heading? Wouldn’t it be great to keep all of your team’s time as a time for productivity?

With job management software there is no need to meet up. You can allocate tasks to each member of your team and they can see this on the app. There is no need to meet and no need for constant phone calls for updates or to see which job they should head to next.

With messages, private tickets, and notifications of any changes, job management software keeps your team up to date with all of the information that they need to get the job done. You are freed from the constant phone calls and updates as the job management app allow you to see all you need to know in the palm of your hand.

Keeping your team on side

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If your team are happy then they are far more likely to stick with you and your business. When you look at the costs of recruiting and training it makes sense to reduce staff turnover as much as you possibly can. You can do this by making things easy for your staff as well as yourself.

Job management software makes it easy for your staff to request holidays and other time off. You don’t need to spend time figuring out if holiday can be approved based on who else is off. The software will show you this in an instant. Staff value quick responses to holiday requests and you can be sure of offering this.

The software also sees your team being given payslips in a timely manner. There is never any need for them to chase as this is all done automatically as the software takes care of it. It may seem a small issue but chasing payslips is a bugbear of many employees and you’re legally obliged to make sure that they receive it.

Be COVID safe

Did COVID impact your business? Do you know how you may cope should the worst happen and we enter into another lockdown? Whilst vital trades were able to continue, and likely would again, the issue that you face is keeping yourself, your staff, and your customers as safe as possible.

You can use job management software to record the steps that you are taking to protect everyone involved. You can ensure that your staff view the information there and that they are made aware of any updates.

The use of a job management app also reduces the need for face-to-face meetings. Everyone involved in a job can be updated via the app and there is not a need for physical contact to take payment.

Take control of your business and regain your life

Job management software really does have the power to change your life. We want you to get back to doing the parts in your business that you love. We hope that you can see the benefits that this software brings and how it gives you both control and freedom.

Labourless was launched after we saw the struggles that tradespeople face first hand. This app was created for people just like you who want to make a change and want their lives back. With a 30-day free trial available, you have nothing to lose by giving it a go for yourself. Get in touch and see for yourself exactly what job management software can do for you.

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