Anybody using Job Management Software?

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

Hi all.

I am pondering on the idea of using a job management software package for my business.
I have a large number of clients with many of them being repeat customers and I'm running myself into the ground with paperwork!
Tracking each job and what stage it is at is becoming a bit of a chore and is adding a lot of stress to my already busy day.
I've tried my best to organise each client into their own folder and sub folders but it's getting difficult to manage.
I'm a Sole Trader so I'm doing literally everything myself and I can't afford to go Ltd and employ somebody.

Are any of you guys using job management software like ServiceM8, Tradify or the like???
If so, what are your thoughts and is it worth it?

I've watched a number of intro videos on a few of them and they make it look so easy but something tells me that it ain't gonna be so simple.....

Cheers.

 

[telectrix]

i just use my grey matter. that's soft enough for me.

 

[buzzlightyear]

i just use my grey matter. that's soft enough for me.

That's good enough for me when can you start.

 

[UNG]

Not used any of the software packages you mention but have used a few in the past mainly integrated with accounts, payroll, stock control and estimating and the hardest part is getting all the customer / client information onto software application intially so you can go live with it if you already have a customer database that you can export / import / link to this does save a lot of set up time,

Once it is up and running the biggest downside can be the ongoing software maintenance costs especially if it is part of a suite of integrated software

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

Not used any of the software packages you mention but have used a few in the past mainly integrated with accounts, payroll, stock control and estimating and the hardest part is getting all the customer / client information onto software application intially so you can go live with it if you already have a customer database that you can export / import / link to this does save a lot of set up time,

Once it is up and running the biggest downside can be the ongoing software maintenance costs especially if it is part of a suite of integrated software

Hi UNG.

For me, it's all the back and forth I have to do all the time. I have estimate/quotation, invoice and receipt templates etc etc but I have to manually adjust every single one.
I do a fair bit of work as a supplier to various consultation businesses so I get tickets numbers/PO numbers so I have to make sure that every document has all the correct PO numbers etc etc.

Then there's keeping tabs on job status and what stage they're at. I have all that on various Excell files but keeping track of that is becoming a bit if a nightmare too.
It's mainly because I have to manually update it all but it's easy to forget sometimes.

 

[UNG]

Not sure what budget you have in mind for your list of requirements ISTR spending circa £10k - £12k on office software ( accounts, stock control (linked to estimating for pricing), payroll, job costing and estimating) plus somewhere around £1 - 1.5k / yr in maintenance fees starting back in the late 80's / early 90's for a small company that me and my business partner were running at the time

As a start have you looked at any of the trial software that is out there to get an idea of what you need / what suits you and your business, from what you have said a CRM package would possibly be a good place to start IMO with a tablet to input infomation while away from base rather than making paper notes to input later

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

Not sure what budget you have in mind for your list of requirements ISTR spending circa £10k - £12k on office software ( accounts, stock control (linked to estimating for pricing), payroll, job costing and estimating) plus somewhere around £1 - 1.5k / yr in maintenance fees starting back in the late 80's / early 90's for a small company that me and my business partner were running at the time

As a start have you looked at any of the trial software that is out there to get an idea of what you need / what suits you and your business, from what you have said a CRM package would possibly be a good place to start IMO with a tablet to input infomation while away from base rather than making paper notes to input later

Oh wow so you've been running your business for some time now! I hope you went from strength to strength considering the amount of money you spent setting your business up!! I'm only a lowly Sole Trader at the minute and I find that some of the larger consultation/FM companies that I apply to be a supplier to will turn their nose up at me as soon as they find out I work for myself.
I try not to take that personally though as I understand they want a business with many staff to service their complicated needs.
The funny thing is though, these large electrical contractors will sub the majority of the work out so a Sole Trader like me in the end anyway!

I tried Tradify around 18 months ago when I first set up but the software overwhelmed me and they continually badgered me with phone calls in the hope that I would sign on the dotted line at the end of the trial period whilst offering little in the way of support. This experience put me off somewhat but regardless, a CRM package will need to be looked at.

I will more than likely give "ServiceM8" or "YourTradeBase" a try soon just to see what's on offer as my budget is low at the minute.

I'll get there I'm sure.

 

[timhoward]

Some people swear by Tradify. Not tried it but might be worth a look. Nick Bundy has some videos on it (but they do sponsor him)

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

Some people swear by Tradify. Not tried it but might be worth a look. Nick Bundy has some videos on it (but they do sponsor him)

Hi,

That's the problem though as all the high profile Influencer electrical channels like Bundy, Artisan et al all tout how good it is but they're sponsored so I tend to not trust that.
I much prefer an independent review of which there are none out there!

 

[baldelectrician]

I tried Tradify and didn't like it. I also agree on no support

I also tried nextminute and that was a rip off- you pay a month in advance but when you cancel they delete your account straight away and you don't get the month you have paid for. You cannot even log on to the portal and check historical stuff

Most of these job apps fail in not letting you have different contact fields (for a tenanted property you could have 2 tenants, a landlord, an agent and a magaging factor), some apps only let you have one or 2 contacts per job

I eneded up using Xero for the quotes (you can save custom templates with diffrerent terms and conditions for different types of clients)
Xero can also do the payroll

I use Xero with office 365 as that syncs with all devices

 

[UNG]

Oh wow so you've been running your business for some time now! I hope you went from strength to strength considering the amount of money you spent setting your business up!!

I closed that business in 2004 when my business partner suffered some mental health issues and I realised I could be heading the same way in fact it was far closer than I thought at the time

I'm only a lowly Sole Trader at the minute and I find that some of the larger consultation/FM companies that I apply to be a supplier to will turn their nose up at me as soon as they find out I work for myself.
I try not to take that personally though as I understand they want a business with many staff to service their complicated needs.
The funny thing is though, these large electrical contractors will sub the majority of the work out so a Sole Trader like me in the end anyway!

We all have to start somewhere but growing a company these days gets more complex as you start to employ people, the thing with working for big companies delivering on time and then getting payments from them beware of the companies that suddenly start pushing more and work at you generally a good indication they are on stop with another supplier and their financials are a bit wobbly

I tried Tradify around 18 months ago when I first set up but the software overwhelmed me and they continually badgered me with phone calls in the hope that I would sign on the dotted line at the end of the trial period whilst offering little in the way of support. This experience put me off somewhat but regardless, a CRM package will need to be looked at.

I will more than likely give "ServiceM8" or "YourTradeBase" a try soon just to see what's on offer as my budget is low at the minute.

I'll get there I'm sure.

Ahh so you have already found the first problem of deploying software. The first pieces of business software I set up (1988) was payroll about 8 weeks into a new tax year the options were just put in the year to date figures or process the first 8 weeks again using the software on the positive side this allowed us to learn how the software worked but 10 months on at the end of the tax year it could be fully processed on one system. Manually payroll was taking 3 - 4 hours / week to process using the software it was 20 - 30 minutes the end of year manually could take a day or two the software did it in a few hours (computer speeds back then were nothing like they are today). That set up / inputting all the information took 2 days with around 6 -7 employees being paid and we were learning as we went but for the next payroll run we had a fully working package with a noticeable time saving. Move on to accounting with about 50 ish regular customers details to input and I think you get the problem although that customer database could be exported or linked to other software packages like job costing and estimating but there is quite a time investment intially to get your business information into a working package

The problem with software one size fits all so you have to adapt to it or find ways of making it work as you want

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

I tried Tradify and didn't like it. I also agree on no support

I also tried nextminute and that was a rip off- you pay a month in advance but when you cancel they delete your account straight away and you don't get the month you have paid for. You cannot even log on to the portal and check historical stuff

Most of these job apps fail in not letting you have different contact fields (for a tenanted property you could have 2 tenants, a landlord, an agent and a magaging factor), some apps only let you have one or 2 contacts per job

I eneded up using Xero for the quotes (you can save custom templates with diffrerent terms and conditions for different types of clients)
Xero can also do the payroll

I use Xero with office 365 as that syncs with all devices

Hi baldelectrician,

Ah, so you're findings tally with mine then, that's really helpful to know. I won't go down the Tradify route again then! (was going to give it another go).

You're right about the contacts thing, when you really drill down into the detail of each app, you start to realise that there are little holes of information missing which are vital to your service. Not only that, the pricing is generally scaled so the services you REALLY want are hidden behind the much more expensive service plan price.

I'm not familiar with Xero, I'll look into that one! Thanks!

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

Off to site guys, I'll reply to all who've responded later on.......

 

[baldelectrician]

Hi baldelectrician,

Ah, so you're findings tally with mine then, that's really helpful to know. I won't go down the Tradify route again then! (was going to give it another go).

You're right about the contacts thing, when you really drill down into the detail of each app, you start to realise that there are little holes of information missing which are vital to your service. Not only that, the pricing is generally scaled so the services you REALLY want are hidden behind the much more expensive service plan price.

I'm not familiar with Xero, I'll look into that one! Thanks!

Xero is a accountancy package, it does all the PO thing (we don't) and gives you list of what has been paid etc

It also links well with Stripe, we take card payments direct from the invoice, if a client pays via stripe it shows as paid on Xero and also allocates the charges as well.

 

[Gavin John Hyde]

servicem8 is not too bad, had the trial but didnt get enough use out of it to justify it right now. found it very good