Tech helps you build happily ever after
We all love stories with happy endings. So here’s a tale of two builders, both struggling with cash flow, too much admin, and not enough hours in the day.
They wanted to conquer these evils – and, with the help of Free Up, turned to technology to defeat them. Free Up helps builders take control of their businesses by selecting and implementing the right project management software for them.
So what happened next? Here are our two builders’ stories, in their own words:
Marcus’s Story from Marcus Smith Builders Ltd
What was the problem?
“Job finances always felt out of control. Tracking invoices to jobs and back costing were taking hours each week, and because we were doing everything manually, costly mistakes were made.”
How did this affect you?
“It had a massive effect on my work-life balance. I was always stressed about keeping on top of invoices and not having enough time for my family.”
What did you do about it?
“Because everything seems to be going digital these days, I thought there must be a similar solution to simplify things for builders. My accountant recommended Free Up, and they did a brilliant job at getting to know how our business worked, and setting us up with the right tech solution for the problems we were having.”
What app did you go for?
“We really needed to focus on quoting jobs, invoicing clients and getting the project finances under control. We were advised to get Builda Price – it was suggested because it would improve how we estimated projects and our back-costing. The team could use an easy timesheet app and I could quickly and accurately invoice my customers. Anna also told me it would help to understand how profitable my jobs were – or weren’t.”
Was it tricky to take on?
“Free up was really helpful in explaining how Builda Price would solve our problems. Then the Builda Price team helped us to get up and running. I was busy the first week taking on the new information and watching how-to videos, but I picked it up very quickly”
How did things change?
“Estimating and quoting improved immediately. We also noticed big improvements in understanding how profitable jobs are, back costing is easier and customer invoicing now quicker and more accurate.”
What’s the moral of your story?
“Once you start using tech and understanding it properly – you’ll wish you’d done it when you first started your business.”
Daniel’s Story from Anderson Homes BOP Ltd
What was the problem?
“I was spending so much time pricing up jobs and back costing.”
How did this affect your business?
“The time I was spending on admin was time I couldn’t be on the tools and supervising staff.”
And did it affect you?
“A lot of my personal time in the evenings and at weekends was spent on admin, which really impacted on my work-life balance.”
Were you nervous about taking on tech?
“I wanted to be sure that software could do what we wanted. I also wanted to be sure we’d be shown how to use it properly.”
What app did you go for?
“We asked Free Up to look at our situation and work out which system would be best for us. They said Buildxact would suit our business because it solved the majority of issues we were having. Anna showed me how we can use supplier prices and SQM rates to speed up our quoting and make sure they’re accurate. Buildxact would also help us to back-cost our projects and I could see that it would reduce the amount of admin that was needed across my projects.”
Was it tricky to take on?
“We had a number of training sessions with Anna from Free Up and we found Buildxact easy to learn and use.”
How did things change?
“Straightaway, a number of things got easier, including estimating and quoting, back costing and our financial processes. Subtrade communications improved and we found purchasing materials became smoother. Pretty much every area of our business benefitted.”
What’s the moral of your story?
“We got the right tech and a lot of helpful functions have saved us time and made us more efficient.”
Start your tech journey with expert advice
There are so many project management systems available for builders. It’s a job in itself to work out which one is best for you. If you’re new to tech, it takes hours researching and trialling each system. And picking the wrong one can set you back months. That’s why getting independent and expert advice could save you considerable time and money.
Free Up is proud to have helped Marcus, Daniel and over 50 building and trades businesses revolutionise the way they work with tech. We will match the right system to your business, and provide the help you and your team need to make it work with your existing processes. We can also offer training to help you get more from a system you might already be using.