The YourTradeBase Story
After working as a tradesman for almost 15 years, Dean Taylor knew he loved the work. He could face all kinds of weather, all kinds of client, and all kinds of site. It was all worth it.
There was one part of the job, however, that sucked. Big time.
Paperwork.
Estimates and invoices, to be precise. When a prospective customer asked for an estimate, Dean's spirit sagged. He knew he could give a fair price and he knew how to cost everything accurately. What he hated doing was struggling with his PC and word processor to whip the estimate into something that looked at least half-way professional. After a hard day on site, the last thing he wanted to do after dinner was sit down in front of a PC screen, gather together all the pricing information from a number of different catalogues, and then try to craft an estimate from a reluctant piece of software. It felt twice as hard as the job he'd just left. In a lot of cases, he simply ended up writing it out by hand, which never looked great and probably lost him a fair number of jobs.
When it came to invoices, the motivation was stronger but it was just as easy to put off the task of creating, printing, and posting one.
Then there was the issue of tracking which estimates or invoices had been sent or won or paid. What Dean wanted was a place to keep all his information that let him create estimates and invoices quickly and easily. Then he could spend more time with friends and family and less time in front of his PC.
Talking to other tradesmen, Dean knew he wasn't alone. They might support different football teams and speak with different accents but one thing they all shared was a hatred of paperwork.
Dean shared this problem with his cousin, who wasn't a tradesman. Adam Austin is a coder and web developer. The more they talked, the more Adam believed the solution could be a simple web application that did most of the work. He and Dean began specifying how the application would work and what it would look like.
The main requirements for the application were straightforward:
- quick to start;
- easy to use;
- cut down repetitive tasks;
- be able to track paperwork;
- calculate VAT automatically;
- produce professional looking estimates and invoices.
Working in their spare time, Dean and Adam spent almost a year getting things right. Finally, YourTradeBase was born in September 2009.
Early adopters of the application are already heaping praise on it. Users find it easy to use but also discover that it really does save them time and allow them to produce paperwork that impresses. No more scrawled and crumpled estimates but professional looking lists of taks, parts, and prices topped off with a logo. The system even sends email reminders to follow up on estimates or invoices you’ve sent.
As Dean says, "The application does everything I felt I needed when I was struggling to produce paperwork for my job. As a tradesman, I know this hits the spot because I use it every day myself."
You can learn how YourTradeBase can save time and improve business by taking the tour at yourtradebase.com. When you're convinced, sign up for a 30-day no obligation trial.
You'll never go back to your old way of doing things.
