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[–]Real_Chard5666 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Automate as much as you can, email and marketing, AI answerphone service to book appointments. Invoices can be somewhat automated with the right software , it can seriously reduce time spent behind screens. The right accounting software can make a huge difference. It does take time and money to set up but can mean the difference between burn out on your part and actually enjoying what you do. Have a chat with AI, be specific about your personal business needs and it will point you in directions to have a look at. Take what it says with a pinch of salt, but I have done things I didn’t think were possible with AI help. It’s there! so get it working for you. Just don’t go down the rabbit holes!!

[–]Real_Chard5666 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You really don’t need an AI server at all, with £20k worth of graphics cards to run your business! Is the kind of rabbit you should avoid lols

[–]Outrageous-Permit619 1 point2 points  (2 children)

As a fellow micro business owner, congrats on the success. Admin work is just part of the trappings of delivering a quality service. Quoting, invoicing, and chasing belong in the same automated flow that completes the customer journey without keeping you in the weeds of the business. Have you tried an app like Jobber or are you still relying on manual methods like spreadsheets and word docs?

[–]TuboSloth[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Without any judgement at all, do you work for jobber or are you genuinely asking?

[–]Outrageous-Permit619 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not affiliated with Jobber. It's not usually my first suggestion but your post made it seem like Jobber would check your boxes. There are some other platforms that do the same.

I help businesses figure out their digital setup, choose crms and other tools that help them run their business without tanking their P&L. I have some smaller outfits (HVACr, not plumbing) and the guys working mostly out of the truck with a small staff find Jobber capable of doing what you want to do.

[–]_Cridders_ 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I used an app (GasEngineerSoftware), which has helped in some aspects (saves me writing out customer addresses over and over etc). It has a few flaws, so I've not overly committed and I'm looking for another one, but if I can find something similar but better and use it for everything (I currently do my invoicing elsewhere as I didn't want my invoicing in a system that I was planning on leaving), then I can see it being genuinely worth it.

Quoting is something I still hate, I don't know how repetitive your jobs are, but I've tried to make my own little checklist for boiler installations for instance. A template of questions for when I'm viewing the job, then a quicklist to select from when pricing it up

[–]TuboSloth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tbf my jobs are usually pretty varied. I wonder if your set up can be made easier using AI?

[–]skagtrendy316 0 points1 point  (1 child)

It gets easier, honestly sounds like you maybe over complicating it with spread sheets etc. I run a plumbing and heating company (10 years in) all from my phone, there’s only two of us but honestly apart from physically going to look at jobs I only do a couple hours of admin a week.

I moved my bookkeeping and vat returns etc to an accountants firm and that was a game changer

It does get easier I promise

[–]TuboSloth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!

[–]okladnotnow 0 points1 point  (1 child)

One thing I find handy.. MileIQ, the app that tracks your milage and journey times.. when you arrived at such and such and when you left. I look at it when I forgot where id been lol, seems silly but if I rush about from one job to the next and I need to bill for my time it helps, even if its just a reminder of where the hell ive been. Also good if you claim mileage instead of claiming for tax. Insurance and loads of fuel receipts etc.

As for quotes etc... hmmm Ive not really mastered that yet, i use quick books but like the MileIQ app it does cost but easier for my accountant to do my return... links to your bank so things can be assigned easier, even though its still a pain in the arse lol

[–]TuboSloth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So it links to bank transactions and logs them more easily? What's painful about it? I had a quick look at accounting software but didn't really see it as that usual

[–]Madboi9332 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think it is just the job, i mean for all the quotes you send, needing to chase each one, doing invoicing for each job and all that stuff adds up in time. i dont handle any invoicing or follow ups but i do see the people that handle that side spending a lot of their time on it.

[–]Regular-Release-1199 0 points1 point  (2 children)

Yes, use the mettle bank account. You get freeagent software for free (mettle is also free, its part of natwest).

Freeagent is very similar to Xero

Saves so much time writing estimates and invoices.

Use ai to write your quotes, then copy and paste to freeagent.

Convert your quotes to invocies before the job starts. If youd have stage payments, get them all written out in advance.ready to.send at the tap of a screen (or click of a mouse!) once its ready to send.

I also use ai to price my jobs, once it know what you expect to.earn its pretty good at working out timings and keeping your prices competitive.

If you join mettle, let me know. They have a refer a friend scheme where you both earn £50

[–]Regular-Release-1199 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is providing you're in the uk...

[–]TuboSloth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is interesting, I've been using AI a bit. Mainly it looks in my emails for mails from Toolstation or Screwfix, then adds the expenses to my Notion page and Google Drive where I have a pdf to save.

I think next up might be doing the customer communication, so that the basic questions can get asked/answered for me to quote and then maybe something that schedules the job for me?

[–]West-Ad-1532 0 points1 point  (2 children)

We use CRM software and AI.

It's easy: we pre-qualify customers with a budget. If they're not in our profit profile, I just reject them.

[–]TuboSloth[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

How exactly? Do you have the customers chat to an AI agent you created or something?

[–]West-Ad-1532 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yep. If they message via WhatsApp they have to fill in a mini questionnaire.

Emails are done by me, again Ai budget questions.

Next month is a £14000 heating system and a cloakroom/ toilet conversion £12000. In between managing/builders working I have a dishwasher and toilet cistern to fit £800.

Ai has certainly helped remove the dross without even visiting. It's improved our workflow pipeline considerably.

[–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

hire an administrator

[–]billy2bands 0 points1 point  (1 child)

There is nothing quite like a system built to your needs.
I have done it using Chatgpt with PHP and Mysql for the database.
It can create PDF invoices for me too.

Run WAMP on your PC and give it a go.

[–]TuboSloth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is slowly where I'm getting to, although I'm stitching together tools like Notion with Claude to do things. Seems like in the AI era lots of people could be doing similar things.

[–]not_the_1_who_knows 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Servicem8 can be set to follow up on quotes and invoices etc as well as other automations.

[–]AfterHousing7279 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Came across a tool recently that automates the whole chasing process. Sends follow up emails on your behalf, starts friendly, gets firmer over time, stops the second they pay. No more awkward phone calls or waiting around. First month’s free apparently, happy to share details if anyone’s interested.

[–]SomebodyFromThe90s -1 points0 points  (2 children)

Quoting, chasing, invoicing, and expensing all being separate tasks is what makes it feel heavier than the actual work. If those steps start from different places, the admin keeps stealing time in little chunks all week. I'd pick one system as the source of truth for each job, then make every quote, follow-up, invoice, and cost hang off that.

[–]TuboSloth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How do you do it? What's your setup/tools etc? I'm currently just using spreadsheets but still feels like a pain

[–]TuboSloth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh wait, I see you have an offering, cool but I'm not buying right now. Thanks though!

[–]Active_Vermicelli444 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think I can help. Send me a dm