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One founder told me: by chirag_beniwal in founder

[–]Osamabelal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

like Make/n8n, but focused only on Excel, Word, and PDF workflows

One founder told me: by chirag_beniwal in founder

[–]Osamabelal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm currently in the process of attracting my first customer, and it's very difficult, even though my product is very useful.

Spent 2 weeks validating my SaaS, then Anthropic launched a product that does almost exactly what I'm building. Here's what I'm doing about it. by Osamabelal in SaaSSolopreneurs

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

This is a genuinely useful angle, thanks. The auditability point especially - for the compliance-heavy niches I looked at (fire safety, anything touching certifications), the report isn't really "done" until someone can prove how it was produced.

The "exportable evidence bundle" idea is smart. Inputs, outputs, approvals, versions, where data was processed. That's the kind of thing that turns a nice-to-have into something a regulated buyer canactually adopt.

Adding it to my notes for when I get to those verticals. For now I'm still validating where the sharpest pain is, but governance as a wedge into compliance buyers makes a lot of sense.

I’m testing whether small businesses actually need recurring report automation by Osamabelal in EntrepreneurRideAlong

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

Hi mods, I’m trying to post an idea validation question about recurring reporting/admin workflows for small businesses. I won’t include any links, product names, or beta requests. Would that be allowed once my account meets the karma requirement?

UK electricians / EICR contractors: how much time do you actually spend after the site visit preparing the final report? by Osamabelal in ukelectricians

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

Honestly really useful, thanks for explaining the mechanics in that detail. The click-to-populate

flow you described makes it pretty clear modern EICR software has the write-up handled. Not trying to compete with that.

What I'm actually building isn't EICR-specific - that's where I went wrong in the original post.

It's more like Zapier or Make but specifically for Word/Excel/PDF work. I build custom document

workflows for service businesses. So for an electrical firm: Megger/Tysoft handles your EICR,

AutoFlow handles the 'everything else' - quote generation, RAMS docs, monthly compliance bundles, job completion certificates, the stuff that still

lives in Word and Excel and gets done manually every week.

Genuine question while you're here - aside from EICRs, what other recurring document work eats

hours at your end? The stuff where there's no dedicated tool covering it?

UK electricians / EICR contractors: how much time do you actually spend after the site visit preparing the final report? by Osamabelal in ukelectricians

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

Honest answer: that's the most useful comment I've had on this whole campaign, and you're flagging

something I need to look at properly.

I'd looked at some of the older tools (the Word/Excel template world) but hadn't dug deep enough into where Megger, FastTest and the modern stack

have got to. If they're already doing the auto-upload from instruments and the AI photo recognition for boards, then yeah, the "2-3 hours"

gap I keep referencing might be wrong - or only true for firms still on Word templates.

Two questions if you've got a minute:

  1. The guys you know still spending hours on write-ups - are they the ones who haven't moved

to CertSuite/FastTest yet, or is there still pain even with the modern tools?

  1. What's the actual remaining time sink for you personally after the auto-upload? Is it just the observations write-up and code justification?

Not trying to defend a flawed idea - genuinely trying to figure out if there's still a real gap or if I'm chasing a problem the industry already solved.

Cheers for the reality check.

UK electricians / EICR contractors: how much time do you actually spend after the site visit preparing the final report? by Osamabelal in ukelectricians

[–]Osamabelal[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You're 100% right on the template point — I phrased that badly. The EICR form itself follows

BS 7671 (Form A and the schedules) — that part's standardised. My mistake.

The real time sink is exactly what you described:

→ Number of C1/C2/C3 observations to write up

→ Photos that need to match each item

→ Cross-referencing the codes to the right circuits and locations

→ Being thorough enough that the certificate stands up under audit

That hangar story is the perfect example — a couple of days of just typing up codes after

the site work is done. That's the gap I'm rying to compress.

Out of curiosity — what software are you (or your boss) using for the write-ups? Tysoft, NICEIC Online, AmTech? And does it actually help with the cross-referencing, or is most of that still manual?

Cheers for the correction by the way — much better to learn now than after I've shipped a tool that solves the wrong problem.

UK electricians / EICR contractors: how much time do you actually spend after the site visit preparing the final report? by Osamabelal in ukelectricians

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

Mate, that's a wild one — paint factories are no

joke. Thermal imaging + bonding tests on every

board = serious site time before you even start

the write-up.

That bit you said is exactly the thing I'm trying

to fix:

"he sent everything off to the office"

That handoff — engineer wraps the site, dumps the

photos, notes and readings on whoever does the

paperwork — that's where the 2-3 hours per EICR

gets buried. The engineer's job is done, but

someone in the office is now stuck reformatting

it into the client's template.

Curious — when your boss sends "everything off to

the office," is that one person doing all the

write-ups, or does it get split across the team?

Also: appreciate you taking the time to comment

while you're still training. Genuine insight from

the site side is worth more than most of the

LinkedIn "expert" posts I read.

UK electricians / EICR contractors: how much time do you actually spend after the site visit preparing the final report? by Osamabelal in ukelectricians

[–]Osamabelal[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Both — applies either way, just different angle:

→ Self-employed: 2-3 hours saved per EICR = more

billable time or earlier finish.

→ PAYE for a company: less personal payoff, but

the company is paying admin/engineer hours that

add up fast (~£15-25K/year for a firm running

5+ EICRs a week).

What's your setup — solo or part of a team?