Josh Bice’s story starts 20 years ago in North Carolina, USA, when he knocked on a random door with no idea who was behind it, and asked, “Are y'all hiring?”
It was a fire protection equipment company, and they were hiring. With no prior experience in the industry, Josh got stuck into the job - and loved it.
In April 2021, that company was bought out and Josh and his wife pondered starting their own business.
“I’d always wanted to go out on my own, so when this happened, it just felt like the natural time,” he explains.
In hindsight, Josh admits that starting his business, Rapid Fire Protection, during a global pandemic was ballsy – “Cool, or crazy? I’m still not sure, but so far, we’re keeping the lights on.” We’d say that’s a pretty modest call, considering the business already maintains fire equipment safety for almost 150 commercial properties.
From the outset, he prioritized finding a modern system that would help get things up and running quickly, and it’s become the backbone of his growing business.
“People are so used to technology these days. You just can’t operate without it.”
1. Josh used to “spend more time driving than working!”
Remembering life before a job management system, Josh laughs at what his work used to involve. To put it frankly, the organization was messy.
Jobs were manually entered into a computer and printed out at the start of each month, leaving not a lot of wiggle room to add new jobs that came in.
Once he had his job sheet for the month, Josh and his workmates would sit down and group the jobs geographically – using nothing but their knowledge of zip codes in the area. Then they’d try to plan a schedule.
“You’d think, ‘I’m going to try to do this many jobs this day, and this many tomorrow’, and it would go into an accordion file, and that’s how we worked, all month long.”
If a job ended up in the wrong file, someone would be driving unnecessarily across the county.
“It was wrong. We would spend more time driving than we did actually working!”
2. Professional system helps businesses be competitive
A modern job management system was at the top of Josh’s priority list – so he began the Google hunt to find the perfect match. It wasn’t long before Josh found Tradify and jumped on a free 14-day trial.
There was no turning back from there – he was hooked.
“We just jumped into Tradify feet first. It did everything I needed it to do, at a price point that we could tackle as a small, start-up business.”
Although backed by incomparable experience, Josh knew he was up against some big competition. As a new business, he needed a system that would reflect his expertise so he could confidently compete in the market and meet global industry standards.
“I needed to be able to communicate with my customers digitally, in a very professional-looking manner. Tradify has allowed me to portray us as an established business, and that’s been huge.”
3. Compliance a tick with digital job service reports
Josh’s work is inspection based - there are a lot of safety legislation and compliance boxes to be ticked. For every job, he needs to provide official documentation that his clients can pass on to their insurance providers or fire marshalls. Without that paperwork, the jobs aren’t done.
In the past, that paperwork was done using pen and paper, leaving too much room for errors and inconsistencies.
“We used to use a clipboard. You’d fill it out by hand, rip it off, hand it to the customer and we were gone.”
Using Tradify, Josh can create professional, digital job service reports.
“When they get that job service report from me, it looks so professional that it puts me in the same category as the global or nationwide companies.”
The system has also made storing and accessing past service reports more streamlined. “If someone asks to see the report, they can easily go back to their email and pluck out the inspection report,” Josh explains.
4. Quick photos make for speedy quotes
Josh’s quotes are often technically complex, and Tradify’s photos feature allows him to clearly lay out what he’s quoting – and why. It gives his customers more transparency, helping them make informed decisions.
“Having the photos helps our customers justify hitting that accept button on a quote.”
The business also benefits from a more efficient workflow. Sometimes, Josh turns up to a job and finds something that needs to be fixed, but the customer might not be on-site. So, he takes a quick snap, helping him turn his quotes into jobs fast.
“Being able to attach photos to the quote is huge.”
5. Scheduler helps to establish and grow business
In the few short months since starting Rapid Fire Protection, Josh already finds Tradify’s Scheduler a must-have – and it’s helping him keep tabs on an overflow of jobs coming in.
Looking to the future, he adds, they’ll expand their team. He knows having the scheduler will make that transition a whole lot easier as the business scales.
“We’ve been pleased with our growth so far. And you know, Tradify has been a huge part of that.”
6. “I’d give Tradify 5 stars from us, for sure.”
- Simple scheduling: more time spent working and less driving.
- Job service reports: digital and ‘on file’ for no-fuss job completion.
- Quick photos: validates jobs so customers accept quotes fast.
- Professional quotes: help Josh compete in niche market.
- Automated processes: efficiencies put business in position to grow.
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