Details sorted, ready to grow
The stress of dealing with paperwork was a major reason why owner and electrician Nathan Steggles got out of running his own business the first time around. He found that invoicing, quoting, and scheduling took more hours than he had – and he ended up making mistakes anyway.
“The first time I was in business, I didn’t have Tradify and it was too hard to manage everything. I was running everything on spreadsheets and from an invoice book. Stuff would get missed, and you’re constantly chasing your tail with paperwork. I’d stay up really late and still not get it done,” he says.
He took a break, then restarted his Australian electrical business StegElec in 2018 – but he knew things would be different this time with a little thing called Tradify.
Letting cash slip through the cracks
When you’re keeping a running list of jobs, prices, and invoices in your head, some important details are inevitably going to be missed.
“That would mostly be materials that were used on the job. Or I’d stuff up the pricing. It was costing me money. I actually underquoted on a job by a thousand bucks once. Luckily the client was understanding. I haven’t made that mistake since.”
Back in business with Tradify
That’s why using Tradify was a no-brainer, and has meant that this time round, Nathan’s business is rolling along.
“It’s made a massive difference in the way I run things,” he says.
All his key client data, quotes, upcoming jobs, and invoicing are in one place, along with scheduling tools and pricing info. And unlike some other systems, Tradify works with his straight-up approach to business.
“I’ve used another system, called ServiceM8, which was clunky and complicated. Tradify isstraight to the point, no stuffing around.”
Nathan says that Tradify’s customer support has been great from the start, too.
“With Tradify, the very next day after I signed up, they called me to see if they could help with anything – the customer support has been fantastic.”
Quoting like a pro (and looking like one)
Forgetting an invoice or getting the details wrong didn’t just lose StegElec money – it was also not a great look for the business.
“Now, I never miss an invoice. I do the invoice straight away, in the van – right when it’s fresh in my head,” he explains.
Incorrect invoices are a thing of the past now too.
“Tradify has my wholesaler pricing all in there, so I’m no longer entering materials manually.”
Nathan explains that, even though Tradify links to Quickbooks, he prefers to invoice straight from Tradify because it’s easier.
“You enter your time, your materials, and the invoice is just done.”
Quoting is way, way easier too.
“Having the pricelist available is the biggest thing, I’ve found. I can get the quote out the same day I get asked for it. I’ve found I’m winning more quotes because I get them out faster and they look professional. I’ve actually had people say they’ve chosen to use me because of that. Because my website and the quote looked professional.”
Set up for growth
Even though Nathan only has one permanent staff member at the moment, he uses a few other subcontractors and has plans for more growth soon – something Tradify will make easy.
“It will let me add a couple of tradesmen and apprentices. I can just add them on Tradify and send them on their way.”
As jobs come in, Nathan assigns them to his team member or subbie. He doesn’t have to add his subbies on the system – with Tradify he can share all the job details the subcontractors need without adding them to his account.
His staff track their hours in digital timesheets with Tradify by clicking the timer in the app on to start, then turning it off when they leave a job. Nathan can see exactly how long he spends on each job, along with the staff hourly rate, giving him a real-time view of what the job costs.
It’s all in the detail
With Tradify, Nathan and the StegElec team have a virtual place to keep all their key info for every job. Staff can see all the quotes, invoices, and emails related to a job, plus they can add notes and photos after they complete the work. It helps make sure everything gets ticked off and double-checked – and if there’s a complaint or an issue later on, Nathan can refer back and see exactly what was done.
“I get the team to add notes and photos, to show model numbers, and that gives us a bit of accountability. All the info from every job I’ve ever done is always in the system, so if anything goes wrong, it’s all there.”
That detail, along with simple and accurate scheduling, invoicing, quoting, and payroll, all add up to far less tedious late-night paperwork for Nathan. And that’s got to be a good thing.
Nathan says: “I’d tell anyone still using paper-based systems to use Tradify. The simplicity of it is fantastic.”
Nathan’s definitely keeping Tradify on the team
- Quick, accurate quoting prevents undercharging and wins more clients.
- Invoices are sent straight after jobs are completed, for quicker turnaround.
- Job tracking gives Nathan an overview of what staff are doing.
- It’s easy to add staff and grow the business.
- Scheduling is simplified as Nathan assigns work through Tradify.
- Adding notes and photos to jobs helps keep staff accountable.
- Admin tasks happen during the day, so there’s no paperwork to catch up on at night.
Keen to simplify your trade business? Try a free 14-day trial, or pop over to one of our live demo webinars to see Tradify in action, and find out whether it’s right for you.
