Are you running a construction trade business and are struggling with organization, financial controls, and the stress of managing your day to day? Most contractors are in the same position and you are not alone in your quest to find a better way to run your business. If you want to be more profitable and efficient and have the desire to grow, you can find the right software to meet your goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Construction software has made significant advances in the past several years. There are now programs and apps that are easy to use and affordable for small contractors. These new programs take advantage of smart phone technology and cloud computing. As well, the cost of developing software has come down to a point where there are many solutions specifically developed for the construction industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of the pain points that contractors suffer from can be addressed by these new software
tools. If you are still using paper solutions for things like timekeeping, invoicing, scheduling, or
quoting, there are digital tools to help. If you have adopted the use of Microsoft Excel, Word, or other generic software titles to manage your projects, payroll, scheduling or any part of your business, there are construction specific programs that can do the job easier and more
efficiently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To find the best software to meet your company needs, we recommend a four-step plan to find
the best fit for your company. Like building a house, you need a good set of plans, and choosing
the right software along with an adoption plan within your company is essential to getting the
most out of your choice. Change is not always easily accepted, which is why it is advised you
create a roadmap to ensure success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4: <\/strong>Armed with these first three steps, you can now consider a software evaluation. The key considerations will be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Utilizing construction specific software will help you run a more effective, efficient, and profitable Are you running a construction trade business and are struggling with organization, financial
1<\/strong>: Step one in finding the right solution is to understand your company profile<\/strong>. Not all
construction software is created to cater to all the different trades. Some are designed
specifically for GCs, others for sub-trades. One software will work great for a service trade,
another for those who work on fixed price contracts. Are you a commercial contractor or
residential? Do you have under 10 clients per year or hundreds? These are a few
considerations to help narrow down your company profile and ensure that the software solution
you choose is the right fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2<\/strong>: Step two would be a pain points evaluation. Do you struggle with putting together a quote
or estimate? Is scheduling your staff a constant headache? Can you track your job costs
accurately? Is payroll always a big time suck? Identifying your problem areas first will help you
decide what software you might need to help solve that problem. Then you should ask yourself;
What areas are currently the biggest challenge? What problems are highest priority? What
needs fixing first? Answer these questions to help plan your search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3<\/strong>: Step three would require you to undergo a comprehensive constraint evaluation to
determine your limitations. There are 4 categories of constraints you should consider when
deciding what software to choose: Time, desire, skills and budget<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Time<\/strong>: When is the best time of the year for you to consider adopting a new software tool? Do
you have a slow season? Is your year end a consideration? Can you put aside a specific
amount of time each week to dedicate to your search? Plan this out to ensure you have a
handle on your bandwidth and manage your time to ensure success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Desire<\/strong>: Is the ownership of the company motivated to make the change? Will the management
of the company be on board with adopting a new business process? Will your staff be open to
change? Finding the champion within the company to lead the process will help keep the project
moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Skills<\/strong>: Does your company have people who can learn and utilize a new software tool? Can you
ask your staff to learn a new digital process? Do they all have smartphones and can figure out a
new app? Will you need to hire up to meet the needs of a new software and process? With a
good plan, can your staff adapt to a new tool if it will make their jobs easier?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Budget<\/strong>: There is no easy cocktail napkin formula to calculate a return on investment in
software. But when you look at your pain points and add up the costs of inefficiency and losses
due to poor financial controls, you can intuitively start to create a range. Also consider the time
saved once more efficient processes are put in place. Even simple changes like time tracking on
personal smartphones with automatic payroll will create time savings that you can put a value
on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
If you simply have one specific area that you want to start solving, can you find something
targeted to do just that job? Would that be a time tracking app, or estimating software, a project
management tool or maybe something to schedule your staff? If you have more than one pain
point to consider, then there might be a more comprehensive company management solution to
consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In conclusion, don\u2019t rush the process and take the time to narrow your search to a few different
choices, then, decide on your priority functionality to evaluate and compare the different
software options. Create a manageable plan and timeline to evaluate your business and then
the software. Come up with a roadmap for the adoption, don\u2019t rush to a decision. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
business.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\ncontrols, and the stress of managing your day to day? Most contractors are in the same position
\nand you are not alone in your quest to find a better way to run your business.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4619,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-article"],"yoast_head":"\n