Anybody using Job Management Software?

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

Just had an email back from simPRO. Their pricing is as follows:

Enterprise

Monthly

Office LIcence @ £96/user per month (equates to £22 per week)

Mobile Licence @ £14/user per month



Annual Subscription

Office Licence @ £87/user per month (Equates to £20 per week)

Mobile Licence @ £12.50/user per month.

OUCH!!!

They offer full integration and training which is spread over 3 days.
This isn't an easy decision and my wife will kill me if she gets wind of these prices!!

They are 3 times more expensive than the average cost of the more well known software packages.

Thoughts guys?????

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

There is the obvious thing of writing this cost off to the tax man which will lessen the tax I pay so I guess I could justify it in that regard...............................

 

[baldelectrician]

Ask them for a demo

Can you commit to a month to see if it works for you?

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

Ask them for a demo

Can you commit to a month to see if it works for you?

I have asked the question mate.
See what they say.
I've also asked about being tied into a contract etc etc.

 

[UNG]

Reading though this thread if you pardon the term the thing that is clouding some aspects of these software packages is WHERE is YOUR and your customers data stored.
A question that may need some deeper research is how financially secure are these software companies if they go down and your data is in their "cloud" what happens next you lose your data and it could take your business down, for me I would be looking for a daily or weekly local data backup to your chosen media in some form that keeps your data accessible and not encrypted with their encryption key making it unusable
It was certainly much easier 30 or so years ago implementing and deploying software but the eye watering costs are still the same

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

Reading though this thread if you pardon the term the thing that is clouding some aspects of these software packages is WHERE is YOUR and your customers data stored.
A question that may need some deeper research is how financially secure are these software companies if they go down and your data is in their "cloud" what happens next you lose your data and it could take your business down, for me I would be looking for a daily or weekly local data backup to your chosen media in some form that keeps your data accessible and not encrypted with their encryption key making it unusable
It was certainly much easier 30 or so years ago implementing and deploying software but the eye watering costs are still the same

You make an extremely valid point UNG.

It's an important aspect that I failed to consider. I have heard horror stories of organisations that have decided to emigrate from a particular software package only to find that access to their customer base is denied.

I would have to ensure a manual back up of all client details is carried out as you suggest.

Excellent point UNG

 

[Alan-N]

Hi Alan,

That's really helpful information bud. I haven't heard of the software you're using so I will do some research on this to see if I can introduce it into my work-flow.

Your method looks really interesting though so I'm intrigued.

Are you a Sole Trader or Ltd with employee's?

You know what, I'm really disheartened with this process as I thought it would be really straightforward thing - select a software package and just work with it but I've realised they all make promises but fail on delivery.

I have a telephone consultation with simPRO this morning so I'll update you all later on with the results of that but something tells me it's going to be their pricing that will prevent me from using it. I've heard that their minimum cost per month for the service is £70 which is a bit eye-watering BUT, if their software really does integrate everything then I think I could swallow that cost. Either way, it must be expensive as they don't advertise their prices ANYWHERE.

Ultimately, it's the time I lose to manually doing everything that is the critical thing here so I will have to consider all options.

I'll post back later on.

I am Ltd for tax reasons, but I'm the only electrician. I couldn't justify the cost of the packages to myself.
If you're at all familiar with the old T-Card system, then Trello can mimic that electronically, simple create a "card" then drag
it from column to column as it progresses through, "estimate sent," "waiting on material", "ready to do", "waiting on payment" etc. I add the booked date to the title and arrange them in date order in each column. Like I said it's not perfect but it's free,
Manage Your Team’s Projects From Anywhere | Trello - https://trello.com There is a paid for version with additional features, but I can live without it

And Freeagent is worth a look for estimates, invoicing etc (even does payroll) Easy-to-use accounting software for UK small businesses - https://www.freeagent.com/

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

I am Ltd for tax reasons, but I'm the only electrician. I couldn't justify the cost of the packages to myself.
If you're at all familiar with the old T-Card system, then Trello can mimic that electronically, simple create a "card" then drag
it from column to column as it progresses through, "estimate sent," "waiting on material", "ready to do", "waiting on payment" etc. I add the booked date to the title and arrange them in date order in each column. Like I said it's not perfect but it's free,
Manage Your Team’s Projects From Anywhere | Trello - https://trello.com There is a paid for version with additional features, but I can live without it

And Freeagent is worth a look for estimates, invoicing etc (even does payroll) Easy-to-use accounting software for UK small businesses - https://www.freeagent.com/

Cheers Alan.

I will look into this and see if I can make this work. It's all about being efficient with your time I suppose and anything that may help me manage my time a bit better will help.

I appreciate your input!

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

During my research, I came across this government scheme which may help some of you guys:

Final opportunity for businesses to access Help to Grow: Digital scheme

Government announces closure of Help to Grow: Digital scheme

www.learn-to-grow-your-business.service.gov.uk

I am not eligible as I am not a registered business (Ltd) but some of you guys might benefit from the large savings if you're not already enrolled on some of the software packages on the list.

 

[M-B-Electrical-Services]

Hi guys,

Just thought I would update those who are interested.

Had a chat with a lad called Joe at simPRO on Friday about their software and he took me through a demo which was quite interesting. It seems to tick every box really and will integrate with everything I currently use and more.
The layout is very similar to all the other packages I've tried and looks simple enough to use but, like any new software, it will take a good while to get get the best out of it. I'm really interested but the price is significantly higher than the regular stuff.
It is the sort of software that grows as your business does due to the massive functionality of it and would be great foundation to build upon.

Here is the process:

Firstly, you have to go through their "implementation" process. For me that's 3 days worth of somebody walking me through the software and how to use it. Personally, for a small business like mine, I feel that 3 days is excessive and would probably only need 1 day as I will only be using around 25% of the features.

These days are billed at £700 per day with a current "offer" of half price if you book before a certain date (typical sales tactics) so a grand total of £1050 for 3 days.

Then there's the monthly subscription cost which is billed at £104 per month inclusive of VAT. This is for the Office package.
There is an additional mobile version that ties in with the office version for an extra £16.80 a month inclusive of VAT.
So, if I was to go for both office and mobile (which Joe of course suggests) then that would be £120.80 a month tied in for 12 month contract. £1449.60 a year.

When you look at the other more common products, they average around £45 a month (£540 a year) but, as I have found, each one I have used has it's drawbacks which would add extra work needed so they are not an ideal choice.

The simPRO software integrates with everything with no additional steps required but is this worth the asking price!

One thing is certain, I have to start using some form of management software as I can no longer keep spending hours every night manually filling forms out when a single software package can do it all for me in a matter of minutes.