KeyBoltThe notebook works until the notebook is in the other van.
Most small shops run on a calendar, a spiral notebook, a text thread, and a spreadsheet, and that combination genuinely works for a while. It stops working at the point where more than one person needs the same fact at the same time.
14 days free. No credit card to start.
What actually goes wrong.
The fact is in one place and you are in another.
The key code is in the notebook. The notebook is in the other van. The customer is waiting.
Nothing agrees with anything else.
The calendar says one thing, the spreadsheet says another, and the actual answer is in a text message from Tuesday.
Bills you meant to send.
The job is done and the paperwork is on the passenger seat. Some of those never become invoices.
Nobody can cover for you.
The shop runs on what is in your head, so a day off is not really a day off.
What matters for this kind of shop.
- Get the codes off paper firstKey codes, bitting, and safe combos on the customer record, readable from any van, encrypted at rest. This is usually the change people feel first.
- Then stop losing billsThe bill builds itself from the job, sends with a pay link, and tells you whether it arrived.
- Then get the calls in one placeCalls, texts, emails, and web requests into one thread per customer, instead of three apps and a memory.
- Bring the spreadsheets with youImport your supplier price list or your current stock counts from a spreadsheet rather than retyping them.
Being straight with you.
You do not have to move everything at once, and trying to is the usual reason this fails. Most shops start with customers and key codes, run jobs and billing for a couple of weeks, and only then take on inventory. The 14-day trial with no card is sized for exactly that. Your data stays yours: you can export customers, jobs, invoices, and inventory whenever you want.
Questions.
- Can I import what I already have?
- Supplier price lists and stock counts import from a spreadsheet. Customers and job history are usually entered as you go, because most paper records are not in a shape an importer can read.
- What if my techs are not good with technology?
- That is the design constraint. Big buttons, plain words, no jargon. A tech’s day is: see the job, tap to advance it, add photos, take payment.
- What happens to my data if I leave?
- You export it. Customers, jobs, invoices, and inventory each come out as their own file, and the sales-tax filing comes out as a workbook.
- How long before it actually saves me time?
- Honestly, the first week costs you time, because you are entering customers as they call. The gain shows up in week two when the records start answering questions for you.