“If there is one thing that builders and trades are sick of it’s being bogged down by paperwork,” Clinton Cowin from TradiePad told us when we caught up. He should know, having worked with hundreds of builders and trades to transform their businesses through the use of technology.

Starting out as a plumber, Clinton has first-hand experience of the amount of paperwork, double handling and lack of technology plaguing the industry. “I thought, there’s got to be a better way to do things.” So Clinton started TradiePad to help builders and trades find the best cloud-based software and technologies to transform their operations.

Ditch the paper and pen

Over 50% of Aussie small businesses are suffering from the crippling grip of paper-based admin and filing systems. This research by Xero has uncovered how paper-based systems can impact all aspects of business including time efficiency and admin costs.

Xero‘s study of small and medium Australian businesses revealed that only 31% of the construction industry is utilising apps. “Mobile devices and cloud-based software are the tools that we’ve been waiting for. We now have the ability to ditch the pen and paper and become truly paperless,” Clinton says.

Get your business in your pocket

“Office-based businesses have had the luxury of computers and software for decades, but the construction industry has missed out on digitisation purely because we’ve been waiting for the technology to catch up to us,” commented Clinton. purely because we’ve been waiting for the technology to catch up to us.’ Clinton says.

Both Buildxact and TradiePad are working to help free builders and trades from the shackles of traditional paper-based systems. Buildxact is TradiePad’s preferred partner for estimating and job management. TradiePad also recommends Xero for accounting, Formitize for paperless forms and Deputy for rostering and timesheets.

Once TradiePad has provided clients with software and technology to fit their business, they work closely to set these up and help with staff training. “This truly is the revolution we’ve been waiting for to help builders and trades transition from just being good at their trade, to being great at running a business,” Clinton says.

Go from good to great

There are a bunch of tricks and tools you can implement in your business today to build your efficiency and get some quick wins. Get the know-how on improving your construction efficiency with new technology and clever processes.