When you first start your Field Service Business, your motivation is sky-rocketing. You have a shiny new UTE (or not so shiny may be), a great business name that you just got registered with and some professional-looking hi-vis workwear.
By 4:00 pm the first day, you realise that alone is not going to work. You need a way to get the word out for your business, get licenses and certificates in order, talk to suppliers, create a business bank account, get insured, get an accountant (or your wife to do the book-keeping) and when the work eventually begins pouring in you realize that one pair of hands is not enough.
You hire a few people, train them out of your own pocket and when they finally begin to work without supervision, smoko breaks or sick leaves and you stop to take a breath, its EOFY! You have not recorded vehicle depreciation or renewed worker compensation and group certificates have totally slipped your mind.
Shit. Before you find yourself nodding to all of those, you already know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The real challenge is about to begin. Here are some of the biggest problems Field Service Suppliers have been ranting about and with the current situation of the industry, we believe they can’t be any truer.
1. Difficult customers that want more for nothing
2. Not having enough time in the day
3. Employees taking too many sick leaves
4. Suppliers not turning up when promised
5. Invoicing and chasing late payments
We hear this too often, the quicker you send your invoices the quicker they get paid. But you only have so many hours in a day and by the time you get time, they have already piled up.
What’s worse? More time wasted running after customers who don’t pay. When mechanics and hairdressers get paid instantly, why do plumbers and electricians have to wait for 2 to 3 months to get their money?
6. Constant interruption from staff and clients
7. Stuck due to work required to be done by other technicians
8. Customers preferring lower cost over high skills and experience
9. Irregular work
10. Cash flow issues
11. Demand by customers to respond to job requests immediately
12. Sub-contractors not completing work on time
13. Finding good apprentices/employees
14. Too many interruptions from spam calling
15. Gender pay gap
16. Unbillable hours
17. Time wasted due to free quoting
Wrapping it Up
That’s pretty much the life of every tradie, day in and day out. If you can’t relate to any of the above, consider yourself lucky.
While you might not be able to sort every single one of them, fortunately there is help available to make some of these rants a thing of the past.
- Get yourself a business coach. This will help you get off the tools and work on your business growth making it a lifelong asset.
- Get yourself and your team a field management software like i4T Business and i4T Employee, to streamline workflow, manage time and resources better and deliver a service your customers will love.
- Got a bigger team? Employee management can be a challenge for most Field Service Providers. Get a HR person experienced in helping you with hiring apprentices, policy management, compensation, leaves etc.
- Talk to an accountant who can run a cloud-based accounting software like Xero or MYOB, to put an end to your cash-flow woes.
- While we recognise that a gender problem exists in the industry, some female supplier are defying the norm and it will only be a matter of time that employers realize that they are as good as their male counterparts.
- Get yourself a business coach. This will help you get off the tools and work on your business growth making it a lifelong asset.
Note: The article was created after discussing with over 50 tradie wives, about the biggest challenges their partners face in running their business.
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With our cutting-edge technology and in-depth knowledge of how the Field Service Management sector operates, the i4TGlobal Team loves to share industry insights to help streamline your business processes and generate new leads. We are driven by innovation and are passionate about delivering solutions that are transparent, compliant, efficient and safe for all stakeholders and across all touch points.
