Why this tradesman decided to start a software company…
A quick history of Dean Taylor’s decision to start YourTradeBase and help all tradesmen sort their paperwork.
Dean Taylor has been a tradesmen all his working life. That’s 20 years spent honing the skill of working with his hands (and some tools) to build and fix physical things.
The last thing on his mind was getting involved in building online software.
He knew he could face all kinds of weather, all kinds of customers, and all kinds of working environments. But online software? He knew how to send an email, but this seemed a big jump…
Why was Dean considering taking this leap?
One word: Paperwork
Estimates, quotes and invoices, to be precise. When a new customer asked for a quote, Dean knew he was in for at least one evening spent slaving over prices and trying to get Word to create a quote that looked half-way professional.
His paperwork felt twice as hard as his day job.
There was also the issue of tracking which estimates or invoices had been sent or won or paid… what Dean wanted was one place to keep all his information that let him create estimates and invoices quickly and easily.
Then he could spend more time relaxing with friends and family and less time in front of his PC.
Dean shared this problem with his cousin, who wasn’t a tradesman. Adam Austin was (well, still is) a web developer. The more they talked, the more Adam believed the solution could be a simple web app that did most of the work.
He and Dean began specifying how the application would work and what it would look like.
Working in their spare time, Dean and Adam spent almost a year getting things right. Finally, YourTradeBase was born in September 2011.
Early users of the site heap praise on it. Users find it easy to use but also discover that it really does save them time and allow them to produce paperwork that impresses their customers.
No more scrawled and crumpled estimates but professional looking lists of tasks, parts, and prices topped off with a logo. The system sends emails direct to customers and reminders to tradespeople to follow up on estimates or invoices you’ve sent.
In Dean’s words: “YourTradeBase does everything I felt I needed when I was struggling to produce paperwork for my job. As a tradesman, I know this hits the spot because I use it every day myself.”
YourTradeBase continues to be steered by Dean — and every other tradesperson that uses it — by listening to and understanding what users need to make their life easier. We’ll always be by tradespeople, for tradespeople.
Dean wasn’t looking to start a software company. He wanted to solve a problem. It just so happened that software was the most appropriate solution.
What Dean has done — and what Dean and Adam are continuing to do, is prove that modern technology allows you to build new products and services to solve old problems.
It’s no longer solely in the hands of large software companies to innovate. Anyone with a passion, some coding knowledge, and a pain that needs solving, and a new software company can be born.
Written (strangely in the third person!) by Adam Austin. Proud of the software for tradesmen he and Dean have built.
