If you’re feeling more bogged down than ever in admin, there may be a reason for that. Our recent poll and research suggest builders spend up to 40 hours a month estimating jobs – usually in the evenings after a full day of work.
That’s effectively an extra week of work on top of getting on with your day-to-day projects!
We also spoke to around 200 builders about how and when they quote work for a client and it’s clear that doing all your estimates by yourself has a big impact on your work/life balance.
The price is right
More than 70% of the builders we spoke to told us they prepare between around six and ten estimates per month. It’s not a quick job either. When costing up plans for a customer, working out material costs, labour, availability and preparing the actual quote takes most of you around five hours per estimate.
Some builders we spoke to actually try and cut down on the time they spend by pricing work per square metre or by basing it on a similar previous quote. But with material prices currently in a state of flux, estimating like this can sometimes leave you making less than you need to on a job or having to manage an unhappy customer facing a bigger bill than they expected.
Going into extra time
Our poll also found that 80% of builders are putting in a full day of work on-site then going to potential new customers to quote for jobs in the evenings and even giving up their time at weekends!
We all know estimates and quotes keep the work flowing, but what would you rather be doing? Lots of people said they wanted to spend more time with family and friends, and on their hobbies.
While it’s critical, the paperwork side of running your business takes you away from doing what you love.
Helping you speed things up
Squeezing so much extra work into a month can’t be easy. Despite this, more than 70% of builders told us they never use estimating software or services. One quick way to save huge amounts of time on your next estimate is to try Build Aviator in partnership with Jewson.
Build Aviator takes the hassle out of estimating a job. Simply submit your drawings and materials information and they will price up the works, provide a full breakdown for you and generate a client report to help you secure the work.
Material costs are always kept up-to-date on Build Aviator so your quote is as accurate as possible. It will also include your labour costs too. This is all provided in a handy report, ready for you and your customer.
Claim back your downtime – get in touch today to find out how Build Aviator can help you, or visit the Build Aviator website to learn more.
