A new chapter in my business journey

[Isetech]

Yip, mine does the same. I attach the phone to my visor and use siri to log site visits, material orders etc. I have a few different idea I am trying out at the moment, it to try find the one s that are going to work for me, then streamline it. My biggest losses are material and time mangement. You think, you just a little operation and dont need anything fancy.

If I take into account all the money I have lost due to bad paying customers and time managmet and material losses, we talking not talking tens of thousands, more like hundreds of thousands. When you have been around as long as I have even those litel R500 bad debts add up. then you consider how much you could have collected if you had put all that money into a investment account ove rthe period, we are talking millions.

Let this be a lesson for all those little operators who think that R500 bad debit is only R500, put that R500 into a credit card accorny and leave it for 30 years and tell me how much you collect

It has to stop right now. My white board is already ful lthis morning, with all the ideas, projects on the go, quotes etc.

A note, I know that my Iphone has this, not sure about Android phones, If you Say "Hey Siri", "make a note or remind me tonight", "18A contactor collected from stock for use on Alpha Factory". Then later you can recall the note, or the Iphone will remind you about the note. You can then update your work sheet.

[Isetech]

Yesterday I started something new, time management.

I use the stopwatch on the phone to manage my time, which is when you realise how much time you waste.

An example, last week Thursday I emailed the wholesaler a list of products for a project. They had most of the stuff fin stock, however some equipment had to be ordered from the supplier.

No problem, we made arrangements to get the lights delivered to our new shop. no surprise, the equipment wasn’t ordered, the sales person was off on Friday and yesterday, no big deal I get in the vehicle while the rest of the team are working on site and quickly go to the supplier and collect the lights, just over an hour later I return, without the lights "no stock"

What have we learnt after, digging a little deeper, wholesaler are not the route to go for equipment purchases, they sell directly to the public, you wait in a que with the public and they don’t always have stock. This something I need to focus on, "wholesaler visits".

Maybe even look at a runner, like sixty sixty, just imagine how much more productivity you gain, no having team members wasting time driving, sitting waiting for spares.

IF the wholesaler can't deliver in 60 minutes it’s time to shop around.

[Blurock]

No problem, we made arrangements to get the lights delivered to our new shop. no surprise, the equipment wasn’t ordered, the sales person was off on Friday and yesterday, no big deal I get in the vehicle while the rest of the team are working on site and quickly go to the supplier and collect the lights, just over an hour later I return, without the lights "no stock"

Never underestimate the importance of a reliable supplier.
The guys who took over our factory has no respect for suppliers and their business is suffering as a result. Not paying on time and displaying an attitude has no place in a successful business.

I have built my little distribution business on customer service and aligning with the best manufacturers and suppliers who could support me in terms of service and product quality. Avoiding the uncertainty of empty promises from don't care suppliers has eliminated my sleepless nights.

[Justloadit]

@Blurock
The low sales cost of the goods provided by these crapy service providers is one of the key factors to the poor business ethics.
If you are not making a decent bottom line, then your motivation is erroded and hence the crapy service.

I have noted this myself, when a price is forced to be very cheap, my motivation follows, and hence I have set a standard by which I will not go lower for any reason, to prevent this from happening.
I have lost a number of sales because I could not meet the customers low cost expectation, but once I have done a little digging, I am very glad I did not cave in. Had I accepted, I would have been in for a very bumpy ride.

[Isetech]

Its going to be a frustrating new chapter and tolerance is going to be key. Play the game and you win, try move forward faster than the flow and you will end up frustrated and disappointed.

learn to slow down and understand that not everyone is on the same path, smile and be nice, no matter what is going on in your space, I know, easier said than done.

Getting up as early as possible to allow time for a good workout, will help, not only to relive the stress of dealing with people, but it also helps to focus on what is important.

I found in the past that getting up early and taking the bike out for a good scratch would clear my head, that has become too dangerous (potholes,trucks and super bikes dont go well together). Finding something that takes your mind off the work, like going to gym, fishing or what ever distracts you from work is very very important. The business will consume you and if you allow it to, it becomes like any addication.

You blink and you may have a small/medium or big empire but the import things in your life will suffer.

Today the focus will be on learning to tolerate the situation and be more understanding to others.

[Derlyn]

And the most important part of today's lesson is the part about fishing. I like.👍👍

[tsingosayi]

This is what I am looking for, a simple job sheet which can be easily modified or updated on site.

This by the way is a good example of time management, if you go down this rabbit hole you could end up wasting hours/days/weeks of your time which could be better use ddoing what you do better.

So how do you go about using this inforamtion to benifit you and your business, dont try do this at home, rathe rfind someone who has a bette runderstanding and let them createa template sutable for what you require, that is wher ethe challenge begins, find the right person.

Here we have a business forum which has no fees attached, just an open free space for like minded people to share stuff, so how do we find a person to create an app like this?

I would guess that many small electrical/service type businesses would pay for an app like this.

The best par tis that most of us already have the data in XL already

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HwIjfUxrQM&ab_channel=AppSheet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnH3...annel=AppSheet

Hi Isetech,

Let me know how you have gone about this. I have someone who can help with this App Sheet thingy.

Sent from my SM-A546E using Tapatalk

[Isetech]

That time has come, part of the time management project has identified that I spend way too much time on this forum. Time to take break. I might sign up again but for now I need to get the business back on track.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my posts.

[Isetech]

I have created a whatsapp group for IE and MIe's to discuss the challenges (regulations) we face in the solar industry. It is by invitation only. You must be a an IE or MIE or registered electrical engineer with some solar experience. Any of the regulars who take the time to respond to posts on this platform can message me if you would like to share your knowledge and suggestions.

I want to keep it small (not more than around 20 people).