EP #45 – The Real Impact Of Going Digital As A Sole Trader w/ Hollie Stallworthy
Overview
After years of juggling paper certificates, carbon copies, and handwritten invoices, Hollie was spending hours every week on admin. Now, she runs a 600-customer operation without drowning in paperwork, all thanks to Gas Engineer Software.
In this episode, Hollie shares how automation, digital certificates, and the built-in calendar have helped her reclaim her time, improve service, and finally switch off at the end of the day.
Highlights
How Hollie managed her paperwork before using software
– (1:55) Hollie was drowning in paperwork. She used a pen and paper diary, would write out every certificate by hand, and give out carbon copy invoices (that left it up to the customer to pay as they please).
– (2:50) To be safe, Hollie’s kept all her records since she started. For her, that’s now more than 8 years of records.
– (3:20) While doing things on paper, Hollie would have to spend an extra 15 mins on every job giving the customer their invoice.
– (4:18) Keeping track of who has and hasn’t paid was a tedious process using a manual spreadsheet.
– (5:02) Hollie mentions a property agency she works with that wasn’t based in Kent, so she had to start paying postage to send them the certificates.
– (6:15) When you first start out, you’re keen and happy to do all these tasks. But as you get busier, it becomes a chore.
Running her business with Gas Engineer Software
– (8:20) Gas Engineer Software, despite the name, does all oil certificates as well and includes a reminder system.
– (9:35) Hollie used to print off, sign, and post reminder letters to her customers. Now, it’s automated, and people can reply directly to her inbox.
– (12:00) Hollie didn’t have a proper address list for all her customers before using software. Once she got set up, Gas Engineer Software does it for her.
– (13:35) Having access to the old certificates and property history is incredibly useful.
– (16:35) The calendar is one of Hollie’s favourite features at the moment, now that she’s working more closely with her partner and apprentice. She appreciates having all the information together and offline access.
– (23:20) The software is easy to learn, but there’s still support available to help those who want advice.
– (24:00) Hollie would never work on the tools on the weekend, but she would still be doing paperwork (before she started using software).
– (26:02) Having too much on your mind hinders your ability to work properly.
– (27:02) As Hollie’s business grows, she plans to use Gas Engineer Software to help keep things organised and track jobs amongst different engineers.