JUNE 2019 | 45
Business
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Powered Now has been developed
specifically to help trade businesses
ranging from ‘one man and his dog’
tradesmen up to the larger companies.
The guys behind it, Benjamin Dyer and
Chris Barling, are well experienced and
have run previous software companies
that also served smaller businesses.
Nowadays there are many
The trade-related
things needed
Whatever trade you specialise
in, you need to be good at it and
not too slow. Going solo because
you have been fired for incompe-
tence is the ticket to a life of pain.
Don’t go there. It’s also important
to have the right tools. Scrimping
here tends to be a false economy.
The business-related
things needed
To run a successful business,
you need to have a good business
head. That primarily means being
able to win business at the right
price. It means not discounting or
charging too little. This takes dis-
cipline. You have to cover tax and
national insurance, your holidays,
any sickness, the cost of tools,
your accountant and more. The
biggest reason for new businesses
failing is charging too little.
The first way you will win busi-
ness is by word of mouth. That’s
If you want to
‘ grow
you will
also need to
market your
business
’
why doing a good job is so impor-
tant. This may be enough if you
always intend to be a sole trader.
If you want to grow you will also
need to market your business.
Finally, when the work is done
you need to get your invoice out
quickly. Then chase it in a timely
manner if there is any delay in
payment.
At the end of the day
Starting your own business can
be a liberating experience. It can
also be fun. At the same time,
there are headaches and you only
“eat what you kill” which can be
terrifying. Good luck!
www.powerednow.com
types of software available to
help tradesmen manage their
businesses and the claims
from the software develop-
ers often make impressive
reading. Looking through the
quotes of existing custom-
ers of Powered Now I could
not fail to notice one from a
customer who claimed that it
‘saved his marriage’; However,
this is not part of their sup-
port contract…
Recent developments in
the product have included
gas safety forms and other
certificates used by installers.
The company is aiming to
provide a tool for businesses
ranging from one man bands
up to tens of employees. It
works on desktops, laptops,
tablets and smartphones and
covers and number of sectors
in the trade industry while
specialising in gas engineers
and electricians.
Powered Now is a dynamic
British company based on
the Isle of Wight, and their
product has matured over the
years as they have listened
to their customer’s needs.
This customer focus is the
key to their success, coupled
with a strong emphasis on
‘hand-holding’ and training
as well as technical support
which is often handled via the
built-in on-line chat system.
The latest buzz is around
software that runs in the
cloud and makes updating
easy while ensuring all data
is backed up. Whilst Powered
Now uses the cloud for this,
the team also realise that
on-site locations don’t always
have WiFi or mobile coverage.
Powered Now works without
a connection and this key
feature marks it out over their
competitors. Information can
be entered with no signal, but
it is saved to the cloud as soon
as a signal reappears. A nice
touch is that quotes, invoices
and receipts can be sent by
both email and SMS Text. This
avoids spam filters and means
one less excuse for your cus-
tomers not to pay you.
Powered Now reduces typing
by remembering what you have
typed and copying informa-
tion from your address book.
Setting up a new customer is
made easy by a postcode look
up facility, although this re-
quires an internet connection.
The app has aimed to elimi-
nate all paperwork and covers
projects containing appoint-
ments, quotes, invoices, pay-
ments, certificates and time
spent on site. Staff can be
tracked and chat is included.
There is a range of templates
available for quotes, invoices
etc. and there is full control
over adding logos, member-
ships of trade associations
and other qualifications.
Powered Now is available as
a subscription on a monthly
or annual basis and has two
tiers with different levels of
functionality. There is a free
7-day trial. The Pro version
includes CIS and MTD (Con-
struction Industry Scheme
and Making Tax Digital). All
options provide support from
real UK based humans.
Review written by Mark Newton
Freelace IT Writer
PcPro, CloudPro