The Joys of Software

Well, now that I'm in the software business it's seems appropriate for some nostalgia. I remember my first software package was a yellow legal pad and pen. I remember the hours I would spend putting pen to paper to complete estimates and all the while thinking there had to be a better way. Finally, computers began to be widely available and I moved from yellow legal paper to a Word document which required relearning how to type again (those school classes in typing came back to my rescue). Then Excel came on line and my calculations in the Word documents moved over to Excel columns and as time went by more and more columns and complex formulas worked their way into my estimates. Now we are in the 'Age of the Millennials' and the software comes at us like a never ending rainstorm. How can you spot an 'old school boy'? Pretty simple - they don't trust software and are still struggling with their email.

So the question now becomes - "How does one know if a software option is going to be a benefit to the bottom line or just another bell and whistle that makes pretty music but not much else?"

Well, interestingly enough the answer is pretty simplistic. If the software increases the efficiency of your business and that added margin is greater than the software cost (which would include the learning curve) then it's a good investment.

Here's an example - I use Bluebeam software to read blueprint drawings and mark them up during the estimating process. The cost is fairly nominal which is far out-weighed by the increase in efficiency. A couple of years ago, I became completely paper-less and haven't looked back since. The next uptick I'm waiting for is when the blue print software can tell me the # of cabt's, trim, etc by just inputting a few command prompts. If I was a software engineer, I would be working on that day and night.

If you would like more information on software that can add dollars to your bottom line, just knock on my door and I can show you how to improve efficiencies for less than a penny on the dollar. (and that's without using any yellow legal pad paper :) )