When I opened my own HVAC business, I didn’t think about all of the elements involved in running a business. I’m really a heating and air conditioning...
When I opened my own HVAC business,
I didn’t think about all of the elements involved in running a business. I’m really a heating and air conditioning guy. Working in the industry for twenty years couldn’t come close to preparing me for the hours of work that would go into running my own HVAC business. Below, I’ll share a few tools of the trade that made the job manageable for me.
What You’ll Need
You already have a truckload of tools for dealing with your HVAC customers. But do you have the tools necessary to run the human resources and billing work that come with running a business?
First, let me say this. If you’re still using a pen and paper, you’re doing far more work than you have to. Invest in a used computer, at the very least, and you’ll save so much time during the day. That’s time you can spend doing things you enjoy doing. Preferably, you’ll be able to find a tablet PC or laptop, since these can allow you to maneuver around your warehouse or storage areas better. You’ll need that for the next item I’ll discuss, which is…
Inventory Management
Counting is for suckers. HVAC job scheduling software can keep up with your inventory for you. I just log my items in when they arrive and when something goes out, the system knows it and deducts it for you. The best part of this is that when someone orders a part, you’ll be able to see instantly how many you have remaining.
Oh wait, there’s an even better part. My favorite aspect of HVAC job scheduling software is that you’ll be able to set up alerts that will let you know whenever you’re low on something. That way you can go online and order your extra stock and you’ll always have it on hand. No more forcing customers to wait days or weeks for parts to arrive.
If that weren’t enough, my staff can pull up the inventory from the field, instantly seeing what’s available. This can help your HVAC team give true estimates of job timelines, avoiding unpleasant surprises. It also saves time, as normally they’d have to either call me or drive all the way back to the office to get an idea for what is in inventory.
Customized for You
I have a small staff, mixed with a couple of part-timers and some full-timers. Most of the HVAC job scheduling software I saw were geared toward companies who had staff with balanced workloads.
So you can imagine how happy I was to find an HVAC job scheduling software solution that could be customized to my business needs. They even set it up so that all of my pieces spoke to each other, from inventory to purchasing to scheduling. I felt like someone had designed the software specifically toward my business.
Now that I have this software, I wonder how I ever lived without it. If you’re thinking about getting job scheduling software for your HVAC business, investigate the many purposes beyond scheduling your crew. You’ll likely find the inventory and purchasing aspects make the purchase well worth it.
