A new report from ToolTime has revealed the growing importance of digital tools for tradespeople, finding that almost nine out of 10 tradespeople now consider digital and software tools to be important for running their business successfully.
Plumbers and HVAC technicians are leading the way, with over 90% saying they rely on digital to help with day to day operations. Many report using tools like job management apps, messaging platforms and social media to save precious time on admin—time that can instead be spent on servicing more customers or developing their skills.
Of the tradespeople using digital tools and software day-to-day, 39% use them to save time on admin for business growth, 36% to compensate for shortfalls in skilled workers, and 34% to strike a better work-life balance or spend more time on their trade.
These figures differed slightly for plumbing and HVAC, with more respondents (50%) using them to save time on admin for business growth or to compensate for shortfalls in skilled workers. 42% said they used them to create more efficient backend processes, compared to 29% across all trade sectors, while only a quarter (25%) said they used digital and software tools to strike a better work-life balance.
The Challenges Driving Tech Adoption
The rising cost of supplies emerged as the number one challenge for 29% for tradespeople (30% amongst plumbers and HVAC technicians), and was particularly significant for one-person and micro businesses of less than five people.
“Rising costs make finding ways to maintain profitability, manage costs and ensure prompt invoice payments critical elements of small business management,” says ToolTime CEO and co-founder Marius Stäcker. “Investing in digital and software tools offers tradespeople the opportunity to create a resilient business model by streamlining and optimising operations for greater efficiency, enabling them to focus on increased revenue generation and profitability even with limited resources and in the face of higher operational costs.”
Social media, messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, and mobile apps for time tracking, job sheets, and scheduling were the top three digital tools named by the 1,000 tradespeople surveyed. This carried through into plumbing and HVAC representatives, although accounting specific software and online review platforms also featured amongst the top digital tools used in the sector.
The utilisation of these tools and platforms reflects some of the other major challenges identified by UK trades, such as managing time and jobs (23%), managing a team (22%), keeping up with customer communications (21%), talent and skilled worker shortages (21%) and marketing the business (20%).
For plumbers and HVAC technicians specifically, managing a team was the biggest challenge next to rising costs (28%), while keeping up with customer communications and marketing the business were each cited as further challenges, both accounting for 26% of answers.
