Working on the go – as every property services worker does at some point – comes with some great perks. Not to mention greater efficiencies for businesses that due to their nature require lots of kilometres.
You get plenty of time to yourself on the open road, get to travel to new places, and work with different people all the time. There’s certainly no chance of your job feeling like groundhog day!
As with anything worth doing though, there are some challenges. Like finding a spot to balance your laptop in the car and spending long periods without WiFi. But I’m sure we all agree the benefits outweigh the difficulties.
Working on the go made easy
To help reduce your reliance on the traditional ways of working (cue office chair cramps), here are some apps for working on the go that you should find useful. They’ll help you stay productive while travelling to jobsites and spending hours on the road.
Time saving tools
Time management skills are key to productivity. When you’re driving between jobs and meeting clients all over the place it’s easy to lose track of time. You can easily waste precious minutes – and even hours – on fiddling around. Especially if you don’t have the right systems and processes in place.
A good time tracking tool can help you to figure out where you’re spending your valuable hours, and where you could be better allocating them. Maybe you didn’t realise that the coffee catch ups with clients are eating into 15% of your day, or that your quoting process is taking way longer than it should because you need a virtual assistant.
Once you do know these things though, you’re well on your way to increased productivity. We love RescueTime because it tracks everything automatically by logging how much time you spend in each application. And it’s available as both an Android and iOS app. Track your time in the office and while you’re out and about.
Another amazing tool to save you time is Swift Key Keyboard. Although it’s Microsoft, it’s also available on both Android and Apple. SwiftKey learns your typing, writing, and language habits and the more it gets used, the more accurately it predicts what you’re going to say next. The more access it has to various apps, the more intuitive you’ll find it.
On the face of it, it doesn’t seem like a gamechanger. However, once you start thinking about how much of your time is spent typing emails, quotes, and web searches you’ll realise that saving time on your typing might be a bigger win than you thought!
Admin tools and apps
We all feel that easy (but boring) admin was born to be put off for days. But keeping on top of your admin means you can use your time more effectively. It also sends the message that you’re efficient and professional to work with. Plus, not letting admin and paperwork mount up means you’re less likely to let something slip through the cracks.
Scanning
We love CamScanner for quickly scanning, rotating, converting, and sending documents without a scanner when you’re on the go. It’s quick, easy, and taking photos with your phone is a much less tedious job than scanning them in by hand.
Payment options: Square vs Stripe
Accepting payments on the go is another way to maximise your efficiency and keep on top of things. In Australia, Square and Stripe are two of the most popular payment processing solutions. Neither of them has contracts or monthly payments, and both allow for online checkouts or payments.
This isn’t just limited to an online store though. Both Square and Stripe allow you to send once-off and recurring invoices to customers which can be paid online. Both also allow you to generate payment links which can be sent as URLs or QR codes for payment of fixed amounts.
If you want an in-person point of sale solution like a card reader, Square has two options while Stripe has none. Square also has a robust virtual terminal which even allows for telephone and mail order payments.
For businesses operating within the property services niche in Australian market, Square possibly just edges out the competition here.
Invoicing and expenses
It’s funny how invoicing is what earns you the money…but so many of us put it off! It can be a mundane task, but keeping track of invoices is key if you want your property services business to boom. Why not do them on the go instead of letting them pile up? Both Wave and Xero offer professional invoicing services right from your phone.
For small businesses working on the go, Wave is said to be more user-friendly and offers great-looking invoices. For larger businesses, Xero has more advanced functionality. Here’s a quick comparison of the two. You might also want to check out MYOB and Quickbooks.
If you’re working on the go a lot, it’s likely that you’re also racking up expenses. All those quick lunches and petrol stops add up quickly! Expensify is a hassle-free way of tracking your expenses, and gets solid reviews across the board from freelancers, business owners, and more.
Just use the app to scan receipts, which are then uploaded to your account and automatically categories. It even tracks taxes and allows for quick employee reimbursement.
Working on the go with Rapid Inspect
Rapid Solutions is always looking to make life easier for Australian property services professionals. We know that you’re busy, working on the go, and often have multiple jobs in one day. Rapid Inspect is a game-changing property services app.
It allows you to create quality pest and building inspection reports on the go. Which means you don’t need to rely on your memory (risky). With a host of new features, it’s now more user-friendly than ever and helps you file Australian Standards compliant reports in a jiffy.
Read more about what Rapid Inspect can do for you here. Trust us though, it’ll revolutionise pest and building inspection reports and save you loads of time and effort. Time is money, right?!
Insurance on the go!
We know you’re busy driving from job to job, so just fill out our ‘request a quote’ form to find out more about our business insurance offerings. We’ll get back to you ASAP.
