MattCoops

When Bill Gates was paying programmers to develop Excel it probably was in part due to him not wanting to take time to understand the Oracle spreadsheet system. Now, even Google Docs is looking to Excel for ideas in their labs.

Same thing with accounting. I much prefer Microsoft Small Business Accounting over any of the Quickbooks products.
To me, Microsoft products are just so more intuitive. Despite all the Mac commercials out there

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Ed the Roofer

Excell was a Reverse Engineered version of VisiCalc and was originally written for the 512K Apple Macintosh in 1984-1985.

Ed

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loup

hey phil @ PMI-

whats your assiciation with myonlinetoolbox?

just wondering...

lou

PMI

Please go to this forum http://www.contractortalk.com/f17/new-estimating-lead-management-program-45666/index2/#post527127 post #22 and post #23 covers the same question and my reply. Feel free to send me a personal email if there is something more specific you are inquiring about. Thanks, Phil

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carpentermarv28

I was curious, since I see the contractor talk ads when I use the toolbox. Support guy told me to join here to post any comments to help others learn. told him to watch out but I was teasing, since I got nothing to bad to talk about. seems like everyone already knows about this stuff. I use email all the time but do not do much with the internet. Started to use the toolbox a few months ago and it was no problem to start doing bidding and have gotten about 5 or 6 jobs from PMI. wish some other guys would pass me work because it is pretty easy to track all notes with each job.not sure what else to talk about since its east for me. I want to get a website soon. I know we need something and just got to learn a little more. nice to meet you all.

marvin.

jbg44

just read a bunch of the comments on this thread. . .

Geez, I feel like I am listening to the studio audience at an infomercial taping!

Seriously though, is Contractor Talk "tainted" regarding myonlinetoolbox? Do I have to look elsewhere for honest reviews, or is the product really that infallible?

Thanks.

jbg44

Just had a visit from the Thought Police. I repent.

But seriously, Brian from MyOnlineToolBox gave me a call, explained the postings and his business model. He was very nice. Though I have yet to download the software personally, I suspect MyOnlineToolBox is double good!

And, FYI, my comment was truly generated out of confusion, not malice. Though I am in fact also involved in contractor online services, my market is on the other side of the continent. I just discovered MyOnlineToolBox on the web, started doing some research, and stumbled on this thread.

I will chime back in once I test the application.

D.C.P.B.

Job costing supposedly coming soon



Hey all. One thing that I am now ready for is some basic job costing. The toolbox doesn't have that as of now. I checked in with them and they said it is coming soon. They did not give me a specific date but provided enough that it seems it is designed. It seems that most of the info is already in the system and just needs some more fields and a report added . Hopefully allows me to easily track the costs and sales for Employees, subContractors, materials and expenses as they have told me. i have done this in my head up to now but am ready to try to automate. will check in with you all when they deliver. see ya.

Michael Bell
Designer Concrete of the Palm Beaches
Concretefloorsandmore.com

RoyalTech

microsoft isnt stupid

check out "mactopia" on teh microsoft website, you'll find office for mac 2008, among other things.

MOTB

I wanted to share with you that our company just closed a round of financing that will bring our business into 2010. The full story is at http://www.techjournalsouth.com/news/article.html?item_id=7721 .

Whether you use my product or a competitor, there is something relative to me raising capital from multiple investors in this challenging environment that that I would like to share, since it is directed to all home remodeling, service and maintenance contractors and that is a belief that

1) our industry is poised for a huge turnaround since there is about 130 million homes in the U.S. averaging 30 years of age; and

2) MORE IMPORTANTLY, there is a growing awareness that contractors are finally beginning a trend at becoming as equal as a business person as they are a craftsmen (with of course the Internet and my product being a big part of the business side). The investor community is beginning to believe that contractors will make one of two decisions ... embrace business principles with technology and thrive OR simply go out of business since they will not be able to compete for new business. Just a few years ago it was next to impossible for me to break the old stereotypes and it is becoming less challenging.

I am prejudiced to the ContractorTalk forum, and I have referenced it countless times to demonstrate contractors are gathering online at a rapid pace. The vast majority are suprised this forum even exists. My point is, YOU SHOULD REALIZE THAT THIS IS WHERE THE OPPORTUNITY LIES, and you should capitalize on better connecting with your prospects and customers before it eventually becomes the norm.

So, for every contractor reading this ... think out of the box to position your company for the recovery (professionalism, organizational skills, embracing technology and of course being a good tradesperson) and you will come out a winner. I encourage you to also read this other story I published since I live by it to get from day-to-day as an entrepreneur
http://www.techjournalsouth.com/news/article.html?item_id=7228

One day we will all look back to see how we positioned ourselves to capitalize on a turnaround never before seen in our lifetimes. I hope to see you all there.

Have a Happy July 4th holiday.
Brian

silvertree

Good article and you are correct, but lets take your thoughts a little further.
Technology will advance and make contractors capable of running a mobile and relevant business. For once we will be perceived as professionals, who unfortunately will still be fighting the "I'd do it myself but don't have the time mentality".

Many of us understand that the old Cowboy approach to construction was never a good business plan and we fight to get the respect were due. This turnaround in attitude is not age related, its happening at many levels in our industry. So I agree MOTB and other programs will help us provide the level of service we need to provide, but with this new technology we stand the chance of using that technology as a crutch to compensate for not providing the personal touch that our clients expect but do not get because we now use systems in the mistaken belief that good records is what people use as a barometer to qualify professionalism.

We will need technology and a return to the human interaction that makes a customer happy on a personal level. People don't care about our process, they care about results.

It's both things combined that will make our day.
And yes, things will turn around and we will be wondering how to get all that work done.

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rickmccarthy

As some of you know I am just starting up another plumbing business and was lucky enough to find myonlinetoolbox and footbridge media.

For a guy like me it is great I didnt have any other software so this was a great solution. I especially like being able to assign work orders to employees schedules.

I have just started working with footbridge media on my website aI requested a few things for the "back office" of the site for the employees to log in and link to there schedules and work orders and they have been nothing short of accomadating.

Personally for someone just starting up with nothing this really solves a world of issues.

Shawn Dewbre

Just wanted to show my appreciation for Brian Javelin. I was trying to join toolbox.com and couldn't. Guess who called? Brian on a Friday night around nine. I was freaking out at first. How did this asshole (sorry Brian) get my phone number and what is he trying to sell me. Kind of along the lines of a Reliable Remodeler or most lead service vultures. Anyway he spent a good forty five minutes explaining some of the basic areas I would need to educate myself on to market my own website.
I have spent all weekend on my website and HOPE to be finished by tonight.
I was certain that by using some basic computer skills and investing some time on my own that I could market my own website but I was intimidated by all of the technical "stuff" involved to say the least. I have learned quite a bit in just ten hours of education.
I'm just getting up and running with my company and I live in a less than average tech savy part of America so I'm not looking to have a perfect site or a expensive marketing firm.
I had a company in Austin and I'm familiar with competing with the big dogs.
Having said all of that Brian: I owe you big time. Not only did you show me how I could build my own site and market my own site.

*You inspired me to continue on the current path I'm on.
*Showed me the advantages of dropping lead services.
*Gave me insight into the future of contracting.
*Provided tips on building a business with the computer.
*Opened my eyes to the benefit of networking with other contractors.

I look forward to joining the new and improved toolbox.com. next January.

Thanks,
Shawn Dewbre'
MasterCraftsmen

MOTB

Shawn,
Thanks for the comments and I am glad you added your explanation about first thinking it was a A.H. calling you so late at night. I just wanted to clarify one thing in case you misunderstood me since we were rapid fire on many topics. Everything you need to use today is available today. I was mentioning some minor cosmetics that will be added here-and-there, but nothing that you would need to wait for to start using the system now that you are a registered user. While my team can technically move at a more rapid pace, we have found that the contracting industry can only go so fast when it comes to deciding what it wants, how to implement against those needs, as well as ensuring the answers are intuitive and easy to use; and then, that all of this combined is not cost prohibitive. We are sensitive to all these factors and I simply was just discussing some additional cosmetic fixes and enhancments that are coming soon. But again, nothing that would stop you from using the platform today. Thanks again for the extra kind words pertaining to the items not directly related to the application. I hope everything else goes well for you. I appreciate the extra time you gave me so late in the off hours.
Brian

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Snellac

I don't see any interface to convert my current database. I am now using Shafers software for my HVAC business. Explorer group bought the product and my support costs went through the roof. I hate shafers. I want a new web based solution to run my company. I just recently found myonlinetoolbox and like the way it works. What do I do about my existing 10k customers???

MOTB

You are correct that there is no interface. I believe a consultant first called on your company's behalf to ask this question and I am answering here just to ensure the statement is not misunderstood. We have decided to not have an interface, at least for now. The issue is that there are too many older systems that have way too much junk data, and then it will be my company's responsibility to have the tools available to ensure you can audit-correct-delete the data that you do not want. To be more specific, your system probably has many different customers at the same address, or has customers with the wrong address details including mis-spellings. The first will cause un-needed duplicates, and the next issue would cause challenges with our address cleansing features. There are also a few more examples but I hope you get my point, especially when we want features to work with next to no support. Interfaces usually force support topics that we can not cost justify, at least not for now.

We do feel we should have an interface some day but that will not occur for awhile. In the meantime, you may just want to start fresh by adding new records for new jobs and slowly phase out your older system. That is what some others have done and it is the best we can do for now.

Regards,
Brian

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Helping contractors find work, manage jobs, communicate with others and get paid quicker using software over the Internet

thezoo

I'll add that it may be possible to export your data out of your old system and clean it up manually (ah, time intensive!). Then maybe there is an import feature or if not it'll be easier for a temp minimum wage data entry person to knock out.

NormW

My biggest problem (besides, production), is estimating jobs efficiently. For awhile now, I have been doing it all on paper. 3-column style.

I tried doing my estimating on Quickbooks Contractor, but I did not like having to type it items and such. Seems that making an item list, would only work if you were selling packaged units of something. For a general contractor, were every job is different, the making of a fixed price list seems like a waste of time.

So, I am down to choosing excel or a system like MyOnlineToolbox. Ive been trying both, for about a month now. I like MyOnlineToolbox, they have a bunch of neat ideas... but... the estimating portion, is just like Quickbooks. Am I wrong in this? Additionally, If i was going to invest the time in making such a comprehensive list of pricing units, wouldn t anyone be a fool, to save it in the internet . Wow! Someone could charge me, to access my own work! or worse! let my competitors use the numbers... Andersen has a competeing version, that allows others to see your pricing units .

With excel, my impression was, it has to be a dinasour. But in the last month, I think this is the answer for me. Its just like using paper, but easier to make changes, and way more flexible then Quickbooks or MOTB.

Is anyone out there, using MOTBs estimating capabilities regularly?

festerized

Try using UDA ConstructionSuite

MOTB

To answer this specific question, you are correct in comparing the Estimating to Quickbooks if you are specifically looking at functionality such as templates that can be used over again, and that can be modified as you go along.

However, what Quickbooks does not do, that MyOnlineToolbox does do is allow you to convert the estimate to work orders, AND easily share some or all of that information with other subcontractors who are working on the job with you. By sharing, I do not mean just passing the information along in an email or document attachment. What I do mean is that you can pass along some or all of the information directly into the subcontractor(s) database similar to how an Outlook Meeting Request can be accepted by one or more people into their own calendar.

I have a few replies to other parts of the post and will get back shortly. Thanks, Brian

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Helping contractors find work, manage jobs, communicate with others and get paid quicker using software over the Internet