Masonry Magazine June 2001 Page. 22
If you suddenly have the ability to bid on twice as many jobs each month, you give yourself a good chance of winning twice as many jobs as you did before. You can also drive down the labor costs involved in creating bids in the first place (costs which can come to $3,000 or more per bid). And by improving the accuracy of your measurements and calculations, you can avoid spending valuable time fixing errors in your bid, as well as virtually eliminate unpleasant surprises on the job site. If information on a project is hard to come by, some contractors will simply "wing it" often with undesired results. That's why any estimating software you consider should also provide accurate and detailed project information, so you have the data you need to correctly analyze projects and make better decisions.
EASY TO USE
"No software can help you if you can't figure out how to use it," says Quest's Butor. And he's right. Estimating software that's too complicated or frustrating to use, won't do you any good at all. In fact, using a difficult system may offset any gains in speed and accuracy, even to the point of actually decreasing productivity. "Contractors look for all sorts of different features before they buy estimating software," Butor says. "Maybe they want the database configured a certain way, or they just can't live without a particular report. But when I talk to them after they buy, almost all of them say that the most important feature of any estimating system is ease of use."
IT SHOULD BE MADE
BY EXPERTS
The software industry and the construction industry are both highly technical and very complex. There aren't many companies out there that really understand both fields. As a result, you'll find a lot of products that are either badly designed, or sorely lacking in features that most contractors need in an estimating system. You should look for a system that's made by people with intimate knowledge of the construction industry, and top-notch software design and programming skills. Make sure the estimating software you buy comes from a company with expertise in both software and construction - not just one or the other.
PRICE SHOULD NOT BE THE
DETERMINING FACTOR
Too many contractors choose an estimating system based on one criterion: the price. And this is a mistake. When you buy tools or equipment, cost is certainly a factor you have to consider. But even more important is the suitability of the equipment to the job you have in mind. Would you buy a cheaper tool that can't handle the job at hand? Of course not. So why would you do that with estimating software? "Let's assume for a minute that the average life-span of an automated estimating system is about three years," says Butor. "If the software's price tag is bothering you, consider what your return on investment will likely be over those three years." "Who wouldn't spend a few thousand dollars today in return for doubled or tripled profits over the next three years?" he asks. "No contractor in his right mind would turn that deal down."