Buildern x Lighthouse Projects Partnership to Construction Excellence
Company Name: Lighthouse Projects
Specialization: Renovations
Years of Operation: 3 (with the founder having 10+ years of industry experience)
Location: Kiama, NSW
The Key Challenge: Keeping track of various elements integral to the construction business and financials in particular
The Result: Integrated project management system that saved hours and provided more clarity into the workflow
Lighthouse Projects is a growing construction company that prides itself on delivering high-quality building services. Based in Kiama, NSW, Lighthouse Projects & Construction, owned by Jed Smith who has over 10 years of experience in the building and construction industry, quickly established itself as a reliable player in the industry.
However, as the volume of work increased, so did the complexity of managing projects, leading to inefficiencies and operational challenges.
To solve this problem, the company’s founder spent nearly a year testing different software programs, including well-known ones in the industry. Each software had its strengths, but none offered a comprehensive solution that put everything in one place.
That’s when Jed Smith found Buildern!
Main Challenges
When Lighthouse Projects first started, the flow of new projects was slow but steadily grew over time. With the growth came the challenge of keeping track of various elements integral to a construction business – leads, on-site management, pricing, and costings.
“I was finding it very hard to stay on top of everything that was going on and have a clear understanding of what was happening on current and upcoming projects.”
Some of the key challenges leading to inefficiencies and operational difficulties included:
- Tracking Bills: Avoiding double entry between project management and accounting software was a major pain point.
- Sending Job Proposals: Creating construction proposals required significant time and effort.
- Project Visibility: Without a clear understanding of current and upcoming projects, time management and task prioritization inefficiencies arose.
- Software Commitment: The lack of a satisfactory software solution was in the way of the company’s ability to achieve the desired efficiency.
Buildern: The Comprehensive Solution We Needed
“When I first tried Buildern I was a little unsure as it was reasonably new and I didn’t know anyone else who had tried it. I quickly found out that they had most of the features I was looking for, which is what drew me in along with the cost.”
Buildern emerged as the game-changer for Lighthouse Projects. Despite initial reservations due to its relative newness, the founder quickly realized that Buildern offered most of the features needed, with more being added continuously.
Implementation
Moving information from previous software to Buildern was straightforward, involving exporting spreadsheets and importing them into Buildern.
One of the standout features of Buildern is its ability to consolidate all your construction project-related data into a single, user-friendly platform. Our software makes it easy to move all your construction project-related data to a single place, ensuring that every member of your team has access to accurate and up-to-date information. By streamlining data migration, Buildern reduces the likelihood of errors and eliminates the headache associated with managing multiple software programs.
When Lighthouse Projects began its transition to Buildern, the software started to make an immediate impact. We already had the features, the team needed to have a good understanding of the projects currently underway and the upcoming ones. However, Buildern has always been growing with its users releasing new features every two weeks.
“Since then they have added just about all the features I could hope to have in a software, and I am confident that anything else I could want is on the way.”
The responsive updates and continuous improvements highlight Buildern’s commitment to addressing user feedback and evolving the platform. This proactive approach is the key to reinforcing our users’ trust in Buildern as a reliable and forward-thinking partner in managing their construction projects.
Creating Detailed Proposals Like Never Before!
In his interview, Jed Smith outlined one of the greatest challenges faced before Buildern – creating detailed proposals for clients.
“Creating a detailed job proposal was something I always had trouble with, I wanted something that allowed me to put a lot of detail in for my prospective clients without having to spend hours typing the presentation of each proposal.”
That’s where Buildern turned out to be a game-changer for him.
Connecting directly with the estimate builders create for their upcoming projects, proposals in Buildern allow for a level of detail that is hard to achieve with other software. This reduces the time spent on each proposal, as users can select which items and descriptions to include directly from the estimate.
Half the Time Spent on Bills and Tracking Finances!
Another major challenge for contractors is managing the financial aspects of projects, such as bills and expenses. However, Buildern’s financial features help to save builders time and effort in tracking these aspects. Users can easily generate bills from their estimates, allowing for accurate and timely invoicing to clients.
Implementing Buildern also gave the Lighthouse Projects team the ability to easily add all their bills in one place. They also have all the project-related financial data synced with their Xero account. Such a simple yet efficient system helps builders stay on top of their finances, saving them energy spent juggling multiple platforms.
“Buildern also sends the bills to Xero and keeps the connection for any changes, cutting my time for entering bills and tracking finances in half.”
You can create and send detailed invoices to your clients from Buildern. Moreover, your clients can pay those invoices directly from their client portal in Buildern. Not only does this save time, but also reduces the amount of paperwork and spreadsheets that would otherwise go back and forth before finally getting the client’s payment.
Future Outlook: Even More Growth Opportunities
With ongoing enhancements and feature additions, Buildern continues to evolve, promising even greater efficiencies and capabilities for construction companies like Lighthouse Projects. The partnership sets a precedent for other construction companies looking to optimize their operations and achieve excellence in their field.
Ready to transform your construction business? Book a demo with Buildern today or view our resources to learn more about how we can help you achieve construction excellence.
