Anyone giving 2.0 a shot?

[CircuitCountry]

I am new to Technibble as a user. However, I have been reading your awesome posts for many years!

I have recently quit working as a full time technician to try working for myself again now that I have more time on my hands.

I have been working through the dozens of software platforms out there. I remember my previous employer trying busybench a while back when it first started. This was 2+ years ago. It was young and lacking a ton of features back then.

I gave repairShopr and mhelp desk a try as well. It looks like busybench just re-launched a totally rebuilt version of the platform a few weeks ago and just announced it. It kinda looks like they never stopped working on it since my last look.

So.. I reached out to all three for general questions since I'm new to running a repair business and not working in one. I got really generic responses from mhelpdesk and a bit of a rude one from repairshoper. Busybench on the other hand answered right away and seemed to be willing it help me start my company, give tips, advise etc. Even on the free tier I was trying out.

So my question to you guys is...

I don't see much chat about busybench, is that just because it's young or am I making a mistake not going with something else? I really like the support they provide even though they seem to not have as many integrations. I like the interface a ton since it's so simple to use.

Thoughts?

 

[Markverhyden]

Have you put together a business plan?

 

[CircuitCountry]

I have actually been working on this with my brother. Any pitfalls I should watch out for?

 

[Briggsy]

I have actually been working on this with my brother. Any pitfalls I should watch out for?

Customers ;-)

 

[CircuitCountry]

How long have you run your business? After a while did your business plan get changed? If so in what way?

 

[Markverhyden]

I have actually been working on this with my brother. Any pitfalls I should watch out for?

@Your PCMD whipped up a nice template you can use. Just ignore the stuff that doesn't apply immediately.

https://www.technibble.com/forums/threads/business-plan.73373/

Be very honest. No pie in the sky stuff.
When you are working up your financials use 3 scenarios. One is break even, meaning you are just paying the basics. Then a good and great.
Make sure you have a clear idea of exit costs. Meaning if things don't work out what's it going to cost you close up.

Of course, as @Briggsy said, customers. You must always be focusing on getting and keeping them. This goes on night and day, 24 x 365.

Best of luck.

 

[nerd2u]

I think the best question to ask is what do you plan to accomplish with these platforms?

This will help you decide which is right for you.

I may have another look at busybench

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

Busybench looks cool, but it would cost us more than what RepairShopr does. I don't see any reason to switch.

Edit: 30% off for life with promo code: Podnutz

 

[Porthos]

Busybench looks cool, but it would cost us more than what RepairShopr does. I don't see any reason to switch.

The free version of Busybench seems to beat repairshopr. Seems good for someone who has lower income customerbase and does more than the 25 tickets a month that repairshopr allows.
I am giving it a go for 2019. (now that I have the email settings worked out)

 

[hjelpio]

I may have another look at busybench

Interesting.... looks very interesting indeed.

 

[Porthos]

The free version of Busybench seems to beat repairshopr. Seems good for someone who has lower income customerbase and does more than the 25 tickets a month that repairshopr allows.
I am giving it a go for 2019. (now that I have the email settings worked out)
View attachment 10287 View attachment 10288

Since I don't have a signature pad for my laptop I installed their app on my phone and can use that for signing my tickets.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

Update: 30% off for life with promo code: Podnutz.

 

[Porthos]

 

[fencepost]

Ah. Your video link confused me horribly, because it's for episode 162 back in 2016.

Here's the link for Episode 307 for this past weekend's Busybench 2.0 episode:

Notable surprises late in the video: They're moving into the backup and RMM spaces (first announcement anywhere, starting at the 46 minute mark on the podcast)

"Status Command" Backup is to them, no base cost but $0.05/GB cost to you. Been in alpha then beta for a year. Integrates with the invoicing part of Busybench so invoices to your clients automatically. Have to request access right now via email to support (out of beta, but not on website yet), including on the free accounts. Unclear if the 30% off for the lifetime of the account covers the storage cost as well.

RMM is actually something that was originally built for the owner's shop. Is a bunch of system monitoring, no real mention of patching, remote access, anything like that. Sounds like it may be part of the backup client, but unclear if you can install the client if not doing backup.

 

[BusyBench]

@Porthos

The idea behind the current pricing model was to not have any real limits on what a user can do in regards to the basics. If you are new to the industry or just wanna give it a go you aren't limited by how many customers, invoices, estimates and tickets you can make.

Status Command is something we are quietly releasing as we have been focusing so heavily on core systems. I can't even tell you how many "optimization" and "interface improvement" meetings we have had..