ROI Calculator – How to Justify the Cost of Restoration Software

Restoration business owners are always studying their budgets to increase their return on investment, also known as ROI. After all expenses are paid – worker salaries, equipment, and transportation – an owner wants to know how much money the business actually brought in from a restoration project. Smarter spending and more efficient work practices can improve ROI, which in turn gives the entire company a chance to grow.

One way to increase ROI is by investing in technology. Just like your mobile phone or your computer, technology keeps getting better, faster, stronger, and even smaller so that today you can even carry around your whole restoration business in your pocket if you wanted to.

With cloud-based, mobile technology tracking money coming in and out of your business, business owners have real-time insight so they can make critical decisions, quickly and easily.  With a greater understanding of a business's revenue and expenses, restoration business owners can make adjustments to raise profits.

So what technology do you need? And how do you justify the cost? Here’s a guide to help you the owner of a restoration business justify the cost of restoration software.

Determine the Source of Successful Restoration Jobs

A primary task of business owners is securing future projects and attracting new customers. The cost of seeking out this future business impacts a company’s bottom line, and in turn, its ROI when a job is done. The more effort and resources invested in marketing and recruitment, the less there is to spend on the actual job.

The U.S. Small Business Association stated that for companies with a revenue of less than $5 million a year, roughly 7 or 8 percent of the budget should go to advertising. Spending less than on marketing that will make it difficult for enough customers to find a business, and going over that amount could lead to either too many jobs that the company is unable to handle, or a negative ROI.

A restoration management platform like DASH helps track where jobs are originating, so that a company can better focus its advertising and marketing strategies on those sources. Find out who’s making referrals that lead to future jobs and research what efforts have been made to make that customer so delighted to work with you. With that information documented, now you can rinse and repeat with a proven process to create more happy customers. For those looking to supercharge their referral activity, Next Gear Solutions also offers more advanced analytics around referral sources and their trending over time in Luxor CRM.

Also, track how much is being spent on customer service. Is it being spent in the right places? Is your team fighting fires all day or are they creating a loyal customer base? When you’re using paper to organize jobs or forgetting to follow up with your customer after a job is complete, you can’t learn what is working and what isn’t to target your restoration company’s efforts. By streamlining job management, DASH allows owners to determine the best ways to attract future business quickly.

Get a Clear Picture of Your Job Expenses

It is impossible to measure ROI without knowing how much money is being spent at the job level, which is why having a purchase or work order system in place is so vital to managing project profitability. Using cloud-supported software like DASH and our integrations to many leading accounting platforms makes this process easier. Break up your estimates into work orders based on who is doing the work (in-house or subcontractors), track when work is complete and when payments should be made, so that moving forward, a business owner can evaluate how his or her company is spending money by understanding what each job is contributing. DASH tracks work progress as it happens, so that when expenses are incurred, the software can evaluate how that helps the company as a whole. Every penny is accounted for on each job, and nothing important falls through the cracks.

Identify Your Workflow Issues

A typical loss of income comes from time and resources being misused. When every member of a restoration team knows the tasks they must complete and who to report to, a lot of that waste can be avoided. Developing a strong workflow can make this process easier. The Houston Chronicle explained that a detailed chart serves as an essential analytical tool for businesses, because it helps define the method for accomplishing work and identifies problem areas.

DASH helps a company design and AUTOMATE its workflow process. Owners can customize the process so that every task is accomplished by the right person within a business. As staff is added and projects change, the software can be updated as well, so that everybody within a company is on the same page about the work they are assigned to do; taking the process off the chart on the wall and putting it into process in the field.

When everybody is doing their job, the chance of time and resources being wasted drops, while potential ROI rises.

Ask yourself: Do I need Real-time Information?

The answer is probably yes. What happens when one decision or project has a ripple effect and impacts the entire company’s profits? That can occur in restoration work and is something business owners need to know about. Given the enormous ramifications of a mistake or error, having accurate information in an instant is vital.

With real-time updates, business owners can track progress on multiple projects simultaneously. By collecting accurate data as it happens, business owners can make instantaneous decisions that improve ROI. Instead of letting a simple error lead to more problems down the road, using cloud software gives business owners the chance to make corrections before they become huge drains on the company’s bottom line.

Remember that ROI is THE main goal

Improving return on investment is vital for every restoration business.

For a restoration business that doesn’t have DASH, or one that doesn’t study its ROI carefully, it is never too late to start. By analyzing data to determine ways to improve efficiency and save money, a company can better plan for its future.

DASH is the top restoration management software on the market because of its customizable features that give business owners the ability to study costs and profits better. Integrating DASH into a restoration business will lead to better results from the top down.