A NEW MORAY ENTERPRISE has been formed with a mission to provide support for self-employed tradespeople that will allow them to concentrate on the direct service skills they provide.
Recognising that many one-man or one-woman businesses can quickly find themselves being bogged down by the ‘back-end’ administrative tasks, Easy Trade Solutions Ltd (ETS) has been created by Mark Cascarino and Darren Eagers.
For ETS the pair have created an all-in-one online management resource and mobile App – through these they will provide access for independent tradespeople with the type of tools available to multinational companies.
The system provides easy access, can create quotes in minutes and provide one-click invoicing. A trader’s specific ‘shopping engine’ allows them to search for required products in relevant stores within a set geographical area.
They are also providing a forum were trade advice can be sought and jobs found, a system highlighting the best local store deals and advice on Human Resources, Health and Safety or Legal Guidance.
Mark explained: “Our main aim with this company is to support local businesses and build up from there. We have spoken with a number of tradespeople for market research, and what we have discovered is that they need a solution that is reliable and to hand at any point.
“So, our answer is ETS which is a set of tools that will automate most of the repetitive paperwork of running a business – this we believe will save our client hours of work each day. It’ll also run reports automatically to let the client know what invoices are past due for payment or still need to be sent – this will give our clients a far better control over their cashflow through invoicing more efficiently.”
Mark has worked with national companies all his life so knows how important a good head office is with its attending legal and HR departments – so similar resources have been built-in to the ETS system.
He added: “We are also going to provide a team management solution which allow our clients to plan out the day/week and assign jobs to their workforce – so they have a worksheet ready for every day, this will also calculate any mileage.”
Recognising that the business support idea is not a new one, Mark makes the valid point ETS gives extra value by being the only business that will provide all services under one roof, at an affordable price – and from a locally-based company who understands the challenges in Moray.
“Our business plan is to grow this company in the community, we will need a small call centre and individually ‘focussed’ departments all within the first three years, Mark said, adding: “To achieve these targets mean we must expand with around 12 to 15 local jobs being created including our customer services department.”
Recognising the difficulties of getting such an enterprise up and running, an investor is being line up for future expansion – but to get going, Mark and Darren have set up a Crowdfunding page that allows small firms to take out early subscription deals – and at the same time ensuring the start-up costs ETS will need to get up and running.
For those who just like the idea and wish to help support the new business, Mark said: “They can let us know and we can reward them with a different gift!”
Visit the Crowdfunding Page here – or call in at the ETS Website for more details.