New research from ToolTime found that 88% of small UK trade businesses believe digital software and tools are important for success.
The findings also revealed 89% of plumbing and HVAC respondents consider digital and software tools to be important for successful operation, with 93% using them to help with day-to-day business operations.
Of the tradespeople using digital tools and software day-to-day, 39% use them to save time on admin for business growth, 36% to compensate for shortfalls in skilled workers, and 34% to strike a better work-life balance or spend more time on their trade.
These figures differed slightly for plumbing and HVAC, with 50% of respondents using them to save time on admin for business growth or to compensate for shortfalls in skilled workers. A further 42% said they used them to create more efficient backend processes, compared to 29% across all trade sectors, while 25% said they used digital and software tools to strike a better work-life balance.
The rising cost of supplies emerged as the number one challenge for 29% for tradespeople and 30% amongst plumbers and HVAC technicians, and was particularly significant for one-person and micro businesses of less than five people.
Marius Stäcker, ToolTime CEO and co-founder, said: “Rising costs make finding ways to maintain profitability, manage costs and ensure prompt invoice payments critical elements of small business management. Investing in digital and software tools offers tradespeople the opportunity to create a resilient business model by streamlining and optimising operations for greater efficiency, enabling them to focus on increased revenue generation and profitability even with limited resources and in the face of higher operational costs.”
Social media, messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, and mobile apps for time tracking, job sheets and scheduling were the top three digital tools named by the 1,000 tradespeople surveyed. This carried through into plumbing and HVAC representatives, although accounting specific software and online review platforms also featured amongst the top digital tools used in the sector.
The utilisation of these tools and platforms reflects some of the other challenges identified by UK trades, such as managing time and jobs, 23%, managing a team, 22%, keeping up with customer communications, 21%, talent and skilled worker shortages, 21%, and marketing the business, 20%.
For plumbers and HVAC technicians specifically, managing a team was the biggest challenge next to rising costs (28%), while keeping up with customer communications and marketing the business were each cited as further challenges, both accounting for 26% of answers.
Marius continued: “As tradespeople face rising supply costs and a shortage of skilled workers, digital solutions are becoming essential to survive and thrive in this environment. Technology is rapidly filling the gaps created by challenges like time constraints and labour shortages, allowing businesses to operate more efficiently than ever before.”
A total of 20% of tradespeople overall use job management software, compared to 17% of plumbers and HVAC technicians. The greatest perceived benefits of use include better oversight of business operations, 37%, time savings or better customer communications, 36%, and business growth potential, 32%.
Amongst plumbing and HVAC representatives, better customer communications, 62%, better oversight of business operations, 38%, business growth potential, 31%, and a more professional image, 31%, were the greatest perceived benefits.
Marius added: “The link between professionalism and business growth chimes with what we hear from customers. Neat and tidy digital processes will generally win business over crumpled paper and pen in today’s digital society. The need to spend less time on business admin also strikes a chord. Business owners often represent their company’s information bank, meaning they can never switch off. The ability to centralise key business information and relinquish that control offers the key to business growth.
“Business management software and mobile apps are not just streamlining admin and communication—they drive business growth, improve work-life balance, and enhance professionalism. Our mission is to empower tradespeople with the right tools to optimise resources, win more customers, and spend more time on generating income, not handling admin.”