What tradies do at the start of a project is gather all the estimates and quotes, along with their own expenses and contractors, and Formal Tradie takes that data and creates a baseline for the project.
Tradies can then see as time goes on how and when invoices and expenses are paid, who got paid and how much, and update their budget position in real time. There’s also an AI agent to help support them with any tasks that need doing.
What inspired you to start the business?
I’ve owned a small-to-medium-sized construction company on Waiheke Island for the last 10 years or so. The idea came into fruition from personal experience, whether it’s on site or whether it’s dealing with clients.
Talking to my friends who are also tradies and asking them how they update their clients and do their admin, a lot of them are preparing them manually using spreadsheets.
There is other software out there that encompasses everything, but it’s quite technical to use, especially for someone who doesn’t have much experience doing admin.
It can be very stressful, depending on the workload that you take on. You hear stories of tradies that are stressed out and not getting any sleep, they’re going home and staying up all night doing the admin. They’re just getting burnt out.
Being aware of those pain points, I was always curious and knew that there had to be a better way of doing it, and so the idea grew from there.
Gene Gibson’s first foray into business was his smart wheelbarrow idea, Buster, which he eventually sold to Bunnings.
This isn’t your first business, is it?
A few years ago I developed a smart wheelbarrow called Buster, which was also inspired by my experience on the construction site. For the job I was working on, we were taking concrete down a steep hill to pour for a fireplace, and there were a lot of us losing control of our wheelbarrows. I came up with the idea of putting brakes on the wheelbarrow for more control.
After a lot of research and development, along with some time spent in China, we got a prototype developed and shipped. I pitched it to Bunnings, and after a few tweaks to the design they ended up taking it on and distributing it nationwide, and so I sold the business off.
How has the platform grown, and what goals do you have?
We launched about five weeks ago now, so it’s very early days, but we’ve already got a good number of paying users. I’ve still got to keep my day job at this point, but we’re hopefully getting there. I’ve tested the platform with a couple of friends of mine who own building companies for the last six months, and they’ve been great in giving feedback and ironing out any bugs.
I’d like to get to 500 paying users in the next two years, that’s the goal currently. I think part of getting it wider is just educating people that it’s not another invoicing app, quoting app or finance app really. It’s specifically a budget-tracking app and client-reporting platform. It’s a niche on its own that hasn’t been touched yet.
Formal Tradie is a tool for tradies to track project expenses and generate client-ready reports.
How do you feel like you’ve grown since your first foray into business?
I’m 34 now, so it’s been over 10 years since I worked on Buster. Obviously, a lot has changed, but I’ve always been entrepreneurial. My father was a property developer, and my brother’s got a drink business, so we’re all entrepreneurs at heart.
I think those early learning curves of doing it myself without any external help from family or anything, in terms of funding, has definitely moulded me. I got a loan from the bank to fund my work with Buster, and I’ve bootstrapped everything else myself, so that’s rewarding in its own right.
It’s been an awesome journey so far, and I feel like I’m just getting started. I’m actually also working on another product, which hopefully I’ll be able to share more about soon.
What would be your advice to a budding entrepreneur wanting to start a business?
Ask questions and get a good network of people around you. Having people you trust and who will mentor you is key. But also realise you don’t have to do it all. You don’t have to be a genius to start a business, you just need to be personable, honest, and put yourself out there, then good things will happen.
Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.
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