From a Ledger Book to a System They Rely On
A small business came to us with a handwritten ledger and a simple idea. A simple prototype and a simple build later, they have an automated system they can rely on.
This is bread and butter for us: a simple prototype, then a simple build, and a big difference to how a business runs.
This client ran everything from a book. Every account, every payment and every letter was handled by hand, in pen. They asked for a simple prototype. We built one, they tested it on their real work, and they ended up with something bigger: an automated system they can rely on to run the whole job.
If your business still runs on a book or a spreadsheet like that, this one's for you.
The problem
The book worked, in the way books do. Every balance was worked out by hand and written in, the letters were typed up one at a time, and whether someone was up to date depended on somebody remembering to mark it. A missed entry only shows itself when something goes out wrong.
None of it was broken. It just relied on one or two people never slipping, which a business can live with, right up until the person who understands it is away. And a book only ever has one copy.
Our approach
The brief was simple: show us what this could look like. So we did what we usually do. We built a working prototype quickly and put it in front of the people who'd use it, on their real work.
The testing answered the question faster than anyone expected. There was nothing uncertain about what the tool needed to do, only a lot of manual effort in doing it. Another round of prototyping would only have proved what everyone already knew, so we built the real tool, end to end.
We started with the records. The book was typed up so everything could come across, and every account was checked with the owner before anything switched over. Where the records disagreed with themselves, we flagged it and asked rather than guessed, and nothing went live until they'd signed it off.
Then we automated the parts that ate the time and caused the mistakes. Balances are worked out from each account's payment history, so nobody writes one in by hand again. The letters come out of a single run. Recording a payment is one click, with a receipt by email. Reports show who's paid and who's behind. Staff accounts are invite-only, and everything is backed up every night.
We kept the first version deliberately small. A dashboard, staff management and emailed receipts came afterwards, once they'd had it in their hands and told us what they wanted.
The outcome
Their work now runs from the system, not the book. Balances can't drift, letters come out of one run, and anyone on the team can see where an account stands without asking the one person who knows. It's something they can rely on, not something that works as long as nobody slips.
None of it was complicated, and that's the point. A simple prototype showed us what the job needed, and a simple build did it. Buying something off the shelf would have meant bending the business around someone else's software, so we built the real thing, kept it focused, and got out of the way.
With thanks to Murray's Homes for letting us share how they work.
If you run a small business and there's a book or a spreadsheet you're relying on that's crying out to be automated, talk to us. We'll start with a simple prototype so you can see it working on your own information, and if it's as clear-cut as this one, a simple build will follow.