Otto Remodeling: Easily managing cash flow with construction tech and online payments
See why construction project management software and Buildertrend’s payment options are crucial for continued business success.
Their success story: Efficient payment processing for remodeling projects
While hoping for more in her career, Emily Blanks found what she was looking for as the business manager at Otto Remodeling – a place where she would stay and continue to grow.
“At the end of the interview I told Paul, look, I want to switch to a job I actually want to be at, not hop from one job to the next,” Emily said. “I’m really looking for somewhere I can learn, grow and contribute. As a business owner, I know it can be tough to let somebody in, to make decisions for your business. So, if you’re not looking for new ideas or someone to partner with you, then don’t hire me.”
Needless to say, Paul Otto, owner of Otto Remodeling in Edwardsville, Kan., hired Emily and tasked her with getting to know Buildertrend on a whole new level.
“Paul introduced me to Buildertrend and told me, all I really use this for right now is scheduling and invoicing, but I’m sure it does so much more,” Emily said.
After four years, Emily found that Buildertrend’s cohesive construction tech platform has way more to offer than just scheduling and invoicing. It’s equipped with essential features for streamlining payment options and managing client relationships to help keep projects moving seamlessly.
Industry
Remodeling
Location
Edwardsville, Kan.
Established
2002
Winning solution
Payment Processing
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Their story: From fighting fires to remodeling homes in Kansas
Paul started Otto Remodeling in 2002 with a team of part-time firefighters who mainly worked on new decks and bathroom remodels. In 2017, Paul retired from the fire department and dedicated all of his time to his remodeling business.
Over time, the team’s quality of work spoke for itself and soon, basement finishes and master suites quickly turned into full-home, commercial and multifamily renovations.
Today, Otto Remodeling thrives on three things: vision, creativity and hard work. They tackle anything thrown their way. No project is too big or too small. They can do it all— home renovations, home additions, multiunit residential community remodels and more.
Their goal: Sustain strategic business growth with efficient processes
Otto Remodeling continues to see substantial growth and a higher project volume year-over-year, making Buildertrend’s construction tech an essential element to their success.
“When I started, we had just landed a multifamily property where we were renovating 408 units, and each unit had to be flipped in 21 days,” Emily said. “So, Buildertrend was very critical. It was actually the reason we landed that job.”
When renovating apartments, it’s typical to use a common whiteboard to show the status of each unit. However, when Paul pitched what could be done using Buildertrend’s project management tools, they were sold.
Emily went a step further and worked closely with the property manager and subs to make sure they were properly trained on how to use the tools within Buildertrend.
“Because it was such a big project, I worked onsite and worked closely with the property manager,” Emily said. “I also did a training class with our subs on using their phones and tablets. I told them, this schedule for each unit is your Bible.”
By getting their subcontractors on board, Otto Remodeling set themselves up for continued success.
Their solution: Online payment options and streamlined project management
While juggling countless amounts of projects, both big and small, how does Otto Remodeling ensure they get paid? The answer: Buildertrend Payment Processing.
With Payment Processing, Buildertrend can serve as a central location for construction businesses to pay and get paid. This feature ensures Otto Remodeling gets paid quickly for invoices and change orders. Plus, it integrates with accounting programs such QuickBooks or Xero to eliminate double entry.
So, do they love it? Well …
“We love it. We’re obsessed with it,” Emily said. “When we were just taking checks, it was always a nightmare. And our clients love to hear that we offer bank transfers. They’re blown away by it. They tell us that no one else they’ve interviewed to do their job offers it. The online payment system is another big selling point of Buildertrend.”
The online payment options also help to keep clients informed of upcoming costs. When invoices are released, clients can view and pay them on the same day.
“Clients can see live invoices, and I get really detailed with line items,” Emily said. “So, for them to be able to view it the same day that I release it and then get us paid with online payments is always really nice. It saves us and the client the hassle.”
Otto Remodeling has a policy in place that states, if a client has more than two open invoices at a time, and they haven’t communicated about payment, the work will be put on hold until they’re settled up. With Payment Processing, clients are held accountable for what they owe.
“Online payments really keep the projects moving along,” Emily said. “It keeps both parties accountable and on the same page. We’re always happy to get paid, and it’s just a huge help for us.”
Another game-changing feature for Otto Remodeling is Buildertrend’s Schedule. It’s become essential for communicating important information to their clients and subs.
“We live by the scheduling and our clients do, too,” Emily said. “The cool thing is they’re always able to view the calendar live. So, when they have questions about what’s coming up or when something’s going to be done, we can tell them it’s updated in the schedule.”
In addition to the Schedule, Messages and notifications have played a huge role in keeping their subs on track with project updates.
“If there were issues or something needed to be repaired, I could put alerts on Buildertrend or send a message with a calendar notification to a sub saying, Thursday you need to go back to the unit to fix this,” Emily said. “So, I mean, it is a huge communication and scheduling tool for us.”
With continued success comes continued growth. Eventually, Emily had to find a new way to organize documents and materials for every job. After a call with the Buildertrend team, she found out there’s a tool for that, too.
“Once we started getting too busy and too big to do individual paper binders for every project, I figured there had to be a way to create a lookbook in Buildertrend,” Emily said. “I set up a time with our coach, and he knew exactly what I wanted. It’s become a huge point of reference for us and our subs. We also give our clients access to it, which makes us look good.”
Their success: Saving time and money while moving construction projects forward
Otto Remodeling has saved both time and money with Buildertrend’s online Payment Processing and suite of construction software tools specially designed for remodelers.
“We’ve saved time and money because we don’t have to do check pickups, which is time and money from myself or one of the guys,” Emily said. “And it’s made our processes a lot more efficient.”
With so many projects happening simultaneously, Otto Remodeling would not have been able to keep up without Buildertrend’s construction tech platform.
“We couldn’t have done that project at that capacity without Buildertrend,” Emily said. “That’s when we really knew what it could do. And even then, I feel like we barely scratched the surface of everything it can do.”
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