Software for Pressure Washers

[ServiceMntn]

Hey Guys,

*** Please note that the software is now completetly free, we used to have a trial, but now have the software at no cost. We very much appreciate our user base and look forward to helping more small businesses ***

I have recently created a software package that will allow you to manage your service business online, through the internet.

I want to extend an offer to members of this forum to use this software for free. I would like to help make your business easier to manage and think that this software will give a small company all of the benefits of a large company’s powerful software (send invoices to your customers via email, manage employee schedules and many other tools).

You can learn more about this free tool at http://www.servicemountain.com and view a listing of features at http://www.servicemountain.com/products.aspx.

Best of luck with your businesses!

Warm regards,
John

Founder of ServiceMountain

 

[jdmartin]

Well John, I sent you a message so we will see if this is the real deal.

 

[squirtgun]

It looks promising but I have a few questions.

How secure is my customers info? Who will have access beside me?
Will the trial accounts be able to handle as many customer as someone would like to put in the system?
If servicemountain were to go belly-up,would I be able to retrieve my info?If not what would happen to it?

 

[john orr]

Will the info sync with a PDA?

 

[ServiceMntn]

Hey Guys,

Please accept my apologies for the delay, I did not have my email notification enabled for this thread. I really enjoy hearing what you guys need and if I can help.

How secure is it?
Great question. No customers can see each other’s information. All information is passed between your web browser and the program using encrypted keys (this means that nobody can modify your information and you cannot modify theirs).

Can I use this with a PDA?
We are currently working on and will release early next week the ability for our users to access their schedules and customer information via their cell phones or internet enabled PDAs.

We are also changing the way our current "pricing" works (I put pricing in quotes because there really isn't any unless a company is very large). Basically if you are a small company we do not want to you to have to pay to use the system, so we have completely free "small business offer" now.

I hope everyone’s business is doing well and I look forward to talking with more people on this board.

Best wishes,
John

 

[ServiceMntn]

Well John, I sent you a message so we will see if this is the real deal.

Hey JDMartin,

Did you get a chance to check it out? Let me know if you have any questions or if I can help you to learn about any of the features.

Thanks,
John

 

[ServiceMntn]

It looks promising but I have a few questions.

How secure is my customers info? Who will have access beside me?
Will the trial accounts be able to handle as many customer as someone would like to put in the system?
If servicemountain were to go belly-up,would I be able to retrieve my info?If not what would happen to it?

Hey SquirtGun,

Great questions.

How much can a trial account handle?
We now offer the software completely free to charge. There is no fee, regarldess of your business size.

What happens if ServiceMountain goes under?
I have included a feature in the application to let backup your data at any time. This way you can even choose to go to another software application. I want what is best for you and won't try to lock anyone in. I would also give the application code to users so they could keep using the system.

Since we have spent 2 years making ServiceMountain with long nights and lots of coffee I guarantee that we will not be packing up shop for the next few years. It is such a huge reward for the ServiceMountain team to see small businesses getting value out of our work.

Best wishes,
John

 

[jdmartin]

Hi John, yes I did get the email I plan on getting it done this weekend. I have been just slamed with work then once I get home I go to my second job at night. I will follow up by Sunday and thanks for the quick response.

 

[Navigator7]

It looks promising but I have a few questions.

How secure is my customers info? Who will have access beside me?
Will the trial accounts be able to handle as many customer as someone would like to put in the system?
If servicemountain were to go belly-up,would I be able to retrieve my info?If not what would happen to it?

I have a concrete pumping business. Several manufacturers of pumps also sell pump software to manage a concrete pump business.
Guess what?
The information can readily be viewed by the pump manufacturer!
So....let's say your business in Anytown, USA, is looking really good and the pickings are getting pretty hefty after you have done all the right things and developed the market.....the pump manufacture you brought this
"great" software from can "suggest" to one of his big time concrete pump buyers....."Hey why don't you send a few pumps to Anytown, USA?"

And they do!

I am not accusing the thread starter of this. But rather, if you are smart enough and tough enough to run your own business, then why can't you either do it all yourself or hire an accountant?

Really...how many jobs can you do in a day where you need a computer?
These software programs can cost 4000-10000 bucks.
Geeez spend a few hundred and take an Excel and Photoshop class and make your own billing forms.

My quarterly cost for an accountant bookkeeper is about $300.

 

[squirtgun]

I have a concrete pumping business. Several manufacturers of pumps also sell pump software to manage a concrete pump business.
Guess what?
The information can readily be viewed by the pump manufacturer!
So....let's say your business in Anytown, USA, is looking really good and the pickings are getting pretty hefty after you have done all the right things and developed the market.....the pump manufacture you brought this
"great" software from can "suggest" to one of his big time concrete pump buyers....."Hey why don't you send a few pumps to Anytown, USA?"

And they do!

I am not accusing the thread starter of this. But rather, if you are smart enough and tough enough to run your own business, then why can't you either do it all yourself or hire an accountant?

Really...how many jobs can you do in a day where you need a computer?
These software programs can cost 4000-10000 bucks.
Geeez spend a few hundred and take an Excel and Photoshop class and make your own billing forms.

My quarterly cost for an accountant bookkeeper is about $300.

I have an inhouse bookkeeper,as well as,several invoicing and speadsheet programs.I very leary of using any program that an outside source has easy access to.My customers trust me with their persoal information and I won't put it online to be exploited.
I also am not saying this is the intent of servicemountain. I just prefer keeping my company's and customer's business in a more secure private arena.

 

[ServiceMntn]

Hey Guys,

Great comments as always.

Navigator7 makes a great point about companies cross selling information. This is not something that we do.

As you guys well know managing a business can be done many ways. We enjoy offering the ability to manage a business online.

Some people really like the ability to get their scheduling information any time or place, as well as on their cell phones. They also enjoy having an easy to use rolodex and scheduling calendar that they can email worksheets to their employees from. People have found a few advantages to using an online system, but it is not for everyone.

To make sure that you can always get your information we also have an export feature to let you download an excel copy of your information at any time.

If anyone is curious and would like to check out some features we will be more than happy to setup an account for you.

I hope that everyone had a safe and enjoyable holiday!

Warm regards,
John

 

[Navigator7]

I have an inhouse bookkeeper,as well as,several invoicing and speadsheet programs.I very leary of using any program that an outside source has easy access to.My customers trust me with their persoal information and I won't put it online to be exploited.
I also am not saying this is the intent of servicemountain. I just prefer keeping my company's and customer's business in a more secure private arena.

I think servicemountain fielded the questions very well but I missed the part about "who else" views the info.

The big time concrete pump biz is killer cutthroat and the only use I have for "their" software is at the trap range.

I don't know how big pressure washing businesses get. My guess is if you had about 10 crews then perhaps this starts to make sense if it means your crew can send and receive information without tying up the phone lines.

In my application I would doing my business a disservice and simply use nothing more than a pencil and big eraser.

 

[Navigator7]

Hey Guys,

Great comments as always.

Navigator7 makes a great point about companies cross selling information. This is not something that we do.

They don't sell the data..they ruin family businesses.
What I know of the deception of "Pumping software" in my craft....entirely different from PW....as I know very little about PW competition....

Manufacturers use (fictional) ABC Concrete pumping data to drive their software customers out of business by encouraging a high volume seller of concrete pumps, from another area, who also provide pump services....to move into an area that appears to be producing very well.

It's sick and twisted and unethical but it is happening today.

(Sorry...but the thread tweaked a raw nerve.)

 

[ServiceMntn]

Happy New Year everyone! Thank you for the kind words about the other questions.

"who else" views the info

That is definitely a good question. Nobody else but you views your information in our system. We took a lot of time to make sure that people’s information would remain secure. We agree with you about how important this is.

They don't sell the data..they ruin family businesses.
What I know of the deception of "Pumping software" in my craft....entirely different from PW....as I know very little about PW competition....

Manufacturers use (fictional) ABC Concrete pumping data to drive their software customers out of business by encouraging a high volume seller of concrete pumps, from another area, who also provide pump services....to move into an area that appears to be producing very well.

It's sick and twisted and unethical but it is happening today.

It is terrible and horribly unethical that any company would do that. We are sorry to hear the way that you were treated by them.

 

[Bleemus]

What a great idea. An ASP hosted solution for the service industry. Hats off to you for doing this. I would love to have an account if at all possible to test it out. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[ServiceMntn]

What a great idea. An ASP hosted solution for the service industry. Hats off to you for doing this. I would love to have an account if at all possible to test it out. I wish you the best of luck.

Hey Bleemus,

Thank you very much for the kind words.

We very much enjoy providing this service and look forward to having you see if it might help your business. Please submit an application on our site www.servicemountain.com and I will make sure that it gets setup asap.

Good luck with your business as well!

Best wishes,
John

 

[Larry L.]

John we're pleased to offer this board free to the to powerwashing trade but do take donations to help improve the board.

Now it seems to me your using it to make money off the members,did you read our rules?????? Please forgive me if you have already talked to the owner or make a donation but it would seem a will caring busines would..........anyway to me its the same thing as stealing and not trust worthly.I deleted one thread a few days ago hoping you would take a hint but no it was overlooked..I would not deal with a company that has its own rules but believes in breaking other poeples rules.

We have anywhere from 50 to over 100 online pretty will at all times and trying to keep a eye on that many plus companys like yours breaking the rules keeps both hands full.Take this as a warning b/c they want be another one.

 

[ServiceMntn]

John we're pleased to offer this board free to the to powerwashing trade but do take donations to help improve the board.

Now it seems to me your using it to make money off the members,did you read our rules?????? Please forgive me if you have already talked to the owner or make a donation but it would seem a will caring busines would..........anyway to me its the same thing as stealing and not trust worthly.I deleted one thread a few days ago hoping you would take a hint but no it was overlooked..I would not deal with a company that has its own rules but believes in breaking other poeples rules.

We have anywhere from 50 to over 100 online pretty will at all times and trying to keep a eye on that many plus companys like yours breaking the rules keeps both hands full.Take this as a warning b/c they want be another one.

Hey Larry,

Apologies for any misunderstanding.

I know that it sounds strange, but we do not make any money from our customers are ServiceMountain and offer the service completely free to users. There is no advertising or spam, we just want to try to get the word out so people can easily find us.

Please advise me on the best way to continue or not and I will definitely respect your wishes. Once again we make absolutely no profit from our users, we just offer the service for free because we enjoy seeing people run their businesses with the product we have worked very hard to provide.

Thanks,
John

 

[Larry L.]

Our free trail offer sounds strange to me like charging on down the road,atleast it does to me.

If you want to continue get ahold of Mark or the owner of the board.

 

[ServiceMntn]

Our free trail offer sounds strange to me like charging on down the road,atleast it does to me.

If you want to continue get ahold of Mark or the owner of the board.

Hey Larry,

Thanks. I will edit that post.

The software is now completely free. We have really enjoyed working with small companies and did not want to make it hard for them to enjoy the product se we ended up making it free of charge.

Thanks,
John