As the owner of 77 Stone in Texas and New Mexico, Ed la Puma understands how much time and money matters when running a countertop business. He also understands that software is the key to handling growth pain-free.
So how does Ed and his team get the 77 Stone shops to run so efficiently? With some great team members, thorough processes, and the right software to back it up. Ed was awesome enough to sit down and talk with me about how he uses Systemize and CounterGo to manage his businesses.
A software guy from the start
Before taking the leap to Moraware, 77 Stone began operations in 2008 with paper documents, pocket calculators, and Google Calendar running the schedules for everyone in the shop. While they were comfortable with these tools, Ed knew that in order to grow he had to create a system that keeps things running smoothly. And, the answer to that was more robust software that put everything in one place. He chose, in his words – “tried and true” – Moraware.
Saving hours and hours of time
As Ed says, a growing business can feel like “trying to tie your shoes and run a marathon at the same time.”
This growth kept his small team of 15 employees working hard and often wearing too many hats. As business grew, Ed became tired of the data entry taking up everyone’s time and energy. Because none of their tools and processes worked together, the team spent a lot of time manually inputting data. And as we know, that can lead to quite a few mistakes being made.
After signing up for CounterGo in 2015, Ed praised the hours saved from all the reduced data entry. Ed and his team were able to make sure all information was up to date and accurate without spending hours entering data. No more miscalculations!
Once the quickbooks integration was released, Ed says that it has saved them even more time.
Creating a system that empowers employees
It’s Ed’s belief that adults don’t need supervision to do their jobs. Adding more managers to any operation is rarely the answer for 77 Stone. People just need the right tools, and they can do their jobs effectively. Moraware has been the key to 77 Stone being able to maintain such a small team without limiting output. Ed says all you need is a “system that manages what the roles are.” This has kept things running smoothly at 77 Stone, and helped them open their second location in Las Cruces last year.
Because Systemize puts all essential information right at the fingertips of every employee, they don’t need to come to him with questions. If every role is doing their job by putting in the required data, then everyone knows what they should be doing and when they should be doing it. In fact, Ed goes as far to say that the software will have more accurate answers than he can give!
Goodbye paper
By implementing CounterGo, Systemize, and Job Well Done, Ed has successfully gotten his team going paperless. Team members can easily measure, see prices, and quote jobs from their tablets in the field. Jobs are updated in the field and in real-time, creating accurate and up-to-date information for everyone. Why have a file folder to update later when you can mark a job complete right there at the site?
Always learning to be better
One of my favorite things to come from this conversation with Ed was his appreciation for education. He watches webinars, attends industry events, and is always looking to improve the way they use the software.
He says, “How many things are we missing that other people are doing?” That’s a question all fabricators should be asking, because there are always minutes to save in this industry.
And with software that is customizable to your process like Systemize, there always seems to be a new better way of doing something…or a feature they haven’t been using fully yet. He also takes advantage of Moraware’s free support, claiming that “it’s always a good time” when he reaches out for help. Thanks Ed – we like you, too!
