Admin automation for tradespeople and small businesses in the North East
If you run a one-to-ten-person business anywhere from Newcastle to Teesside and the paperwork happens after tea, this page is for you.
The problem nobody quotes for
Every plumber, joiner, electrician, gardener, cleaner, photographer, signmaker and small shop in the North East has the same second job: the admin. Quotes that need typing up. Invoices that go out late because the day ran over. Money owed that nobody's chased because chasing feels awkward. A Facebook page that hasn't been touched since the bank holiday. A diary in your head, a job list on the back of an envelope, and a sinking feeling on a Sunday night.
The usual answer is "get a system". A CRM, an invoicing app, a scheduling tool, a social media planner. Four logins, four monthly fees, four things to learn, and every one of them needs you sat at a laptop to use it. Most people try one for a month and drift back to WhatsApp and a notebook.
Your Ops Agent takes a different approach. Instead of software you have to drive, it's an assistant you message. It lives in a chat app on the phone you already carry, it understands plain English and voice notes, and it does the admin in the background while you're doing the work. You stay in control by tapping approve.
What a normal day looks like with it
6.30am, before you've left the house, a short message: two jobs today, one invoice a week overdue with a reminder already drafted, and the hinges you said you'd order. On site, you send a voice note: "Elm Road's done, invoice it, and remind me to ring the supplier about Thursday." By the time you're back in the van, the invoice is in the chat ready to forward and the reminder is set. At the end of the job you send a photo with "turned out mint"; a Facebook post is drafted in your voice, you tap Send, it's live. Nothing was typed on a laptop. Nothing was forgotten.
Invoice chasing that actually happens
Late payment is the thing that hurts small businesses most, and the thing owners are worst at fixing, because chasing feels like confrontation. The assistant takes the awkwardness out of it. It knows what's overdue, it drafts a polite reminder at 7, 14, 21 and 30 days, and it shows you the wording before anything goes. You can soften it, sharpen it, or hold off for a customer you know is good for it. Firms using it get paid sooner without a single uncomfortable phone call.
Quotes and invoices that look professional
A branded PDF with your logo, your details, your terms and a proper sequential number goes a long way with customers, and it's the first thing that slips when you're busy. Tell the assistant the job and the price and it produces the document in seconds. When the job's done, the quote becomes the invoice with one message. If you've given it your rates, it can work out the price itself, by the square metre, the hour, or the item, and show you the margin.
Social media without the guilt
Most tradespeople know they should post more and hate doing it. The assistant turns a photo and a sentence into a post that sounds like you, not like a marketing agency, and publishes it to your Facebook page when you approve. One photo a day from the job you're already on is enough to keep a page alive, and it costs you about ten seconds.
Built for the North East, run from Washington
Your Ops Agent is made and run by You Can Fly Media in Washington, Tyne and Wear, and set up personally for every business that comes on board. That matters for two reasons. The assistant is tuned to how you actually talk, with your terms, your tone and your prices, rather than a generic template. And when something needs sorting, you ring Karn and get a person who knows your business, not a ticket number.
We work with businesses across Sunderland, Newcastle, Gateshead, Durham, South Shields, Chester-le-Street, Washington and the wider North East, and because the assistant lives on your phone, where you are makes no difference to how it works.
Who it suits
- Trades: plumbers, electricians, joiners, builders, roofers, gas engineers, ventilation and HVAC, decorators, landscapers and gardeners.
- Local services: cleaners, mobile mechanics, valeters, removals, pest control, locksmiths.
- Creative and print: photographers, sign makers, printers, embroiderers and garment printers.
- Small shops and studios: anyone taking bookings, quoting jobs or invoicing customers.
If you're a one-person business it replaces the office you never had. If you've got a couple of staff, they get the jobs side and you keep the money side; nobody sees what they shouldn't.
What it costs
From £149 a month for one person, with everything above included. Extras like review requests, renewals reminders and the pricing helper are £15 to £60 each on top. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial, no card needed, and you can cancel any time. Your information is yours: if you leave, we hand it back and delete our copy.
How to start
Fill in a five-minute form about your business, follow a short guide to set up the chat app, and we connect it the same day. By tomorrow morning you'll have your first catch-up message. If you'd rather talk it through first, ring or WhatsApp Karn on 07440 121487.