A successful business isn’t just about the bottom line. It’s about getting the balance between work and home life, too. Tom Moloney, founder of Oxfordshire Building and Stoves, shares how he’s used Build Aviator to get the perfect mix.
My journey in the construction industry has had a few twists and turns. I left school and completed a carpentry apprenticeship before joining a small building company in Oxford. I worked there for a few years, but then the recession hit in 2008, and construction work dried up. At that point, I decided to join the fire service. I kept doing some carpentry on the side to keep my hand in it, and then, as work began to pick up, I was doing more and more construction again.
But the turning point for me was when I had a family. The shift work in the fire service just didn’t work with family life – and being present and active with my children is important to me. So, with more construction work available, I went back to construction full-time.
Steady growth
Over time, Oxfordshire Building and Stoves has grown steadily, but we’re still a relatively small business today. I employ one person who’s been with me since I returned to the industry, and we focus on jobs like single or double-storey extensions, etc. I enjoy being on-site so we’ve built our business to enable me to stay hands on as much as possible while at the same time adding new services, such as the stoves side, by becoming HETAS accredited. We get a lot of requests for stoves in our projects so it complements our work well and was a natural evolution.
Having a young family – and then running a building business – is tiring. With a seven and an eleven-year-old, you don’t get much, if any, time for yourself. After a busy day on-site, it’s straight home to see the kids, have dinner, and their bedtime before starting work again, be it planning jobs or pricing up a project. When your life is at that pace, it’s no surprise that you make mistakes or miss things out when costing work. It’s not an efficient way to run a business or good for your health, and it’s just not sustainable.
Easier admin
I worked that way for a few years, but in 2020, I was in my local merchant and met a rep from Build Aviator. I found out more about the service and decided to give it a shot. Four years on and about 60 estimates later, I’m still using its estimating services, and it’s transformed the admin side of my business.
Before, I’d be spending what limited time I had pricing up jobs with bleary eyes. Now, I feel like I’ve got my own office team without employing anyone. Today, a job comes in, I send the plans to Build Aviator and the estimator prices it up with my merchant terms and rates. I then get a comprehensive report with a bill of quantities, a schedule of works, and a simplified version for my client.
This removes a huge amount of admin and thinking on my part, freeing me up to spend time with my family or just relax in the evening or weekend. In addition to the time savings, the accuracy is a massive benefit. Build Aviator estimators price jobs day in and day out, so they spot things I might’ve missed. It gives me reassurance and that extra feeling of financial security I want. Aspects like the staged payment structure for invoices help, too—it’s not just the overall cost split three ways, for example.
From a customer point of view, the reports are also impressive. We get most of our work from word-of-mouth and we’ve had a positive feedback about the Build Aviator reports in terms of the level of detail and presentation.
Finding the right balance in business goes beyond just making profits; it’s also about blending work and personal life in a way that works for you. When I decided to fully commit to construction again, it gave me the opportunity to be there for my family while also steadily expanding my business. Using services like Build Aviator have been a game-changer, helping me tackle my admin more effectively and giving me more time to focus on what truly matters.
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