How I built a quote generator that saved a tradie 6 hours a week
Names changed. Numbers are real. A small carpentry business was spending 3 hours every single week writing quotes by hand. Here's what we built, what it cost, and what happened.
The problem
Dan (the owner) was writing 8–12 quotes every week. Each took 45 minutes: copy an old quote, change the name, guess materials and labour costs, write a description, save it, send it. Every Friday he'd lost hours of paid work.
Worse: he was slow to reply. Customers got quotes from his competitors first, so he lost jobs.
What we built
A simple web form with three steps.
- Enter the job details. Site address. What the client wants. Rough size. Materials they asked for. Anything tricky about the site.
- Hit generate. The system reads what Dan entered and creates a draft quote: a description of the work in Dan's voice, materials with current prices from his supplier list, labour costs based on his experience. All in 10 seconds.
- Review and send. Dan reads it (takes 2 minutes), tweaks anything, clicks send. The system makes a PDF, emails it to the client, saves it, and reminds him in 3 days if they haven't replied.
How it works (technical bit)
The system has three parts: a form to enter job details, a smart system to write the quote, and automation to send and track it. Dan updates his material prices in a Google Sheet once a month. The system reads that when it writes quotes. Everything else happens automatically.
Cost
- Build: $3,200 + GST, finished in 11 days
- Every month: About $15/month in API costs
Results (one month later)
Hours freed up per week: About 6
Quotes sent same day: 30% up to 95%
More jobs won: About 12% increase (his estimate, not scientific, but speed helped)
Paid for itself in: 7 weeks
What comes next
The system currently makes Dan review every quote. After two weeks, it was right 90% of the time. Next iteration: auto-send if it's under $5,000 and straightforward. Only flag the unusual ones for review. Less work, faster replies.
Why I'm telling you this
Because most "AI for business" stuff talks about chatbots and content. The real value is boring. A quote generator. An invoice chaser. An onboarding system. Built once. Runs forever. Saves hours every week.
The best business automation is invisible. It just stops you from doing that thing you hate on Friday afternoons.
If you've got a Friday afternoon task you've been doing for years, that's your starting point. Happy to take a look.