Founder Profile: InsitePro
Kate Dyer - New Zealand
What Does Your Company Do?
“InsitePro was created on the back of 10 plus years of experience in the construction industry, working as a project manager and quantity surveyor for almost 15 years in New Zealand. Every construction project in New Zealand has to be delivered under a contract that drives how payment claims are processed monthly. These contracts are very rigid and law-driven, yet the process is old-school paper and Excel spreadsheet-driven.
InsitePro was created to save time chewed up by sending emails and version control problems, bringing everybody onto one collaborative platform to work from one source of truth. The main contractor, project manager, client, and quantity surveyor sit in the same place to manage project financials.
For main contractors, the main gains are time and compliance—the software creates compliant paperwork on their behalf and integrates with Xero. For project managers and quantity surveyors, it saves a massive amount of time chasing the truth or fixing broken spreadsheets and formulas. For clients, who are legally liable under the contract to monitor delivery, it gives live financial visibility and flags if something is going wrong or behind schedule. We like to visualise InsitePro as the glue in the middle that integrates with existing systems without replacing their workflows.”
What Inspired You To Start It?
“I literally woke up at 3 a.m. thinking, “There must be a better way to do this”. I woke up my husband—who didn’t appreciate it very much at that point in time—asking why we couldn’t all sit in the same document instead of this online spreadsheet that everybody keeps breaking.
In a company I worked for previously, we had a person whose only job was a glorified contract administrator role, checking if people broke spreadsheets. In the 21st century, for somebody’s job to be such manual data collection and review is crazy. Builders should be building houses, not filling spreadsheets, and quantity surveyors should be making sure projects don’t cost too much, not fixing somebody else’s mathematical problems.
Just under a year ago, I created an MVP in Airtable to trial on a couple of projects I was delivering myself. It worked, so I discussed it with my network of contacts and potential buyers. They all said they would buy it. From there, I bootstrapped it up to our launch—found a software developer, did all the design and automations, and built the platform.”
What Is One Win (big or small) You’re Celebrating Now?
“We officially launched at the BuildNZ Expo, which was greatly successful and well received by the community. We are now onboarding paying clients, collating feedback, and looking at expanding features on the software in September and October.
We were also successful in getting funding through the Kiwibank Startup+ fund, which has been greatly supportive. Looking ahead, we’re attending an event in September organised by Hubexo for architects, project managers, and quantity surveyors to bring InsitePro in front of more senior stakeholders. Then in November, we’ll be taking a stand in Sydney to look at expanding into the Australian market.”
What Is One Lesson You Wish You Learned Earlier?
“I wish I had contacted and started collaborating earlier with people who have done this before—finding my tribe earlier. I did a lot of it by myself at very early stages based on my technical knowledge, and I probably wasted a good two or three months trying to figure out something that was not my thing to figure out.
I’ve been incredibly fortunate to collaborate with Jesse Henderson through the MBIE Startup Aotearoa mentorship programme. Having that sounding board, getting help through marketing, and being introduced to the startup community has been huge. I wish I was there last year rather than this year, knowing more of these people and having those relationships earlier on.”
How Do You Keep Your Energy Up On Tough Days?
“You question your sanity all the time! But ultimately, it comes down to connecting with your “why”. I truly believe that there is a place for this software. It may not change the world, but it will change somebody’s world who does this every day. Improving workflow and saving time will improve the industry as a whole.
The construction industry is in a lot of trouble at the moment, with companies falling over due to cash flow. We are bringing something to market that is cost-effective, helps cash flow, and helps them navigate those tough times. If it means that it helps one contractor down the track, then we are here for the right reason. Running your own business can get lonely and tiresome, but you’ve just got to keep on keeping on.”
Learn More
Who: Q&A with Kate Dyer of InsitePro
HQ: New Zealand
Web: in-site-pro.com
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