Guide

Back-office options for UK fit-out, joinery and exhibition firms

Most small firms that make or build things end up doing the paperwork themselves, in the evenings. This guide sets out the realistic ways to take it on, what each is good at, and where each falls short. Hobfolk is one of them. It is not the answer for everyone.

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The short answer

A small UK fit-out, joinery or exhibition firm can hire an office manager, use a virtual assistant, pay a bookkeeper or accountant, run job-tracking software, buy an answering service, hire a health and safety consultant, or use an outsourced back office such as Hobfolk. Each covers a different part of the work. Which fits depends on which job is slipping.

Start here

Work out which job is the problem

Before choosing, write down for one week every office job you did and how long it took. Often the time goes on a few repeated jobs: replying to enquiries, chasing people who have not replied, keeping the list of live jobs right, booking deliveries, and writing documents such as RAMS and O&M manuals.

The right option depends on which of those is costing you most. Software helps with some, a person with others. None covers all of them cheaply.

The options

Seven ways to cover it

Hire an office manager or administrator

A person in the building who handles post, phones, people and a bit of everything. Good for varied work and anything that needs a physical presence. Falls short when the work is one big repeated task, when you cannot fill a full week, or when you need cover at night, on holiday or when they leave. See the comparison with Hobfolk.

Use a virtual assistant

A self-employed person working remotely, bought by the hour or in a monthly block. Good for a few hours of mixed work and for jobs that need a phone call. Falls short on volume and on availability, because it is one person's hours. See the comparison with Hobfolk.

Pay a bookkeeper or accountant

The right answer for the books, tax returns and year-end, and a job that should go to a qualified professional. Local bookkeeping firms and accountants do this well. It does not cover enquiries, chasing, the job list or site paperwork, which is what the rest of this guide is about.

Use software such as Xero, QuickBooks, monday.com or Asana

Accounting software such as Xero or QuickBooks keeps the accounts in order. Work-management tools such as monday.com or Asana hold a list of jobs and tasks and show who owns what. Good when somebody keeps them up to date. They store the work and do not do it, so a tool is only as current as the last person who typed into it.

Buy a telephone answering service

UK services such as Moneypenny answer the phone in your name and pass on messages. Good if the missing piece is a human voice on the line. Not designed for written enquiries, filing, chasing or documents.

Hire a health and safety consultant

A consultant writes RAMS, method statements and policies, and can advise on CDM duties. This is the right route if you want an outside expert accountable for the advice, and it suits one-off or high-risk jobs. It is usually priced per document or per day, which can be slow and costly when you need one for every job.

Use an outsourced back office such as Hobfolk

Hobfolk is an overnight back-office service for companies that make things. Each desk is one office job done by a computer system Hobfolk builds and runs for you: answering enquiries, chasing replies, keeping the job list, booking deliveries, RAMS and O&M paperwork. A team stays on the account, and a person on your side signs anything that commits you. Good for repeated jobs in volume and for out-of-hours cover. Not designed for work that needs a person in the building or on the phone.

Choosing

Matching the option to the problem

Enquiries are waiting too long for a reply: a hire, a VA, an answering service for phone calls, or a desk for written enquiries.
Replies and suppliers are not being chased: a desk, or a VA with a fixed list.
The job list is out of date: software that someone keeps up to date, or a desk that does the updating.
Deliveries are booked late or lost: a hire with logistics experience, or a desk for booking and tracking.
RAMS and O&M manuals take too long: a consultant for one-off or high-risk jobs, or a desk for the routine ones, with your competent person signing.
The books are behind: a bookkeeper or accountant.

Combining

Most firms use more than one

These options are not rivals. A bookkeeper keeps the books. Software holds the job list. A person answers the phone. A desk does the one repeated job that never gets finished. It is easy to hire a person to do five jobs when the real problem is one.

About Hobfolk

What Hobfolk is not

Hobfolk does not replace a qualified health and safety adviser. It does not work on site, collect a delivery or answer a ringing phone in your office. It is priced as a retainer per desk, starting from £1,450 a month for one, and the first month is a paid trial. The pricing page has the detail.

Questions

Asked before, answered here

What is the cheapest way for a small joinery firm to cover its back office?

Doing it yourself costs nothing in cash but a great deal in evenings. The cheapest paid route is usually software for the lists plus a virtual assistant for a few hours a week. Cheapest depends on the job: a bookkeeper suits the books, and a desk suits a single repeated task done in volume.

Do I need a different option for each part of the back office?

Often, yes. A bookkeeper, a piece of software, a person who answers the phone and a service for repeated paperwork each do a different job. A common trap is making one person or one tool cover all of them.

Where to look next

Compared

Not sure which of these you need?

Tell us which job is slipping. If Hobfolk is the wrong shape for it, we will say so.

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