Tell us a little bit about the history of your organisation. 

NextMinute started in New Zealand in 2016. Since then, we’ve expanded into Australia and the UK. 

Our founder Simon Greenwood was having work completed on his house and was struggling  to get his contractors to provide invoices so he could pay them. They were either scribbled  on the back of a receipt, showing incorrect amounts, or the contractor simply didn’t know  how much to charge. Simon thought that there must be a way for tradespeople to generate  an invoice in the “next minute” and set out to build a trade-friendly platform that gave  tradespeople the tools they needed to succeed. 

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How does your organisation help the construction industry? 

NextMinute aims to make construction business owner’s life easier by managing pricing, planning, people and profits. We do this by providing one platform for them to quote, invoice, timesheet, and track project costs. 

We then work closely with them to help them better understand where they are making or, more importantly, losing money, 

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How does your role within the organisation help the industry? 

As Head of Customer Success for the EMEA region, my role is to help educate Customers  and Partners on how to get the most out of the system. Typically, I support our Account  Executives in demonstrating the product to potential customers, help new customers by  training their teams and ensuring that their data is in the system and they know how to use  the features that provide the most value to their business. I also work alongside our partners  to ensure we are working all together to support our mutual clients. 

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What are the most positive things about working in your organisation?

‍The most positive thing about working for NextMinute has to be the people & culture. Even  though we are spread out across three different countries & multiple time zones, we work as  one team, meaning geographics do not bind us and can help any customer or partner who  needs a hand.  

Another thing is being able to help educate construction business owners on how to  accurately track the costs of a profit and how to spot red flags. Many of our customers are  great with their hands but could be better with technology. 

We are also big supporters of helping improve the lives of anyone in the construction  industry - not just through software. 

We are part of the Lighthouse Club, a charity which provides emotional, physical and  financial well-being support to construction workers and their families. 

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Tell us about your first day at your organisation. 

Because I had been in the Construction Industry for a couple of years, I could understand  the pain points that the software solved. I spent my first few days getting to grips with the  system and building out my demo account with real-live examples of projects that had  overrun. 

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What areas of the Construction Industry do you find unique? 

I’ve always been fascinated by the financials behind running a construction business. It’s an  industry where you must spend money to make money, and with small margins, every penny  counts. 

I’ve seen Construction businesses with Excel pages over 100 sheets long using formulas  I’ve never heard of just to try and squeeze an extra 1% margin out. 

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What has the industry taught you? 

The industry has shown me that there are a lot of “accidental business owners”. People who  have learnt their trade and started on their own worked their socks off, and next, you know,  they have a team of 10 and are turning down work. It is an industry where “the more you put  in, the more you get out”. 

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What can you see for the future of the building industry? 

The future of the Construction industry is digital. Whether using Artificial Intelligence to  forecast project outcomes (shout out to the team at nPlan doing great things in this space) or utilising drones within Commercial / Industrial Construction, the industry is full of  opportunities and innovation.

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