Case Study Service Central Articles and Advice
As the jobs counter at Service Central ticks over to the 300,000 mark we take a look at everything that has been done to get us there. We would like to thank everyone that helped us build up this phenomenal amount of work and distribute it to the pre-qualified businesses that are registered with Service Central. Read more...
Leave a comment · 23/07/2012
Real Estate Agents and Property Managers always have to be on the ball. In a world of constant emergencies, they need to be able to quickly and easily access the right local businesses for their needs. Each day there is no way of determining whose hot water system is going to burst, whose heating is going to break down, whose window is accidentally broken, or many of the other emergencies that pop up on a day to day basis. This makes is hard to prepare, real estate agents and property managers need access to a pool of high quality tradespeople and property services companies that enables them to quickly scale up as the workload unexpectedly increases. Service Central provides the perfect solution.
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Leave a comment · 23/07/2012 ·
Owning your own home is the great Australian dream. However, maintaining and renovating your home can be a nightmare. Home owners love Service Central as we we help overcome the challenge of finding local home service providers and tradespeople that they can trust. Read more...
Leave a comment · 23/07/2012
Here at Service Central we’ve been using Twitter for a couple of years now. We’ve built up over 4,000 followers across our various Twitter accounts, and have generated some good quality business as a result of our efforts on Twitter. Read more...
Leave a comment · 29/11/2011
Feeling overwhelmed by the little things in business? Wish you could have an office assistant but don't really have an office? Well now there's an easy solution - Shazam. Read more...
Leave a comment · 04/11/2011
The coupons craze has definitely hit our household. My wife loves a deal, and over the last 12 months she has been snapping up deals for just about everything. But how can they be economically viable for businesses? Are they, in fact, too good to be true? Read more...
24 comments · 21/10/2011
Today we take a look at some great feedback supplied by a customer about an emergency plastering job and learn about how language doesn't have to be a barrier to receiving great quality work. Read more...
2 comments · 21/09/2011
Be clear when you quote. It sounds so simple, but as you'll see in the following case study that isn't always the case. And if you aren't clear when you quote then you could just lose the customer's trust - and business. Read on for some great quoting tips. Read more...
Leave a comment · 13/07/2011
Learn more about small business spending with this great infographic. Read more...
Leave a comment · 06/04/2011
So the other day I blogged about having too much work on, and the effects of that on your business and your personal life. One of the ways to deal with excess work is to turn work away. I know. It seems counter-intuitive. But sometimes it's better for you and your business to just say no. But you don't have to lose that customer, and neither do you have to damage your company's reputation by doing so. So what's the trick? Read more...
Leave a comment · 03/10/2010
After months of hard work from our technical and design teams, we're proud to bring to you our new website. Service Central was the first online services marketplace in Australia, and now we're bringing you some exciting changes to our website that make everyone happier and keep us way ahead of the pack with innovative design and technical improvements. We've put our heart and souls into this project, and we hope that you're as impressed with the changes as we are! Of course, you can go direct to the website and play with it to find out how many improvements have been made. Read on for more detail about the changes and how they affect your business directly. Read more...
3 comments · 23/09/2010
I always suspected that trades were interlinked to some extent, but never quite realised how interlinked the trades all were until we began the Service Central business. Some jobs can be done by one trade only, but the overlap between different trades on the same job became more and more obvious the more jobs we had posted through Service Central. Read on for a story of one of our businesses who chose to subcontract, and some guidelines and things to consider when entering into a subcontracting relationship. Read more...
2 comments · 22/09/2010
After months of hard work from our technical and design teams, we're proud to bring to you our new website. We've put our heart and souls into this project, and we hope that you're as impressed with the changes as we are! Read more...
Leave a comment · 22/09/2010
Here's a case study of a bricklaying business who initially offered a single trade and then set up a subcontracting relationship to offer more to his customers and win more work. Read more...
Leave a comment · 19/09/2010
Kirsten gives us some insight into the bathroom renovation process - now that it's over. Read more...
1 comment · 12/09/2010
They say that a picture speaks a thousand words. My bathroom is finished, but rather than tell you about it, I thought I'd just show you the pictures. I am really very pleased with it. Read more...
1 comment · 09/09/2010
It's been a productive couple of days on the bathroom project. After a couple of days puttering around under the floorboards with no visible progress being made things suddenly seem to be leaping ahead. Read more...
Leave a comment · 07/09/2010
Progress on Kirsten's bathroom renovation project, now that the previous fixtures have been ripped out the walls have been replastered and reskimmed. Read more...
1 comment · 03/09/2010
Joey tells the story of how he painted his 3 bed 1950's weatherboard home, gives us some tips he learned along the way and gives us some info on removing wallpaper, preparing walls and hiring the professionals. Read more...
Leave a comment · 03/09/2010
Kirsten tells us about the trials and tribulations of materials delaying projects and how companies should NOT manage problems. Read more...
1 comment · 01/09/2010
Kirsten's bathroom renovation project continues - check out the 'before' photos and the beginnings of the destruction. Read more...
Leave a comment · 31/08/2010
I’ve finished both the bedrooms, I’ve painted the hallway, there’s only one room left for me to tackle and then the whole of the upstairs is finished. The problem is that room is the bathroom. Now I thought about refinishing it rather than redoing it, but my bathroom is in an utter state. Read more...
1 comment · 28/08/2010
Businesses have for years clamoured for Word of Mouth to help grow their businesses, today's modern businesses are pursuing Word of Mouse instead. How can social media help your trades business? Read more...
Leave a comment · 11/08/2010
As I'd found the original Victorian hearth tiles under the horrible laminate flooring I decided that the only thing that would do in the living room was an original Victorian fireplace. This is how I put the new fireplace in - much easier than I thought! Read more...
Leave a comment · 02/08/2010
Recession times = luxury industries suffer. While Australia is no longer in a recession, things can be slow as consumers spend less on luxury and also become more price sensitive for essential items. This advice applies to all trades businesses but we've used plumbing as a specific example. Read more...
Leave a comment · 31/07/2010
Dogs + laminate don't go. To protect my space on the sofa the only thing to do was to pull up the laminate. Lucky it was so ugly anyway... Read more...
Leave a comment · 29/07/2010
One of the very first things I did after taking possession of the keys to my new purchase was start to tear it apart. I picked up the keys yesterday and now it has one wall less than it did when I signed the papers. The problem was that I can't get my beloved sofa in the living room, the angles are wrong and it wouldn't go through the doors despite being taken to pieces. So rather than take the easy way out and buy a new sofa that would fit, I decided to take the wall between the hallway, stairs and living room down. Sensible. Read more...
1 comment · 29/07/2010
Introducing Kirsten, our new guest blogger. As the title suggests, Kirsten's a woman with a mission to create a home out of a house - and will eliminate anything (including walls) that stands in her way. Read more...
Leave a comment · 28/07/2010
Talk about thinking outside the box. This kitchen is low budget, flexible and looks awesome. Need a new kitchen fast? Read more...
1 comment · 23/07/2010
Forget storm chasing roofers, what about government subsidy chasers? "When things are for free, every man and his dog gets accreditation and starts installing," says Solar Shop Australia managing director Adrian Ferraretto. And effectively, solar installation is close to free (especially the 1.5 V version). Read more...
3 comments · 14/07/2010