Why I built Walkflow

The problem on marine electrical jobs

On a normal week I can be on anywhere from one to ten different boats. Each one has its own faults, parts and decisions, and none of it gets written down while my hands are busy.

That left two problems. Clients got a handful of photos as an update, then needed a phone call to understand what they were looking at. And at the end of the day I'd sit down and try to remember what I did on each job, what still needed quoting and exactly which parts I needed to invoice for.

Where Walkflow started

I've been a marine electrical contractor for over ten years, mostly working solo. Walkflow came out of my own week. Quoting and invoicing were costing me hours, and most of that time went on remembering, not on the writing itself.

I wanted something that captured a job properly while I was standing in front of it. Photos weren't enough, so I settled on video with narration and snapshots. If I talk through what I'm seeing as I film, the detail is recorded at the moment I know it best, and a client can see the work instead of having it described to them.

What it does today

I walk through and record each job, usually at the start and the end, plus a few key moments in between on a long one. Walkflow takes the video, narration and snapshots, then transcribes them, summarizes them and drafts chapters automatically. From there I can generate documents such as a quote, invoice or scope of work at the click of a button, so I'm no longer writing them from scratch.

I still review everything before it goes out. The difference is that I'm checking a draft built from what I recorded on the day, which saves me hours each week.

I can also share a link with a client and see whether they've opened it. They can watch what was done and see any generated documents I choose to attach, so updates don't need a second walkthrough over the phone.

Where it is going

I use Walkflow on my own jobs, so what I build next comes from what slows me down on the tools. I'm currently building a push-to-Xero feature that lets me send invoice and quote drafts to clients straight from Walkflow, so I can get paid or secure jobs faster.