A network of trades
CrewBarn connects trades to each other. Customers ask for quotes and service plans on the marketplace, and you answer with your price. When you need a hand, you send a job to a sub you trust, and it lands in their own CrewBarn, free for them.
The intro, in words
Trades, working together
This is the trade network in CrewBarn. It connects customers, the companies they hire, and the subs those companies call.
We'll follow one request from Bayside Property Group to Harlow and Finch, out to a roofer, and back.
The marketplace: Marcus asks for prices
Monday. The water heater in Bayside's Harbor Tower is leaking, and so is the roof flashing around its vent.
Marcus opens Find a provider in his portal, picks Harlow and Finch and one other company, and presses Request quotes.
He chooses Request service, describes it, and presses Send service request to two vendors.
The marketplace: It lands on Dana's screen
At Harlow and Finch, it shows up on dispatch under Estimate requests, from marketplace, with Bayside's own work order and PO numbers.
Dana has three choices: Offer on-site estimate, Quote a price, or Pass.
The marketplace: She sends her price
She presses Quote a price, types two thousand four hundred dollars and what it covers, and presses Send quote.
Her row reads Quoted, waiting on customer, and in Marcus's portal her line turns Quoted.
The marketplace: Marcus picks her
Marcus compares the two answers and presses Award to this vendor on Harlow and Finch.
CrewBarn checks: this locks the price and adds them to your providers list. He presses Yes, award two thousand four hundred dollars, and the other quote turns Not selected.
The marketplace: The work is already in her shop
Dana's bell rings: You got the work. The job is on Bayside's account, ready in Dispatch, Needs scheduling.
Her row says You got it, with Open job, schedule it. Nobody retyped a thing.
The marketplace: Look first, or pass
If Dana needed to see it first, she'd press Offer on-site estimate. Marcus would press Yes, book the estimate, and an estimate lands on Bayside's account, ready to schedule the visit.
And if the work isn't for her, Pass asks for a reason that Marcus sees.
The marketplace: Asked Monday, booked Monday
So a new customer asked, compared and picked Harlow and Finch before lunch, and the job was waiting on the right account.
Sending to a sub: Invite the roofer once
Harlow and Finch don't do roofs. Dana adds a job on Bayside's account for the flashing, for Coastal Roofing.
She picks Sub company, types Coastal's name and email, and presses Send invite. Coastal's row reads Waiting on their code.
Coastal's email has a code that works once, within twenty-four hours.
Sending to a sub: Their own CrewBarn, free
Coastal's owner types the invite code, the business name and a password, and presses Create my company.
That's a free CrewBarn account of their own, for Harlow and Finch's work. On Dana's list, Coastal reads Connected.
Sending to a sub: Sent, with a limit
On the flashing job, Dana presses Sub this out, picks Coastal, sets a not-to-exceed of six hundred and fifty dollars, and adds: see Jess at the front desk for roof access.
She presses Send the job now. If Coastal's insurance certificate were missing, Send anyway, urgent, would still send it and note what was missing.
Sending to a sub: Coastal says yes
In Coastal's CrewBarn, the job waits in Inbound sub jobs, under Needs a decision, with the address and the NTE cap.
Their office presses Accept, and it joins their board. On Dana's job, a note: Coastal Roofing accepted the job.
Sending to a sub: Their work, on Dana's job
Wednesday, Coastal's tech taps Start travel, then Check in. On Dana's job: Coastal Roofing's tech arrived on site.
He replaces the flashing, shares before and after photos, gets Jess to sign, and taps Check out.
The photos and signature land on Dana's job: Coastal Roofing finished the job. It reads Completed by sub.
Sending to a sub: Paid on both sets of books
Coastal sends its invoice from its own job: six hundred and ten dollars. It shows on Dana's job, in the Sub invoice tab.
Dana presses Approve. When she pays, she presses Mark paid, picks Check, and presses Confirm paid.
On Coastal's side, their own invoice gets the payment too.
Sending to a sub: A no, with a reason
Say Coastal can't take it. Their office presses Decline, types why, and presses Confirm decline.
The reason comes back to Dana's job. She opens Edit sub assignment, picks another roofer, and presses Save changes. Coastal's copy is cancelled.
Sending to a sub: No phone tag, no lost photos
The roof was handed off, done and paid with no status calls, and every photo and signature is on Harlow and Finch's job.
Trades you use: Marcus brings his own plumber
It works from the customer's side too. Bayside uses a plumber who isn't on CrewBarn.
In his portal, Marcus opens Trades, presses Invite a trade, types their name, email and the job, and presses Send the job.
CrewBarn sets the plumber up with a free account, with the job in it, and emails them. The row reads Waiting for them.
Trades you use: Claimed, booked, done
The plumber opens the link, sets a password, and presses Claim my account. Marcus's row turns On CrewBarn.
They press Confirm the job, then Book a visit. After the work, Mark it done tells Marcus.
Their invoice shows in Marcus's portal with everything else Bayside pays.
Trades you use: Work already done, or a no
If the work was already done, Marcus would press Upload their invoice instead, then Save and set them up. The plumber gets an account with the job and invoice in it.
And if the plumber can't take it, Can't take it asks why, and Marcus sees the reason.
The whole network: Asked, won, handed off, paid
That's the trade network: a request, a quote, an award, and a job on the right account.
A sub invited once, sent a job with a limit, and paid on both sets of books.
And the branches: an on-site estimate, a pass, a missing document, a sub who says no, and a trade the customer brought in.
Trade network: One network of trades
Every company keeps its own CrewBarn and its own books, and the work moves between them.
CrewBarn is in beta, and free for life for trades that help test it.
The CrewBarn marketplace
Customers looking for help can find companies on the marketplace and ask for a price. Each request shows up on your dispatch screen. Offer an on-site estimate to come take a look, quote a price, or pass. When a customer picks you, the work lands in your shop, on their account, ready to schedule.
Customers can also ask for a service plan: regular visits, how often, and any months to skip. Answer with the price, the number of visits a year and in which months, what it covers and how long it runs. If they'd like you to come out first and list their equipment, you can offer that walkthrough free or at an hourly rate you set. Win the plan, and you write up the agreement from the request.
You choose how you show up: a private portal for the customers you invite, listed on the marketplace, or hidden while you're too busy. Pick the services you offer and the zip codes you cover, or add a whole county at once, and write a few words about what sets you apart. You can also choose that customers who came to you aren't shown other companies in your trade in the counties you cover.
Sending jobs to subs
Add the outside companies you hand work to, with their contact, payment terms, and their tax form, insurance certificate and license on file. Invite a sub, and they accept once. They get a free CrewBarn account for the work you send.
From any job, Sub this out hands it to a partner company, with a not-to-exceed amount and your instructions. The job lands in their app with what, where and when, and they accept it onto their own board or decline with a reason. Their status, photos, signatures and invoice come back to your job. Their crew shows in its own lane on your schedule, and the Subs list on dispatch shows how today's sub work is going.
When their invoice comes in, review it, approve it and mark it paid, and it's paid on both sets of books. The sub payouts page shows what you've paid each sub and what you still owe.
Working for other companies
It works the other way too. Jobs other companies send you wait in one list, with who sent it, the address, any spending limit and what the job is. Accept one and it becomes one of your own jobs.
Shared records, partners and franchises
Equipment records can be shared between the companies that look after the same property, with the owner deciding who sees what. A partner API lets subcontractors and franchises share jobs, visits and photos.
How it works
- List yourself on the marketplace, or stay private.
- Answer quote and service-plan requests with your price.
- Invite the subs you trust. They get a free CrewBarn account.
- Sub out a job with a not-to-exceed amount.
- Their updates and invoice come back to your job. Approve and pay it.