Key takeaways
- Saved four days a month on invoicing, freeing staff to focus on customer relationships.
- Customer payment reminders are automatic, removing friction.
- Forecasting looks months ahead for improved stock planning.
- Accounts are visible from any location, saving time and increasing efficiency for staff on the move.
From very limited stock to more than 100 trucks on the hire fleet, BLC Forklifts has grown steadily since the 1990s. It has served thousands of businesses, from furniture suppliers and caterers to film sets and football stadium advertisers.
In this article, we talk about the secrets of its success, as follows:
How did BLC Forklifts reduce manual admin?
Watch the video above to hear how BLC’s Managing Director, Terry Daniels, and son, Joe Daniels, Director, grew their business, and what success and financial confidence looks like to them.
This article shows how choosing the right software helped give the BLC team time back to focus on growth, customer satisfaction, and being the go-to for forklift hire and repair across Surrey and South East England.
BLC used to spend around four days a month on manual invoicing admin.
As the tech-savvy Director of the team, Joe was frustrated.
The old software was slow and office-based, he explains: “We were still on that old school technology of where it was just on one computer and you couldn’t move from there, and you just have to manually back it up every day.”
Invoices took both Joe and an accountant three or four days to manually complete: “We wasted so many man-hours just because there was probably three or four of us all working on finances.”
Joe also needed the ability to forecast a month or two ahead, to keep the business stocked with the right forklifts, including sustainable electric options, and to manage the flow of inventory when customers needed trucks for longer-term projects.
He says: “You need to have hire trucks out there that are on five-year contracts to keep the money coming in evenly.”
Five years ago, the team switched to Sage Business Cloud Accounting, giving them cloud-based access to their finances, forecasting that’s several months ahead, and Sage Copilot assistance for invoice reminders.
The savings were immediate. They gained back five days a month, invoicing now only taking a few hours, with the ability to see stock bottlenecks at a glance.
I would have to write it on paper, would give it to the person who does our accounts. She’d then type out each individual invoice separately, and then we’d have to go down to the post office and post them. So, it’s very long-winded.
Joe Daniels, Director, BLC Forklifts
How does automation help?
Using Sage meant that the BLC team could re-focus on customer relationships, making sure the personal touch was carried through at every step, and helping the business to grow through word of mouth recommendations plus in-person care.
Terry remains traditional in his approach to customers, saying: “I’ll pop round and see you. And that’s the best thing to do. And then you meet someone, you set up a relationship.”
Joe recognises the impact of tech making life easier, using Sage Copilot to send customer payment reminders without the nagging: “Now it’s just like a reminder, and they know when it was due or that it’s overdue, and they can just do it without any sort of negative connotations behind it.”
Visibility into the business finances has also improved, as the team can access the financials from anywhere, as Joe remarks: “Everything’s updated in the system, live. It’s easier.”
The level of automation means Joe saves time managing the month-end: “I can just do it straight away, and everything’s done straight there from one desk rather than two.”
I just click one button, and it does a whole statement run for all my customers and emails them all.
Joe Daniels
How does a forecasting solution help with proactive planning?
Since using Sage, the team can now manage stock more easily.
Joe explains: “It predicts how your cash flow is going to come in […] It’s pretty good at forecasting where you’re going to be, at least in a month or a quarter’s time.”
With Sage, it tells you how much money you’re going to have going out, and how much money you’ve expected to come in, or you do have in. You can balance and see exactly where that line is.
Joe Daniels
How does a brand build a solid reputation?
When it comes to supporting their local community, Joe explains: “We do have to make tough financial decisions, knowing, not just disposable income, but how much money we’ve got to play with.”
Financial visibility is essential as it supports Joe’s ability to decide what charitable giving can be done.
As a local business, the team at BLC often find themselves working with other firms in the same complex, and they like to help the children of the wider business community with sports team shirt sponsorships, as they know that every little helps.
As Joe remarks, it’s more about helping to keep the community supported: “If people needed sponsoring for kits or award ceremonies, we just stepped up and went in there. It’s been more about helping people out and sort of building a nice little family of people.”
This has only strengthened BLC’s reputation, and it’s made possible by a clear view of its financials.
Everything goes full circle, and you’re in the community and you’re trusted.
Joe Daniels
Final thoughts
When dad Terry, now 80, retires, Joe hopes to keep the business’s reputation as solid as on day one.
Using Sage Business Cloud Accounting has given the team at BLC freedom from manual admin, and the time and financial confidence to set up deep roots in the community, make agile financial decisions, and know they can expand thanks to word-of-mouth recommendations from local businesses for generations to come.
[In] the next five years, I’m just hoping that we carry on as we are, for being reliable and building up trust, and letting customers find us, and know that they can trust us.
Joe Daniels
For more inspirational stories, visit our EFL interactive map to reveal more businesses behind the badge.
Frequently asked questions
How can I save time and automate financial admin?
You can save time, trust your data, and grow financial confidence with Sage Business Cloud Accounting plans for any size business that scale with you. Get paid 7 days faster, save 5 hours of manual admin, and get data at your fingertips to give you confidence in your urgent decisions.
What’s a good HR software that will make payroll easier but that grows with my business?
Sage HR offers a customisable, modular plan that will grow with your business. Its mobile-ready platform is built for companies with up to 250 employees. It helps you track employee data on the go and gives employees mobile self-service to track timesheets and holidays as well as a comprehensive offboarding experience.
How can I use AI in my business?
Generative AI found in many financial software systems such as Sage Intacct Copilot can speed up manual processes saving you time, automate invoicing getting you paid faster, and give you proactive insights about your business. With it running in the background, it is the assistant that helps you save time and have the confidence to grow your business without the manual admin.
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