Building Software Around the Business, Not the Other Way Around

Innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it’s shaped by real-world experience and the right skills to build what’s next. Recently, I’ve been at that intersection. While working on several projects, the flooring business has stayed central, especially as I explore automation. Today, software tools give us a chance to do so much more.

We all know software tools like Xero or Fergus, but what excites me is that, with AI, technology has never been more accessible. I built a custom system for PMB Flooring. Instead of measuring rooms with a tape, we now scan them with an iPad, creating a 3D image. From there, AI calculates volumes and meterage, with everything stored securely in a central folder.

We started this journey about a year and a half ago. Back then, I was working from a spreadsheet and trialling different CRMs, none of which fit what I envisioned. My vision for how things should flow simply didn’t exist in the tools available at the time. Now, with AI, if you have the vision, you can build the whole thing yourself.

I’m taking this further by adding email automation and smarter task management. I also want to be clear that we haven’t fully solved it yet. We still rely on human oversight because AI can make mistakes. The heavy lifting is done by AI, but people still provide the 20% that matters most: nuance, context, and judgement.

Even though it’s difficult to move away from Xero entirely, I can now pull the data I need into my own tools. Instead of working in a push model where everything is forced into a system, I can work in a pull model, curating exactly the information I want and shaping it around my own vision.

So I ask you: what part of your business or life do you wish could run itself?

If you're open, let's collaborate. Together we can solve these challenges through technology while maintaining full sovereignty over how we work. We can author our own future.

At P&P Flooring, we don't just tell stories. We make stories.