STOP flicking between your emails, manila folders, scribbled notes, messy spreadsheets and
random Word documents to keep yourself up-to-date with your landscape design projects.
START to record, organise, manage and view everything to do with your contacts, design projects,
conversations and plant lists from one cloud-based platform that's accessible from the palm of your hand.
Airtable is a robust cloud-based platform that blends the best features of spreadsheets and databases.
It lets you create a repository for the most important types of information in your landscape design business.
Airtable does what Google Sheets and Excel cannot.
It allows you to record, organise, filter and display that information in really meaningful ways.
Furthermore, you can access and update that information on your desktop, tablet or smartphone device.
The Business Hub includes 30 ‘tables’ (Airtable’s equivalent of a spreadsheet ‘tab’) to record, organise, filter, view, manage and link the following information about your business, in one place:
The ABN table is to record details about your ABN: the number itself, year registered, name registered under, linked trading name and GST status.
The Trading Name/s table records information relating to the business name/s you’re registered to trade under and the frequency of their renewal.
The Addresses table is where you can record the addresses associated with your business and how they’re used for administration purposes.
The Email Addresses table records all the details about the email addresses you have, what they’re used for, if they’re currently active & who has access to them.
The Phones & SIMs table is for recording what numbers are used for what devices, what plan they are on, the plan’s expiry date & service provider’s details.
The Bank Accounts table is to document what accounts you have, which have a cards, the card’s expiry date, who are signatories, and what they’re used for.
The Domain Names table is for recording the domain names you own, how often they renew, what websites they’re used for, and who you pay to register them with.
The Hosted Websites table records the type of hosting you pay for, what domain name is used by the website, the frequency of renewal, and security status.
The SSL Certificates table is for recording all the details about any security you pay to your hosting provider to protect the information on your website.
The Receipt Tracker table is to upload, store, categorise & view receipts for expenses you incur in your business. It’s intended to be used as an electronic shoebox.
The Insurances table is where you record all the details about the policies you have in place, policy numbers, insurer details, policy status and expiry dates.
The Documents & Certificates table is where you can upload & categorise documents & certificates that relate to your business, e.g. ASIC Business Name Registration.
The Possessions table is for creating an inventory of your business’s possessions. The names and photos of the items you own, their value & insured status.
The Social Media Profiles table is where you can record the profiles you have, the email address used to access them, if they’re active or when they were shut down.
The Branding table is to record your business’s branding elements: colour HEX codes, old and new logos, font names & styles, and your branding guide.
The Testimonials table is where you can compile the testimonials you’ve requested, those you’ve received, who they were from and what service they relate to.
The Staff table is for recording information about your staff or contractors, their next of kin’s contact details, their roles, and the projects/tasks they’re responsible for.
The Timesheet table is to record information regarding what time has been spent on what projects and tasks for any given day, week, month or financial year.
The Invoices table records all the information regarding what invoices you’ve issued to clients, for what project & activities, and the status of their payment.
The Processes & Procedures table is where you can document all the processes & procedures required to run your business.
The Resources Library table is to record links and attachments to resources and reference material that you want to be able to access readily, e.g. price lists.
The Subscriptions, Memberships, Online Accounts & Contracted Services table is to track what accounts & subscriptions you have with different providers.
The Services table records, organises and displays all the details about the services you offer in your business: name of service, scope of in/exclusions and price.
The Contacts table is where you can record & categorise your business’s contacts’ details and link them to relevant projects, notes and resources.
The Projects table is where you record all the information to do with your internal (business) and external (client) projects: status, type and important dates.
The Tasks table is where you can detail all of your tasks, and organise them according to due dates, projects, contacts, notes and staff members.
The Notebook table is for recording and organising notes from phone calls, conversations, site inspections, design briefs, presentation outcomes, and design ideas.
The Quote Tracker table is where you can record all the requests for quotes that you issue: who to, what for, the status of the request and the outcome.
The Plant Database table is where you can build-up a robust repository of plant information that can be filtered according to type, habit, palettes and more.
The Turf Database table is where you can record, organise and display information about any turf you propose (or want to propose) in your designs.
I can work with you to design and build your very own Airtable Business Hub in one day, a VIP Day.
+ A day when I work for you exclusively.
+ Is conducted remotely.
+ Involves prior consultation around customisation requirements.
+ Is a total of eight (8) hours long.
+ Requires only 2.5 hours of your time on the day for the following three (3) Zoom calls:
> a 1-hour kick-off call, at 9am.
> a 30-minute lunchtime check-in call, at 12pm.
> a 1-hour handover call, at 4pm.
+ A robust Business Hub immediately fit-for-purpose.
+ Thirty (30) accompanying video tutorials so you’re not left high-and-dry with your new tool.
I have a clearly defined structure for the VIP Day that enables me to deliver the Business Hub in one eight (8) hour period:
I will send you a questionnaire prior to the VIP Day to collect all the information I need to know about you and your business.
I will review your homework and make a list of questions to go through with you at the beginning of the VIP Day.
The VIP Day begins at 9am with a Zoom call to address any outstanding questions and explain the structure for the day.
You go about your day while I build, customise & populate your Business Hub with the information you provided.
I will call you at midday to touch base and address any questions that have arisen for either of us.
At 4pm I will call you via Zoom to introduce and walk you through your very own Business Hub.
We will have two 1-hour Zoom calls to check-in with your progress and answer any questions that arise after the VIP Day.
You will be invited to join my private Facebook group for ongoing Airtable support .
I am Cass Ewing – Airtable evangelist, systems enthusiast, solutions junkie, and landscape architect.
I have 20+ years’ experience in the landscape design & construction industry and know all too well how tricky it can be to keep your finger-on-the-pulse with a multiple design projects.
Despite many years at the drawing board I always found myself gravitating towards the systems and processes required to enable projects to be delivered in a streamlined way.
I now work predominantly with self-employed women to reduce overwhelm in their business with simple, effective systems and have a particular interest in helping female landscape architects/designers manage their client expectations, timelines and communications without compromising their considered design solutions.
I get excited about the life I want to live, the places I want to go, the people I want to meet and the experiences I want to have.
I don’t get excited about wasting time looking for the information I need in order to make decisions about my business!
Does anyone?
Airtable is the place where I store all the information that weaves its way through my business and my life.
It enables me to access my information quickly so I can focus on planning and doing the things that excite me in life.
I help others do the same.
Yes and no.
Airtable has four pricing options – free, plus, pro and enterprise.
You don’t need to pay for an Airtable subscription in order to use the Business Hub.
All of its functionality is accessible from the free plan.
The short answer is, nothing.
The long answer is, everything.
Excel & Google Sheets can be a bit of a free-for-all because any sort of information can be recorded in any cell, row or sheet.
Airtable has robust functionality and a strong underlying structure which means that relationships can be established between the information you enter.
For example:
1. projects can be linked to more than one contact (e.g. the client, the landscape contractor/s, the plant supplier etc).
2. contacts can be linked to resources & reference materials (e.g. price lists).
3. projects can be linked to invoices to the client, and quotes from suppliers.
4. notes can be linked to contacts, or projects and categorised according to the type of note or date.
5. plant records can have multiple images attached.
The best thing? You can also choose how you want to view your information. For example:
a. contacts by project
b. projects by status
c. presentations by due date
d. notes by type or date
e. resources & reference material by category or creator/owner, etc.
You have greater control over what information goes where, how that information is linked to other information, and in what format it is organised and viewed.
Basically, Airtable is much, much nicer to use than Excel or Google Sheets!
The shortest is 5 minutes and the longest is 25 minutes.
In total, there is an additional 380 minutes of training that you will receive with your Business Hub in the form of video tutorials.
In addition to the 7 day and 28 day follow up calls, all of my VIP Day clients are invited to join to my private Facebook group for ongoing support with your Airtable Business Hub.
No.
The Airtable Business Hub is a digital product that will be populated with the information you provide to me and will be accessible to you immediately upon completion of the VIP Day.
No refunds are offered.
If you have questions you’d like answered in order to make a decision about booking a VIP Day with me, please reach out to me at hello@cassewing.com
Yes.
In order to use the Business Hub you will need an Airtable account.
Setting up an account should take you no more than 10 minutes and does not require any payment details.
If you decide to book a VIP Day you can either set up your account prior, or I can set it up on your behalf on the day.
Yes.
The free Airtable app is available for iOs and Android devices.
Airtable isn’t HIPPA compliant (which is an American standard of security aimed more towards the protection of patient’s sensitive healthcare information).
However, Airtable is a huge organisation with security protocols to match.
Like any software platform of course they’re at risk to opportunist breaches, but I’ve never heard of any.
Here’s a link to Airtable’s security statement: https://www.airtable.com/security?fbclid=IwAR3kDn772AQ6Iib5ccbLdF4RIM_1kNd2rf558D7vb4G8NfIYk–hTwBA_ao and https://support.airtable.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037398653-HIPAA-and-FERPA-compliance and here’s some further information regarding backups and security: https://support.airtable.com/hc/en-us/articles/203466199-Airtable-security-practices
There are ways to manually take ‘snap-shots’ of your data within Airtable.
The length of the ‘revision history’ that you’re snap-shotting depends on the plan you’re on. For free plans it’s 2 weeks for paid plans it’s 6 months.
You can also automate a backup if you want to as well.
There’s always the option to export your Airtable data as CSV files and then store that file separately (in Dropbox of Google Drive etc) if you want to.
I don’t think so, but I’m an Airtable evangelist!
I guess it depends how overwhelmed you’re feeling in your business at the moment. If you’re managing OK, then you may not require this Business Hub solution.
If you’re feeling a bit flustered by all the moving parts in all the different places, then I do believe it will benefit your business (and ultimately your life).
Even if you don’t intend to have staff there is still merit in establishing one place, a one-stop-shop where you go to locate the information you need to make decisions in your business.
I’m a sole trader in Australia with no employees and I use Airtable for everything. I use it all day for my business and most days for my life (I have a separate Life Hub set up to manage personal stuff).
For me it’s my electronic version of a filing cabinet that lets me record, organise, link, view, filter information in meaningful ways and access it readily and easily.
Let’s just say I’ve been doing a lot of shredding (of sticky-notes and random pieces of paper) since I introduced Airtable into my life!
It also allows me to streamline and automate many steps in my processes (through internal Airtable functions and external integrations) that frees up my time.
Ultimately, I don’t want to sell you something you don’t need and won’t use.
It’s a bit like selling someone a garden makeover that they’re not actually that motivated about using and have no intention of maintaining!
I do view Airtable a bit like a garden design solution: it will establish a ‘place’ in your business that you’ll want to hang out in, but, it will require work on your part, it will require decisions to be made, it will require an investment (of money & time), and ongoing maintenance. But!…I will be guiding you through the entire process in the same way that you do for your landscape design clients.
Stop flicking all over the place and start clicking in one place to locate the information you need!