ElectroQuoteFast started with a clear problem: electrical contractors were spending hours per week generating quotes in spreadsheets, tracking jobs on whiteboards, and managing compliance documents in paper folders. The software alternatives available were either generic tools that required significant configuration, or expensive enterprise systems with more features than a small contractor would ever use.
We built ElectroQuoteFast as a vertical SaaS product — software designed specifically for one industry, with every feature purpose-built for how electrical contractors actually work. Here is how we approached it.
Starting With the Workflow, Not the Features
Before writing any code, we mapped the typical workflow of an electrical contractor: receive enquiry → visit site → generate quote → get approval → schedule job → complete work → handle compliance paperwork → issue invoice → get paid. Every feature in the product corresponds to a step in this workflow. Anything that does not map to a real step does not get built.
The discipline of mapping features to workflow steps is what keeps vertical SaaS products from becoming bloated. Every feature has a justification: which step does this support, and who uses it?
Technical Architecture Decisions
Multi-tenancy from Day One
We chose a shared-database, schema-per-tenant multi-tenancy model. Each contractor company gets their own database schema, providing meaningful data isolation without the operational overhead of managing hundreds of separate databases. Every API request resolves the tenant from the JWT and injects it into the database context automatically.
Tech Stack
- Frontend: Next.js 15 with App Router — server components for data-heavy views, client components for interactive elements.
- Backend: Node.js API with TypeScript — strict typing throughout, Zod for runtime validation.
- Database: PostgreSQL with schema-per-tenant isolation and Drizzle ORM.
- Billing: Stripe for subscription management, usage metering, and invoice generation.
- Infrastructure: AWS (ECS for API, RDS for database, S3 for document storage).
- PDF generation: Puppeteer for professional quote and invoice PDFs.
The Quote Builder
The quote builder is the core feature. Contractors select job type, add materials from a searchable catalogue with real-time pricing, add labour line items with configurable rates, apply margin, and generate a professional PDF in one click. The quote is emailed directly to the client with an embedded approval link — no back-and-forth required.
We pre-populate a materials catalogue with standard electrical components and their typical costs. Contractors can customise pricing for their preferred suppliers and add their own items. This is the part of the product that consistently gets the most positive feedback — what used to take 45 minutes now takes under 2.
Compliance Documentation
Electrical work requires compliance certificates and inspection reports that must be retained for regulatory purposes. We built a digital certificate module that generates these documents from structured data entered during the job, stores them against the job record, and makes them available for download at any time. For contractors who previously managed this in paper folders or email threads, this alone justifies the subscription.
What We Learned
- Vertical SaaS wins because it speaks the user's language — using industry-specific terminology in the UI matters more than we expected.
- Mobile responsiveness is non-negotiable — contractors access the system from sites, vans, and job locations on their phones.
- PDF quality signals professionalism — contractors judge the product partly by how their quotes look to their own clients.
- Stripe's billing infrastructure is worth the complexity — self-serve subscription management removes an entire category of support burden.
What's Next
The roadmap includes integration with popular accounting platforms for automatic invoice sync, AI-powered material cost estimation from job descriptions, and a customer portal where homeowners and businesses can view job progress, approve quotes, and access their compliance documents. Vertical SaaS products win by going deeper into one industry's workflow — not wider into adjacent markets.