A No-Code World

 

 

Software is eating the world, but it doesn’t have to eat you.

What follows is a profile of the most valuable new trend I see in technology: the emergence of “No-Code” software. With No-Code, you no longer need a team of programmers to build custom applications for your business.

Consider situations like these:

  • You have an unwieldy excel spreadsheet, vital to an important It is maintained by multiple people. Mistakes in the spreadsheet could compromise weeks or months of data. It’s a tenuous situation.
  • You have a process that relies on emails being forwarded, action taken, and forwarded to the next person. A missed email breaks the whole
  • Finally, a relevant enterprise system is on the one hand overpowered, but on the other doesn’t do exactly what you need.

Using No-Code tools I’ve built dozens of applications – some quite powerful – that address these types of situations. Tools like:

  • Custom CRMs
  • Project management tools
  • Time tracking applications
  • Work order system
  • Freight calculators
  • Customer pricing calculators

The Tools

The No-Code industry has boomed in the last two to three years. There are now dozens or hundreds of No-Code software platorms on the market, but these are a jew of my go-to’s:

1. Airtable is part Excel, part database. Great for anything where the main purpose is tracking stuff. Google “Guide to Airtable Views” to get an idea of what makes it so powerful.

2. Notion.so is ostensibly a not-taking app, but my team and I track everything we do here. The ability to nest notes inside tables, pages, calendars, etc, and collaborate real time with others is incredible.

3. Zapier lets you move data between completely different systems with just a few clicks.

4. Bubble is the most complex on this list. It takes effort to get used to, but allows you to build advanced, highly polished You could build a customer portal from scratch using a combination of Bubble and Zapier.

For a directory of No-Code tools, and tutorials, see Makerpad.co.

How to get started

Here’s my advice. Grab an enthusiastic employee with a techy bent, someone who has an idea of how your business works. Give them a problem and one week uninterrupted. You’ll be shocked at how far they get, and you’ll have a clear idea of what is possible at the end.

Bonus: give them my number and email and I’ll point them in the right direction.

The Upshot

Don’t be outflanked by competitors with an engineering team. You don’t need one. No-Code tools should be part of every petroleum marketer’s toolkit.

About Clearwater

Daylen is President of Clearwater Data Solutions, which builds Business Intelligence tools for petroleum marketers.

For more information,

contact Daylen Stoutin

at daylen@clearwaterdata.solutions

or 205-614-2143