We watched trade businesses drown in admin. This is the tool they should have had.
Foxspec isn't a startup looking for a problem. It's a response to a pattern we saw in every trade business we talked to: skilled people spending their evenings on admin instead of their families, their hobbies, or just rest.
Three problems, every trade, every time.
We spent months talking to trade business owners in New Zealand and Australia. Electricians, tilers, fencers, roofers, builders, plumbers. Different trades, different cities, different sizes - from solo operators to 15-person teams.
The same three problems came up in every conversation:
None of these are technology problems. They're time problems. The existing tools either don't solve them (spreadsheets, email) or solve them badly (enterprise SaaS designed for office workers, not tradespeople).
Calm software for busy people.
Foxspec is not trying to automate your business. Automation implies the human isn't needed. In a trade business, the human IS the business - their judgment, their relationships, their craft.
What we're building is an operations layerthat handles the parts of running a trade business that aren't the trade itself. Quotes that draft themselves from your saved rates. Compliance packs that assemble on demand. Crew readiness visible at a glance.
The AI works in the background. You see only what needs a signature or a click. The emotional goal is simple: relief and trust- “this thing just works.”
We don't use the word “disruption.” We don't claim to replace your judgment. We don't gamify your workflow. We just want your evenings back.
Principles, not just features.
AI assists, you approve
Ghost Admin drafts quotes, flags expiries, and triages your inbox. Nothing goes out without your sign-off. The AI is a first pass, not a final say.
Compliance is a feature, not a chore
Every trade has licences, insurance, training records, and site-specific safety docs. We track them per person, surface renewals early, and assemble packs on demand.
Built for teams, not just owners
Crew seats at $5/mo give field staff what they need - job details, evidence capture, offline sync. No forced upgrades, no feature bloat for people who just need the address.
Offline-first, built for bad reception
Evidence capture, job details, and compliance updates work without signal. Everything syncs when you’re back in range. Built for sheds with tin roofs.
Trade-aware, not generic
Tiling has waterproofing certs. Electrical has EWRB licences. Roofing has height safety SWMS. We know the difference, and the system reflects it.
Fair pricing, no surprises
Pay per seat, per role. Owner seats include everything. Office seats handle quoting and CRM. Crew seats cover the field. Tender credits are usage-based - you only pay when you extract.
Built slowly, built right.
Talked to 40+ trade businesses across NZ and AU. Same three problems everywhere: quoting after hours, compliance lapses, crew coordination.
Built the first extraction engine for tender PDFs. Proved that trade-specific AI (not generic ChatGPT) could read a 200-page spec and produce a priced BoQ.
Foxspec enters closed alpha. Onboarding trade businesses in cohorts - tilers, fencers, roofers, electricians. Building with real users, not assumptions.
Open beta. More trades. More integrations. The same calm, opinionated platform - just for more people.
Built in Aotearoa. Operating across NZ & AU.
Foxspec is a New Zealand company. We store data in the AU (Sydney) region. We understand NZ Privacy Act and AU Privacy Principles because we operate under them. We know AS/NZS standards because our users work to them. And we build for trade businesses because we believe skilled tradespeople deserve software as good as their craft.
Interested? We're onboarding in small cohorts.
We're not doing a big launch. We're onboarding trade businesses one at a time, helping each one set up properly, and learning from how they actually use the product. If that sounds like your kind of thing, join the waitlist.
Get on the waitlist. We'll open seats as we're ready.
We're onboarding trade businesses in cohorts so we can actually help each one set up properly. Leave your email and we'll be in touch before launch.