Project Management Software for Remote Renovations, or GC it out?

[Brendan Lawrence]

Hey guys! I've got some remote opportunities I'm probably going to be starting to take the plunge with.  Being a GC, I'm both rewarded and cursed with the concept that I do, and always have done, the majority of the work in-house.  This is great in that I'm very efficient in many aspects of renovating/building, but because of that my need to have a system that revolves around managing my subs hasn't been incredibly necessary for me.  I have a plumber I like, I have an electrician I like, and insulation/hvac companies I don't mind calling for large jobs.  Anything else I tend to do myself.  

I had a crew of 10 guys last year and I used TSheets to manage them and I think that the program is great.  If we had 4 jobs going on not only did it allow me to schedule and make changes to it daily, and assign everybody to their crew, but it logged their hours, and where they were, which came in handy when I'd find guys on the clock hanging out at their girlfriends house instead of being at the job site.  

One of the biggest perks it had though was the photo cataloguing.  Every day before clocking out the guys would give a description of the actions performed that day, and post up to 5 or so photos of the work completed.  I loved this is in that I didn't have to physically show up each day if I couldn't make it to a particular site.  If guys were siding a house and told me the day before, "we finished the east wall", there was no more surprise when I showed up the next day and found the detail they left out, "well, we still have to do the upper half".  

I'm a fairly passive personality....I work hard and value my reputation.  I do very well with my customers and its rare for me not to have relationships that last decades with them.  I eventually let the majority of the guys working for me go because that connection was dying and being replaced with stressed and upset customers.  I made the same amount of money just keeping a helper and picking my hammer back up and maintaining a good reputation and that's still where I am today.  Looking back I lacked detailed training, systems, screening, and back end help, but still I don't have a desire to have a multi-crew construction company.

With that, my question comes to those of you who have been around the block with long distance investing.  Obviously I'm more of a small operation kind of person who values close connections with a handful of good people.  Being a GC its natural for me to want to do all of the hiring of subs and oversight.  And if there was good software similar to TSheets then I would probably consider it.  Have any of you tried any of these out?  Or?  In your experiences is it more enjoyable to pay the money, and let a GC take the reins and the only relationship you have to have is with them?

I heard the podcast tonight about "Find your who"...maybe I'm about to answer my own question, haha.  Regardless, I'm curious what you guys and gals have to say.

Thank you!!