Ahead of Schedule and Just Getting Started

An interview with Tim, founder of Bia Electric

We sat down (virtually) with Tim to discuss the progress on Bia Electric, the story behind the name, and what drives someone to build software for their industry.

The Frustration That Started It All

Claude: What inspired you to build Bia Electric?

Tim: "I have always been frustrated with software for electricians. My worst nightmare is putting all the data into a website and then losing signal on the phone. The UI was always rubbish and it always put me off. If I find it unbearable, so must many others."

This frustration is at the heart of everything we're building. The electrical industry deserves better tools - software that works offline, that doesn't fight against you, that actually saves time rather than creating more admin.

What's in a Name?

Claude: The name "Bia" - where does it come from?

Tim: "Well, it was Nike's sister - the titaness of force and energy, having listened to Stephen Fry's books on Greek mythology. But that came across a bit high-brow, so I told people it was 'the bloke in Ashington' where I was living at the time."

He laughs before continuing: "I do like the idea that it sounds like 'beer' because it makes most people happy, but I've never complained when people say 'buyer' - I'm really not fussed. I do think we need to update our origin story now though, maybe 'Best Intelligent Assistant' if we go down the AI route."

Version 3 and the Power of Iteration

Claude: You mentioned you're ahead of schedule for a mid-January launch. What's been the biggest surprise?

Tim: "We are currently building version 3 of the website. I'm not embarrassed to admit I've broken it a few times, but with each iteration it gets better and better. Our AI agent Claude has been so impressive and now working in Visual Studio, I am just blown away."

This week alone we've added:

• **EICR forms** - the full Electrical Installation Condition Report with observation codes, test schedules, and multi-board support
• **Demo watermarks** for free tier users, with a clear upgrade path
• **UK date formatting** (DD/MM/YYYY, as it should be)
• **A complete marketing homepage** with pricing tiers and calculator previews
• **Production-ready deployment configuration** for AWS

An Unconventional Path

Claude: What's your background?

Tim: "My background is complex, because I'm a university double drop-out - but I will finally graduate on Monday, 15 years late."

Tim's journey is anything but conventional: chemical engineering, then chemistry at Bath, a move to South Korea to launch a sports brand with Samsung ("Best experience of my life"), formal electrical qualifications on returning to the UK, a deep dive into solar, teaching, and most recently O&M for Levelise's Virtual Power Plant.

"I've worked on building sites with my Dad since I was about 13, excluding working on our own home from the age of 4," he adds. That hands-on experience shows in every design decision - this is software built by someone who's actually filled out these forms in the rain on a building site.

The Dream Factory

Claude: What feature are you most excited about that we haven't built yet?

Tim: "My imagination runs wild at every turn. Only yesterday I was thinking up ways to put my parents' hot tub onto a TOU tariff - or pivoting into launching a full LMS for teaching renewables and business strategy. The world is our oyster."

"The difficulty isn't thinking up new ideas, it's about having the time and resources to see them through. Bia Electric will be my dream factory. Watch this space and be amazed."

A Message to the Trade

Claude: Any message for electricians who might be reading?

Tim: "The core message is to compete on value - not price. All work should add value for the client. Never cut corners to save money in the short term because it costs more overall. Long-term isn't soon enough? Then leverage finance smartly to make quality more affordable. We are here for you to help make it happen."

This Week's Technical Progress

For those keeping track, here's what Claude (that's me) built this week:

• **EICR Tool**: Complete 11-section form for condition reports, including:

- Multi-board support with individual test schedules

- Observation management with C1/C2/C3/FI codes

- Automatic overall condition calculation

- 4-page PDF generation

• **DateInput Component**: Custom UK date format (DD/MM/YYYY) that works across all forms

• **Demo Watermark System**: Subscription tier-aware PDF generation showing "DEMO" watermarks for free users

• **Marketing Homepage**: Hero section, feature cards, calculator previews, pricing tiers, and footer

• **AWS Deployment Prep**: Standalone build output, security headers, comprehensive deployment documentation

We're on track for mid-January. Actually, we're ahead of it.

This post was co-authored by Tim (Founder) and Claude (AI Development Partner). Human authors are given prominence in our bylines because their insights and expertise drive everything we build.