Inspired Business Services: Delivering customized applications with Zoho Creator

About the company

Inspired Business Services is a Victoria, Australia-based company offering a comprehensive suite of solutions to streamline business operations. The company boasts three distinct divisions, each catering to specific client needs:

• Inspired Communications: This flagship division emerged from the strategic acquisition of four smaller telecommunications franchises. Inspired Communications leverages its expertise to provide clients with reliable and efficient communication solutions.
• Inspired Waste Solutions: Recognizing a growing market need, Inspired Business Services established Inspired Waste Solutions. This division capitalizes on its expertise in waste reselling and brokering, offering clients customized waste management solutions.
• Inspired IT Services: Responding to the challenges faced by businesses relocating their offices, Inspired Business Services launched Inspired IT Services. This division provides a comprehensive range of IT services to ensure a smooth and efficient relocation process.

The company became a Zoho Partner and has been using Zoho Creator extensively to create custom applications for its clients.

Challenges faced by Inspired Business Services' clients

• Manual data entry and error-prone processes: Many clients were struggling with manual data entry from spreadsheets and CSV files, leading to errors and inefficiencies.
• Lack of integration between systems: Clients were using disjointed systems for different functions, creating data silos and hindering communication.
• Ineffective customer management: Some clients lacked a proper system for managing customer inquiries and bookings.

The solution: Zoho Creator

Inspired Business Services leveraged Zoho Creator, a low-code application development platform, to create customized solutions for their clients. Here are some examples:

• Automated invoice processing: This application automates data entry from supplier invoices, reducing manual work and errors.
• Marketing calendar and collaboration: This is a shared calendar that streamlines marketing activities and integrates with Zoho Social for easy campaign management.
• Restaurant booking system: This application automates call answering and booking management, and integrates with existing telephony and point-of-sale systems. It also provides detailed reports for restaurant owners.
• Dental lab order portal: This secure portal allows dentists to send orders directly to the lab, eliminating the need for expensive third-party platforms. The system tracks the order status and facilitates communication.
• Gym management system: This bespoke application, currently under development, aims to replace an existing system, Mindbody. It will manage leads, sales, user logins, personalized recommendations, and payments.
• Laundry management: Tak utilized Zoho Creator's app gallery to customize a laundry management application, expanding its functionality to manage the booking process. The team can now create bookings when receiving calls, triggering notifications to the driver with pickup location details. After picking up the laundry, the driver can update the job status in the app, which will then send a confirmation email to the hotel's representative.

At the time of writing, the Inspired Business team was also setting up call support for a chain of corporate laundromats that cater to hotels and B&Bs.

Benefits and ROI

• Efficiency and time savings: Zoho Creator significantly reduced manual efforts, enabling Inspired Business Services' to focus resources on more strategic tasks, leading to increased efficiency.
• Enhanced collaboration: The platform facilitates seamless collaboration with third-party vendors, improving communication and data sharing.
• Improved data accuracy: Automated checks and balances within Zoho Creator ensure greater data accuracy, reducing errors in billing and invoicing processes.
• Cost savings: Despite initial challenges with misquoting due to licensing complexities, overall efficiency gains contributed to cost savings over time.
• Revenue growth: The introduction of Zoho Creator apps, such as the restaurant telephony system, opened new revenue streams, with an estimated $80,000 generated in the past 4-5 months.

Future plans

Inspired Business Services plans to continue developing custom Zoho Creator applications for its clients. The team is excited about the upcoming Zoho Creator features, which will offer new functionalities like AI capabilities. The company also aims to expand its Zoho partnership and become a full-fledged reseller.