I hope you have enjoyed reading about the 10 finalists from the Dell/NFIB Small Business Excellence Award program as much as we’ve enjoyed sharing their stories with you. We covered our finalists in no particular order, and I’m excited to introduce our next finalist, BusinesSuites based in Austin, Texas.
Anyone who has managed an office for a business knows it can be an expensive undertaking. And when an entrepreneur sets out to set-up an office that is professional, productive and client ready can really be cost prohibitive. That’s exactly where the team at BusinesSuites steps in. Much like the software-as-a-service model, they offer clients subscription-based office space and services. Clients are not burdened with the expense of long-term leases and pay only for the services they need or use in a given month.
It goes without saying that the success of BusinesSuites is based on the satisfaction of their clients and they have turned to IT to help deliver a great customer experience. Clients rely on BusinesSuites for a complete back-office solution – they are acting as office manager, IT department, receptionist – and sometimes a right hand.
BusinesSuites manages their network at each location which means they can ensure the quality of the Internet service their clients use and provide services like remote printing to printers with commercial capabilities and direct connection to overnight shipping. They have also automated the move-in and move-out processes and created a custom satisfaction survey for clients from which they implement great ideas to improve the space. By making their IT infrastructure as plug and play as possible, they are able to get clients up and running quickly. They have even used this service to help get local businesses up and running after natural disasters.
Seven years ago, BusinesSuites reports it was struggling and embarked on a significant technology plan to address their challenges. The move has paid off, they have reduced costs, improved their client experience, leveraged a smaller infrastructure and boosted profits.
The team is also using technology internally to help grow the company. BusinesSuites has 55 employees spread across 16 offices making staff collaboration difficult at times. Today the team stores information at a collocation facility and uses web-based systems for billing, sales, marketing, client information and meeting room scheduling. This means any employee can access any information they need 24/7. I really enjoyed learning they have implemented a BusinesSuites wiki as well which has become their internal hub for sharing information and best practices.
Congratulations to BusinesSuites!