Finding a unique need within a multi-billion dollar industry is no easy task, but Zachary Schiffman found one. He noticed that wedding guests needed a more personable way to leave a message than a guest book. That’s why he started At The Beep and has grown it massively. Eventually, inventory management became too much to handle, and he started using Booqable.
The wedding and event industry is a multi-billion dollar global industry, and it’s fair to say many of its needs have solutions and are being met. However, there will always be people who are innovating in this space. It only takes one great idea to make an impact, and it’s fair to say that this was achieved when Zach founded At The Beep.
At The Beep
In 2021, Zachary Schiffman founded At The Beep after the success of his photo booth business, Selfmatic, in Australia and the UK. He saw a unique need in the wedding and event industry for a new way for guests to leave messages. They wanted something more personable than signing a written guest book and got to work on an alternative.
At The Beep offers retro rotary phones that have been retrofitted with a computer and microphone inside. This allows people to record personal messages for their hosts (you can listen to examples on their website), which can be listened to and shared later on. They mainly cater to social events like weddings and parties but have started expanding into corporate.
These rotary phones are shipped to customers across Australia and the UK, and they just need to plug them in and turn them on. As they don’t require attendants, guests are more comfortable recording messages, and it’s much more convenient than writing a heartfelt message (especially when they’ve had a few drinks).
Too many calls
This product sounds great, right? Well, At The Beep’s, customers thought so too. The company saw an incredible response to their rotary phones, and it quickly became apparent that managing orders would be complex. Soon, they were growing faster, and it became challenging to have an overview of all their orders.
This rapid growth led to issues in overseeing their inventory, which led to overbooking and logistical issues. Both things that a business owner who’s growing their brand new rental business wants to see. It became apparent that Zach needed to find a solution that would allow him to automate bookings and manage his inventory.
A game-changer
Zach found Booqable and saw that it offered a vital feature that became a game-changer for At The Beep. This feature is Bundles which solves a problem with how customers book their rotary phones. This problem was that the company only stocks a limited number of phones but offers a wide range of faceplate colors to their customers.
Previously, this meant that customers could potentially book a faceplate that didn’t have a phone to go with it, meaning the item would be double booked. However, Zach was able to use the bundling feature within Booqable to offer customers a choice of colors while ensuring that the stock of phones isn’t overbooked due to lower volume.
This has meant that he no longer faces inventory issues due to overbooking and has wiped out any logistical issues that could arise. It has been paired with their online store to allow customers to book rotary phones with whatever color faceplate they want. This ensures that the process is smooth on the front and back end and keeps customers satisfied with their service.
Many more message
Zach is pleased with the success he has achieved since adding Booqable to this website. He loves that customers can take care of themselves, and he can continue to get bookings without any need for customer interaction with his team. In addition, he likes that he can view orders and assign inventory from his iPhone with the Booqable app.
He is now focused on growing At The Beep even more as he expands from social events, like weddings and birthdays. He has corporate events in his sights as they constantly evolve, and he has already received interest from more significant customers. Who knows what his next incredible idea will be?
