Gian Bortolotti runs Ibeam São Paulo, a production services company in Brazil that has worked on corporate events, concerts, and theater shows for more than 30 years. Ibeam supplies the equipment and crew to deliver large-scale events for its agency clients.
“We are very specialized in projection for large events,” Gian says. Over the years, that focus has helped Ibeam build a substantial collection of projection and AV equipment, managed from its warehouse in São Paulo. It also presented an opportunity: other technical companies could rent the equipment without hiring Ibeam’s full production team.
Ibeam is now developing an AV rental side of the business. While agencies remain its main customers for production services, the rental offering is aimed at technical companies with their own crews that need access to equipment.
To support the launch, Ibeam is setting up a rental website with Booqable’s website builder, where prospective clients can browse its catalog and request equipment. The team has also chosen Booqable to manage rental inventory, orders, and customer details.
Managing availability automatically
Ibeam already manages equipment for its production work using a proprietary FileMaker system. Rental introduces a different workflow: equipment may leave with another company for varying lengths of time, so the team needs to know what is committed to each rental and when it is due back.
Booqable gives Ibeam tools to manage that workflow:
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Stock and availability: The team can add products and stock quantities, then track availability against rental orders entered into Booqable.
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Individual equipment tracking: Stock items can be tracked separately, which is useful for high-value projection gear.
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Pickup and return planning: Rental orders give the warehouse team a view of what is scheduled to go out and come back.
Inventory management stood out to Gian from the start. With a team of 20 and a warehouse already handling production jobs, a clear view of rental stock will help staff plan what is going out and coming back. To keep that view accurate across both parts of the business, Ibeam will also need to account for equipment committed to production jobs in FileMaker.
Organizing orders for new rental clients
For Gian, one of the biggest challenges in launching rentals is reaching and serving a new group of clients. Ibeam’s production business has grown through long-standing agency relationships. AV rental will bring in technical companies with their own contacts, orders, and paperwork.
Booqable gives the team a dedicated place to manage those rental relationships:
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Customer profiles store contact details and order history.
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Quotes, contracts, and invoices can be generated from rental orders.
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Payments and reports help the team follow orders and see how its rental products are performing.
This gives Ibeam a dedicated workflow for rental clients as it develops the new service alongside its established production business.
Making room for rental in the portfolio
Ibeam is at the beginning of its AV rental launch, but Gian has a clear goal for the coming years: “Getting rental a space in our portfolio.”
With decades of projection experience and an existing equipment collection, Ibeam has a foundation for the new offering. Its next step is to make that equipment accessible to technical companies and build a rental operation around the clients it brings in.
