Doug Miller knows what it takes to start and scale innovative companies in the multifamily residence industry.
But his new business endeavor, launching the industry’s first-ever corporate social responsibility consulting platform, came with a unique set of obstacles.
Company-wide technology decisions were always a key part of his responsibilities. But now the success of ManagInc, his new company, would depend on it. He needed a powerful, custom-fitted online database to manifest this cutting-edge idea without breaking the bank.
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Finding a Custom Solution for an Innovative Business Plan
Doug created ManagInc to make it easier for multifamily residence property owners to practice Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) while getting rewarded for it. He set out looking for a robust, cloud-based platform that could reliably host an audit and award system for clients to evaluate and manage resident and employee retention programs.
“While I did not know exactly what technology we needed to build our platform, I knew the general nature of what needed to be built,” Doug said. “I had experience with developers in the past, and knew I wanted to find a system to create our platform on as opposed to starting from scratch.”
Building a Comprehensive Platform with Powerful Pre-Built Services
Not long after entering a Kintone trial, Doug was building and deploying custom applications and features.
“What hit me was, 'Wow, we provide a spreadsheet and you build an app,” Doug said. As Doug’s team was starting small, it was even more essential to build a highly self-managed, completely contained system that did not require a large staff.
The Kintone team customized the CSR platform further with JavaScript and REST APIs, granular permission rights, and development of graphs, charts, and reports. The goal was to allow Doug’s staff to focus on taking care of clients and delivering quality service from the get-go.
“We preceded to build a very detailed spreadsheet with everything from drop-down menus for responses, to formulas for what percentage of points you got,” he said. “Based on your response you get a different number of points for each section of the audit. All sections are tabulated to determine their rating and if they’re applicable for any awards.”
Saving Time to Focus on Business Growth
As a result, Doug could focus on growing his business instead of spending time and resources building a platform from the ground up. Kintone’s powerful pre-built services enabled him to build exactly what he wanted without having to start from scratch, and “the cost blew me away,” he said. “I was expecting to be spending easily triple. Not with Kintone.”
Since rolling out, ManagInc has signed six clients in just two months with many contracts pending at the end of 2016. As ManagInc grows, Doug expects Kintone to be an essential part of ManagInc’s growth and productivity. “The Kintone system has been performing great,” he said. “It’s easy to use and setting up new clients takes very little time.”
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