OpsTwo

BACKGROUND

I am the Operations Coordinator of Ateliers Belleville

Ateliers Belleville is a creative workspace in Montréal for artists, artisans and makers. Our mission is to give independent creators affordable, well equipped spaces where they can work, grow their practice and be part of a community. We offer private studios rented on a monthly basis, in a range of sizes to suit different practices. Alongside the studios, our members have access to specialized shared workshops for woodworking, metalworking, ceramics and digital fabrication (fablab). These workshops give people access to professional tools and machines that would be out of reach for most individual creators.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

• Replace fragmented member management, contracts, billing, and access-control processes with a centralized operations system built around Airtable.
• Enable members to reserve workshops and equipment, purchase session packages, and obtain physical access based on bookings and certifications.
• Provide administrators and technicians with dedicated portals to manage members, billing, equipment, certifications, and support without using the Airtable backend.

SOLUTION

• Online Search
• Referral

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

2-5 Employees

Before working with them, our operations relied on several disconnected systems and a lot of manual work. Member management, contracts, billing, workshop reservations and building access were all handled separately, which took time and made it hard to keep information consistent.

Their team started by learning how we actually work. They mapped our workflows and requirements with us, planned the delivery in stages, and designed an Airtable system that now sits at the heart of our operations. On top of it, they built three connected portals. Our team uses the Admin portal to manage members, contracts and invoicing. Members use the Client portal to sign contracts, pay online and book time in our wood, metal, ceramics and fablab workshops. Technicians use their own portal to follow reservations and manage equipment certifications, so only trained members can book a given machine.

Behind the scenes, invoicing runs through QuickBooks Online, payments through Stripe, and door access through Alta, so access to the building and workshops follows each member’s status and bookings. Many administrative tasks that used to be manual now happen in one central place, making our operations simpler and more reliable.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Integrated workshop reservations with Avigilon Alta door access. Live testing confirmed wireless lock permission updates within approximately 40–60 seconds.

Automated recurring member invoicing through QuickBooks Online and implemented live Stripe payments for reservations and packages, eliminating manual billing steps from key workflows..

Nothing in this project could be taken off the shelf. Our way of working combines studio rentals, memberships, specialized workshops with separate personal and commercial rates, machine certifications and controlled building access. No existing software covered all of this, so their team built a system entirely around our reality. In many cases they also helped us define the workflows themselves, turning our everyday practices into a clear structure before building on top of it.

The results are concrete. They delivered three connected portals for administrators, members and technicians. Our members fully adopted the reservation portal, and since launch, all access to our specialized workshops goes through online booking. Support requests flow through a centralized ticketing system, and the Admin portal now holds the files of our entire membership. The whole system, built on Airtable, connects through a custom API to Alta, which controls the doors and workshop hardware, and syncs in real time with QuickBooks Online, so recurring billing is now automated.

Reliability has been just as impressive. Every launch so far has gone smoothly, without a single crash, which is remarkable for an application this custom. We now have a system that fits the way we work instead of the other way around.

Their project management was excellent. Every deliverable arrived on time, and the work was organized in clear sprints with three meetings per week, which kept us closely involved and gave us full visibility on progress. Between meetings, the team was always very accessible and quick to respond, whether we needed a bug fixed or a new change made.

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

What impressed us most was the way they handled change. Because the project was so custom, our needs evolved a lot along the way, and sometimes we had to go back on ideas we had already agreed on. Their team always handled these changes with understanding and grace, adapting the work without friction or frustration. They never made us feel that changing our minds was a problem, and they always found an elegant way to integrate new directions into what was already built. That kind of flexibility, combined with such reliable delivery, is rare and very precious in a development partner.

Honestly, there is very little we would change. Their team put real effort into defining our workflows from the start. Most of the back and forth came from our side, as our own ideas evolved during the project, and they always adapted with great flexibility.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the director of College Money Method, a financial services company. We guide students and families through the financial aid process, simplifying complex steps and offering strategies to make college more affordable.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with OpsTwo?

We needed support in implementing Airtable to create more scale and efficiency for the business. We also wanted to automate data flows between multiple software and create an app to present this data to our clients.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

OpsTwo's team first sought to understand our business and how it was structured. They also looked into our business objectives and the outcomes we wanted. After that, they reviewed the technologies we had in place and recommended complimentary technologies to accomplish our business outcomes. Finally, they delivered a full-stack solution.

The main deliverables were an automated workflow, a complete data structure, and a customer-facing app for real-time data consumption.

What is the team composition?

We worked with one teammate from OpsTwo.

How did you come to work with OpsTwo?

We found OpsTwo through a referral from Podcast Movement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July–August 2024. Since then, we've continued to engage with OpsTwo for other solutions, and they've become an integral part of our business.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We saved about 10 hours per week in manual work through automation. We also had a customer-facing app that delivered the data and information customers wanted. As a result, we spent less time communicating with clients and had higher client satisfaction.

How did OpsTwo perform from a project management standpoint?

OpsTwo delivered ahead of schedule and was responsive. We primarily communicated through Zoom meetings and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We were impressed by OpsTwo's ability to automate anything and create huge value with time savings. They also had deep knowledge of Airtable and automation technologies.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don't have feedback on anything OpsTwo could have done better or differently.