Business Lab

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of 1-Koolitus, an Estonian training center offering both online and offline courses. We provide practice-oriented training courses with career support, organized in a hybrid format, and operate within the framework of Estonia's employment programs.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Business Lab?

Our company was facing multiple operational challenges, including managing our client base in Google Docs, sending newsletters via Gmail, limited functionality of our WordPress website, and the lack of a unified system for tracking calls and analyzing advertising activity. We hired Business Lab to help us solve these challenges.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Business Lab managed the full-cycle implementation of our digital ecosystem based on Zo One. The scope of work included business process analysis, CRM implementation, email marketing automation, webinar system integration, call tracking setup, WhatsApp automation, document management, and website integration. The main deliverables were a fully functioning, centralized CRM system, automated communication flows, connected phone and webinar tools, training and onboarding sessions for our team, and documentation and support for future scaling.

We continue to work with them for ongoing support, system optimization, and the rollout of new features as our training center grows.

One of the main challenges we faced was migrating from a fragmented set of tools — including Google Docs, Gmail, WordPress plugins, and third-party webinar services — into a single, unified system without disrupting our day-to-day operations.

We also had concerns about:

• Losing client data during the transition,
• Maintaining our existing phone number,
• And ensuring staff adoption of the new tools.
• Business Lab handled these challenges professionally:
• They carefully mapped our existing workflows, ensuring a smooth migration and no data loss.

They integrated Zadarma to preserve our business phone number and call history.

They provided training and clear documentation to help our team adapt to Zoho tools quickly.

When technical issues arose, such as configuring third-party services like Twilio or synchronizing website forms, they responded quickly and offered practical, effective solutions

What is the team composition?

We work closely with a core team of two specialists from Business Lab. One is responsible for business process analysis and project coordination, while the other handles the technical implementation and integrations. Whenever needed, additional experts are involved for specific tasks like CRM customization or third-party service configuration.

How did you come to work with Business Lab?

We chose Business Lab because of their deep expertise in the Zo ecosystem and their strategic, business-oriented approach. While other providers focused mainly on technical implementation, Business Lab took the time to understand our processes and offered a tailored solution that fit our goals as a training company. Another important factor was that their team communicates fluently in Russian, which made the collaboration much smoother and more effective for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent approximately $2,500–$3,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2024, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The collaboration with Business Lab has delivered several clear, measurable outcomes. We’ve seen a 30% reduction in operational costs by consolidating tools into Zo One and eliminating third-party subscriptions. Our lead response time has improved by approximately 50% — we can now respond to leads within 12–24 hours or even faster in most cases. Our ad campaign performance has improved thanks to CRM-based tagging and analytics that allow us to track sources and effectiveness.

Webinar attendance rates have increased by around 35%, and we continue to see improvement as we refine our process. Our internal processes that used to take hours are now handled automatically, leading to better team efficiency.

How did Business Lab perform from a project management standpoint?

Business Lab’s project management has been excellent. They work in a structured and transparent way, with clear milestones, timelines, and regular updates. Every phase has been well-organized and delivered on time. The team is highly responsive to our needs. Whether we have urgent questions, change requests, or technical issues, they react quickly and always provide practical solutions. Their ability to adapt to our pace and support us in both English and Russian makes the whole process smooth and stress-free.

Communication and collaboration with Business Lab have been excellent throughout the entire project. Their team is highly responsive, organized, and proactive in addressing our questions and concerns. Their ability to explain complex technical solutions in simple terms makes decision-making easy for us. The fact that they provide full support in Russian significantly improves clarity and comfort for our team. Their transparency and structured project management include regular updates, clear timelines, and documented progress.

Our primary communication channels are email and Zoom, supported by Telegram for quick updates and questions. This mix allows us to have structured discussions during video calls while keeping day-to-day communication fast and flexible. The Business Lab team is always responsive and easy to reach, which makes collaboration smooth and efficient.

The entire project took approximately 6 weeks from initial consultation to full implementation. This included process mapping, system setup, integrations, testing, and team training.

Business Lab met all agreed-upon deadlines, often delivering ahead of schedule. Their structured approach and proactive communication helped us stay on track, even when we had internal delays. Overall, the timeline was realistic, and the execution was smooth and efficient.

What did you find most impressive about them?

What impresses us most about Business Lab is their ability to combine deep technical expertise with a clear business mindset. They don’t just implement Zo tools — they take time to understand how our training center operates and tailor every solution to our actual workflows and goals. We also appreciate their proactive communication and structured approach, their focus on long-term scalability, and their willingness to adapt.

Are there any areas they could improve?

If we had to mention one area for improvement, it would be to have more structured documentation from the very beginning — especially for custom workflows and integrations. While the team is always available to explain things, having a centralized reference early on would have made internal training even smoother. That said, once we brought this up, they quickly provided the documentation we needed.