Bizwiz program attracts awards, customers

Jesse Waltz spent some time searching for software that would help him better handle the day-to-day operation of his foundation repair business when he was traveling. When he couldn’t find anything suitable, he decided to create his own.

Today more than 225 companies in the United States and Canada are using his Web-based software product, Bizwiz.

KBH Business Management Systems, a Virginia Beach-based company Waltz and his wife, Stella, started in 2007, developed Bizwiz. The couple also own JES Foundation Repair, which they founded in 1993. “The software was born out of the need for up-to-the-minute reporting on everything associated with JES, from marketing for generating a sales lead to completing the installation of a job and collecting a check,” says Waltz.

The program provides information and also tracks the entire “cradle-to- grave process for each customer, from the time the customer asks about a product or service to the time of final payment,” Waltz says.

KBH, of which Bizwiz is a part of, now has about 35 employees and JES has a workforce of 240.

The Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce named Bizwiz its Small Business of the Year for Virginia Beach in April and then in June named it Small Business of the Year for the Hampton Roads region.  

Bizwiz is used by a variety of businesses, including contractors, painters and service companies.

“It’s for anyone who markets their service and schedules appointments for sales, installation and service,” Waltz says. “It lets people grow their business by knowing their business, because it gives them information on which to make sound business decisions, such as where to put advertising dollars, whether or not to hire more sales staff and whether or not to expand the installation team.”  

Mobile apps have been developed for salespeople, installers, service techs and owners, making the process paperless.   

Waltz conducts annual Bizwiz Summits at his Virginia Beach headquarters for new users of the software and established customers. He also offers private business coaching for owners.

Waltz says the software has helped him learn more about his business. “I can approach the business decisions I have to make with more confidence than I ever imagined,” he says. “The big picture with all of this is that Bizwiz helps other business grow, too. That, in turn, grows KBH and allows us to do more for even more contractors.”