OpsVue for Balloon Decorators

Run your balloon business from first inquiry to final strike in one system.

Balloon decor has a deceptively heavy back office. The design conversation happens in DMs, the proposal is a PDF you rebuild every time, the deposit arrives through a payment app that knows nothing about the event, and the install details live in a text thread you scroll through in the parking lot. None of it is connected, and every new booking makes it worse.

OpsVue puts each event on one work record: the inspiration images, the proposal and every revision of it, the client's recorded acceptance, the deposit and balance, the supplies and frames it needs, the install and strike schedule, and the finished photos. When the same client calls next spring, the whole history is one search away.

It also speaks your language. During setup you tell OpsVue what you call things (installs, strikes, proposals), and those are the words you see in the app — and the words your clients see on their documents.

The problems this solves

What keeps breaking when it gets busy

Proposals eat your evenings

Every design means re-typing line items, hunting for photos of past work, and pricing from memory. The proposal that should take twenty minutes takes the night shift after an install.

The design changes after the deposit

A second arch gets added, the colors shift, the backdrop grows a logo panel. When pricing lives in a PDF, nobody can say which version the client actually agreed to — or what the new balance is.

Deposits are chased, not collected

The client is excited, then the momentum dies waiting on a transfer with no paper trail connecting it to the event. Until the deposit lands, that Saturday is held on good faith.

Supply surprises during event week

You find out Thursday that the recipe needs more 11-inch rounds in the main color than you have, or that the sequin backdrop is promised to another Saturday. Counting stock in your head works right up until it doesn't.

Install and strike logistics live in your head

Two installs and a late-night strike on the same Saturday means three site addresses, three access windows, and a helper who needs to know where to be. A text thread is not a schedule.

No single record of the event

Inspiration images in DMs, the agreement in email, payments in an app, site notes on paper. When a question comes up, or a repeat client comes back, you reconstruct the event from four places.

The workflow

How the work runs in OpsVue

Here's how a balloon event runs in OpsVue, from the first DM to the strike:

01
Capture the inquiry while it's warm
Open a work record with the date, venue, and occasion, and drop the client's inspiration screenshots straight into the event's folder. The lead source is recorded too, so you learn which referrals actually turn into bookings.
02
Build the proposal from your packages
Your garland recipe, arch builds, and backdrop options live as packages with photos, so a proposal is assembly instead of authorship. Sections carry images of your past installs, and your material costs stay on the lines where only you see the margin.
03
Revise without losing the thread
Colors change, an arch becomes two. Every revision is a tracked version, and the client accepts the final design on a clean document link — typed name, recorded acceptance, no login, no printing.
04
Deposit before you buy a single balloon
The deposit invoice comes off the same record, and the client pays online through your own connected Stripe account. The balance is tracked right next to it, so nothing about the money lives in a separate app.
05
Check supplies and decor before event week
Latex and helium are counted consumable stock; frames, stands, and backdrops are tracked equipment with date-scoped availability and cleaning buffers. Shortages warn you early — they never silently block a booking.
06
Schedule the install and the strike
Install and strike go on the company calendar, with the site details on the record: address, access window, contact on site. Your helper gets assigned tasks with due times instead of a screenshot of your notes.
07
Close it out with the finished work
Finished photos land in the event folder next to the inspiration images that started it. Balance collected, record complete — and the next inquiry for a similar build starts from evidence instead of memory.
What matters most here

The capabilities Balloon Decorators teams lean on

Work records that hold the whole event

Inquiry, proposal versions, acceptance, money, site details, schedule, and photos — one record per event instead of five apps per event.

Client & Work Management

Proposals that show the work

Named sections with images, package photos on the client document, and line-item pricing underneath. The client sees the design; you see the margin.

Quotes, Proposals & Contracts

Revision history with recorded acceptance

Every design change is a version. The client accepts on their link with a typed name, and the accepted version is frozen — no more guessing which PDF was final.

Quotes, Proposals & Contracts

Deposits online, balances tracked

Set your deposit percentage, send the link, and the client pays the deposit through your workspace's own connected Stripe account. Deposit and balance invoices stay attached to the event.

Supplies and decor, both kinds of inventory

Balloons and helium as counted consumables you restock; frames, rigging, and backdrops as reusable equipment with availability by date and buffer time for cleaning and repairs.

Inventory & Equipment

Installs and strikes on one calendar

Every install, strike, task, and payment due date on a single company calendar, with saved views for how you like to see the week.

Scheduling & Calendar

Tasks for the crew you bring

Prep the garland Friday, load the van at six, strike at eleven — assigned to a person, with a due time, visible to everyone instead of living in your texts.

Tasks & Team Operations

Follow-up drafts that wait for your OK

If an inquiry goes quiet or a balance is coming due, OpsVue stages the reminder email as a draft from your templates, ready for your approval. Nothing sends until you say so, and every send is logged on the event.

Workflows & Automations
How it plays out

A corporate open house with a logo backdrop

Say a marketing manager emails about her company's open house: a 20-foot garland over the entry, two arches, and a photo backdrop. You open a work record, drag her inspiration screenshots into the event folder, and build the proposal from your packages — garland priced per foot, arch builds with photos of past installs attached to each section.

She comes back two days later wanting the backdrop in brand colors with a logo panel. That's version two, not a new document: the price updates, the history keeps both versions, and she accepts on her link with a typed name. The deposit invoice goes out from the same record, and she pays it online that afternoon.

Back when you quoted it, OpsVue warned that the sequin wall was already booked for a Friday wedding with a cleaning buffer, so you proposed the matte backdrop instead of discovering the conflict in the garage on Saturday morning. Install tasks are assigned for 7 a.m., the strike is on the calendar for 9 p.m., and the site access notes live on the record. After strike, the finished photos go in the folder — right next to the screenshots that started it.

Common questions

Can clients approve proposals and pay online?

Yes. Clients get a document link where they view the proposal or agreement, request changes, or accept it with a typed name — no account or login needed. Acceptance is recorded as evidence, and the deposit is paid online through your workspace's own connected Stripe account.

Can I put photos on my proposals?

Yes. Proposal sections carry images, and packages can include a photo on the client document. Inspiration images and mockups live in the event's file folder with version history, so the design conversation stays attached to the event.

How does OpsVue handle balloons versus frames and backdrops?

As different kinds of inventory. Balloons and helium are counted consumable stock you restock; frames, stands, and backdrops are reusable equipment with date-scoped availability and buffer windows, so two Saturdays can't quietly claim the same backdrop. Shortage warnings show up early and never block you from booking.

What happens when the client changes the design after paying the deposit?

You revise the proposal and send the new version. Every revision is kept in history, the client accepts the new version on the same link, and the deposit and balance math stays attached to the one work record.

Can I use OpsVue today?

OpsVue is available now. Start a 30-day trial (no credit card) and set up your first workflow today.

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Get started

Spend the evening designing, not invoicing.

Proposals with your work in them, deposits paid online, installs and strikes on one calendar — every event on one record. Start a 30-day trial.

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