Have you had to face significant difficulties when launching a project that you had not anticipated at the start?
Posted: Thu Jan 02, 2025 9:03 am
We worked with the startup accelerator Techstars, one of the largest in the world, to develop the PoC (Proof of Concept), MVP (minimum viable product) and V1 (first version). 10 startups are selected per year for an intensive 3-month promotion, where they are helped, mentored and funded to accelerate their development and prepare them for a fundraising. We expected out of these 10 startups to have to write code for 3 of them, 3 that would have just needed advice and mentoring, and 4 that would not have needed us. Finally, we developed products and sites for 9 of them in 2 months!
The workload was significant, but we were able to deliver for everyone. We always tend to minimize needs, but in a discussion to create a product, we quickly realize that many topics come to the table!
What are the main challenges you face today?
Obviously, the Covid crisis has really slowed down project leaders from getting started. Prospecting is therefore more difficult, especially for our company, which was then operating mainly through networks and portugal whatsapp lead word of mouth. However, some of our customers have come out of the woodwork to take advantage of the opportunity. CaptainVet, for example, contacted us for their veterinary video consultation registration funnel . We are also in discussions with other players who have completely changed their timeline (in sports in particular) to redirect towards online, bringing new needs. It's not all doom and gloom!
Besides business, positioning as a collaborator with our clients is a big topic. We are not mere executors. We believe that our role as an expert is also that of an advisor. It is always difficult to question client ideas when we think it is not the right direction.
Customer case study – Odysway
Odysway is a travel agency specializing in immersive travel, from traveling with a shaman in Peru to immersion in the heart of an astronomical observatory in the Alps.
Odysway started its business with a WordPress site. With their thirst for innovation and optimization, the limits quickly appeared: customization difficulties, poor performance, no internal tools adapted to the business, no CRM integration, etc.
We made them a custom site with the latest web technologies (Vue.js + Nuxt SSR). A headless CMS (ButterCMS) allows them to manage the content. All important customer actions act directly in the CRM. A suite of custom backoffice tools now allows them to manage quotes and traveler management. Together, we have completely redefined the processes to optimize each step of their business as much as possible.
We continue to iterate and work with them today to go further and bring them the differentiating stack in the travel industry!
odysway
The release of the new site coincided roughly with the announcement of Covid and health measures. A situation of almost global confinement is clearly not ideal for the business of a travel agency!
However, as soon as their experiments were released in France, we were able to have initial feedback on performance. Quote requests decreased, but their conversion rate increased significantly. Where yesterday it took 10 quotes for a trip sold, we are now at 2 quotes for 1 trip converted! We have configured fairly advanced Analytics on the site, which allows us to track precisely where order abandonments are occurring. This allows us to always have a vision of the actions to be taken to improve the experience and the funnel.
The workload was significant, but we were able to deliver for everyone. We always tend to minimize needs, but in a discussion to create a product, we quickly realize that many topics come to the table!
What are the main challenges you face today?
Obviously, the Covid crisis has really slowed down project leaders from getting started. Prospecting is therefore more difficult, especially for our company, which was then operating mainly through networks and portugal whatsapp lead word of mouth. However, some of our customers have come out of the woodwork to take advantage of the opportunity. CaptainVet, for example, contacted us for their veterinary video consultation registration funnel . We are also in discussions with other players who have completely changed their timeline (in sports in particular) to redirect towards online, bringing new needs. It's not all doom and gloom!
Besides business, positioning as a collaborator with our clients is a big topic. We are not mere executors. We believe that our role as an expert is also that of an advisor. It is always difficult to question client ideas when we think it is not the right direction.
Customer case study – Odysway
Odysway is a travel agency specializing in immersive travel, from traveling with a shaman in Peru to immersion in the heart of an astronomical observatory in the Alps.
Odysway started its business with a WordPress site. With their thirst for innovation and optimization, the limits quickly appeared: customization difficulties, poor performance, no internal tools adapted to the business, no CRM integration, etc.
We made them a custom site with the latest web technologies (Vue.js + Nuxt SSR). A headless CMS (ButterCMS) allows them to manage the content. All important customer actions act directly in the CRM. A suite of custom backoffice tools now allows them to manage quotes and traveler management. Together, we have completely redefined the processes to optimize each step of their business as much as possible.
We continue to iterate and work with them today to go further and bring them the differentiating stack in the travel industry!
odysway
The release of the new site coincided roughly with the announcement of Covid and health measures. A situation of almost global confinement is clearly not ideal for the business of a travel agency!
However, as soon as their experiments were released in France, we were able to have initial feedback on performance. Quote requests decreased, but their conversion rate increased significantly. Where yesterday it took 10 quotes for a trip sold, we are now at 2 quotes for 1 trip converted! We have configured fairly advanced Analytics on the site, which allows us to track precisely where order abandonments are occurring. This allows us to always have a vision of the actions to be taken to improve the experience and the funnel.