4SquareSolutions, LLC

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief revenue officer at a digital health startup. We build medical devices.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 4SquareSolutions, LLC?

We needed a fractional CTO to oversee critical technology decisions and policies, give us insights and recommendations on future development opportunities, and help with technology-related operational issues.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

4SquareSolutions provided a fractional CTO who works directly with our executive team on any technological concerns. They’ve updated our tech policies, offered security and privacy recommendations, and helped us roll out various operational solutions and tools. Additionally, the CTO acts as the administrator for our AWS and Microsoft 365 environments.

What is the team composition?

We work with one fractional CTO. 

How did you come to work with 4SquareSolutions, LLC?

I was already acquainted with the principal, Tim (President & CEO), because I had worked with him when I was still associated with another company. When we were looking to outsource for this project, I reengaged with him because I was already familiar with the quality of his work.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $60,000–$100,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

The project started in February 2021, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The quality has been outstanding — the team is willing to work within a startup environment and face all kinds of unique challenges. They’re flexible and scale up and down if needed while maintaining the quality of their work. Overall, things have been going smoothly.

How did 4SquareSolutions, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Their project management is excellent. We wanted them to stick to a certain amount of hours, and the team has thoughtfully worked through it to keep us within budget. The CTO uses all the tools we use and works well in our environment.

To communicate, we have standing meetings. I only get involved if any issue needs to be escalated, but the 4SquareSolutions team gives daily operational updates to our internal team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

4SquareSolutions has brought years of corporate experience to our startup environment. They’re exactly what our organization needs right now. Additionally, we appreciate that they’ve given us the ability to scale and bring in other resources for bigger technological projects.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t really have any recommendations at this time. It’s been a great experience, and we couldn’t have asked for a better partner.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

With any outsourcing project, just make sure that you have a clear scope of work and you’ve finalized your goals and deliverables.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Academic and Education Consulting Owner

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 4SquareSolutions, LLC, and what were your goals?

We did not have a website, we were growing organically and we needed to have a web presence

SOLUTION

How did you select 4SquareSolutions, LLC and what were the deciding factors?

Mainly reputation - referral, staff and pricing

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

developed multiple websites that interact with one-another. 4SS utilized an agile methodology (?), meaning we had meetings every two weeks to go through key milestones and completions

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

project manager, scrum master and I requested the CEO on the calls

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

I had zero issues, 4SS did exactly what they said they would do, they met the timelines and the budget. Really it was on auto-pilot. We never questioned the output, we didn't have to

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

We had sprints, outside of that the project manager would stay in touch with me quite frequently. We mainly used slack for communicating, if it was not over the phone. I don't recall the other technologies they gave me access to

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

What really stood out for me is the consultative approach they took. It was not your typical development experience. The entire team brainstormed ideas with me to create the best product for my business. It was like having a team of consultants that was made accessible to me without an additional charge to the bottom line

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Not a thing! When someone needs a development partner they are the first name I offer up

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of FunylFactory. From a marketing perspective, we help people create good copy-and-paste design tools, add-ons, and custom scripts. We also help people build and structure their funnels.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 4SquareSolutions, LLC?

We utilize a landing page software. However, it’s limited in its function from a design capability. We brought on 4SquareSolutions for their UI/UX services to help us with those limited capabilities. The objective was to strengthen our brand presence when going out to the marketplace.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They handled a lot of our website imagery and custom CSS to make our pages pop. On the web development side, they used their UI/UX design skills to create imagery, buttons, backgrounds, and other things of that nature.

What is the team composition?

I was mainly in contact with Tim (President & CEO). Mary (Sales Executive) helped out too. Tim oversaw everything while his team took care of the rest.

How did you come to work with 4SquareSolutions, LLC?

I had a mutual friend who knew Tim and recommended 4SquareSolutions because they had great skills. I’m usually pretty cautious with things like this. I got on a call with Tim, and he broke everything down in a simple way.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $6,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The engagement was from August–September 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

People have gone out of their way to tell us our pages look much better than before. Their communication and follow up after every step of the project was top-notch. We felt secure about the work that was being done. I appreciated their attention to detail and constant communication throughout the process. I’d work with 4SquareSolutions 10 times over.  

How did 4SquareSolutions, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was excellent. They were communicative and outlined each task by setting a deadline and then meeting it. If something was going to take longer, they always communicated it. Being able to see what was being done at all times was huge for us.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They gave us recommendations and ideas for our own business that we’ve been able to implement to enhance our business. Their team has a great sense of direction.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, everything exceeded our standards. I expected the project to take longer than it did but they were in and out. Their team accomplished what we needed quickly and efficiently.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They need things from you to get the job done so make sure to be in constant communication with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner and CEO of Brand Logic Group. We do a lot of things that primarily relate to digital marketing. We work with e-commerce and different brick-and-mortar businesses as well.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with 4Square Solutions?

We needed a platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed a web platform that has a lot of features and mirrors a CRM system. It has live dashboards where our clients can go in and see their data, like cost-per-click information. It funnels different data sources and puts them between presentations.

What is the team composition?

Tim (President & CEO) was my main point of contact. I know they’re a relatively smaller team, but I think Tim managed the process. 

How did you come to work with 4Square Solutions?

Tim was introduced by a mutual connection. 

How much have you invested with them?

The scope was no more than $25,000, and the net amount we’ve paid to date is $17,500.  

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked with them in August–October 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did a great job with the platform. I don’t think this was a huge project for them, but they did a good job with it. 

How did 4Square Solutions perform from a project management standpoint?

They were very effective. We had a weekly phone call, and they were always there when we had questions. The project was more frontloaded, so I was impressed with their ability to get ahead of it and try to understand all of the different needs before we kicked off.

Transparency made the whole thing smoother. I’d give them a strong A rating — I really have no complaints. They started out with very clear and transparent milestones and pretty much hit every single one of them. We tracked the project relatively loosely. They were very transparent in the process. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

It’s transparency. I think that when people are building out different tech, there are some uncertainties, and that always makes people apprehensive.

4SquareSolutions really hit the cost and time estimates, and they were really effective. At no point along the two-month journey was I confused or kept out of the loop. Transparency is critical.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t really have any constructive feedback, and that’s odd because I usually do. The project was pretty straightforward for both of us. I also shopped around, and their price was pretty competitive.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared. It’s okay to rely on the experts to help you develop the plan and not know exactly where you want to end up, but you need to have a framework.

When you’re creating something from scratch, whether it’s a website or a platform like what they did for us, you have to have an idea of what the endgame looks like, or your expectations are going to be off. I give that advice to anybody working in this space. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the CEO of an independent insurance agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire 4SquareSolutions, LLC, and what were your goals?

4Squaresolutions created our company website. They also built the integration with a 3rd party application that improved our process of rating companies. They also migrated our CRM to on-premise to the cloud.

SOLUTION

How did you select 4SquareSolutions, LLC and what were the deciding factors?

They were selected based on their expertise in the insurance and healthcare verticals.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

They created the company website, helped integrate with 3rd party applications, and consulted on process improvements, and created workflow documents. Migrated on-premises Applicant Tracking/CRM system to cloud

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Tim Aligheri - CEO

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Yes, the new website has increased sales by 20% since we are now getting leads from this source. With the process improvements, our productivity has increased by 30% since we are now streamlined and can rate multiple companies at the same time.

Finally, since we have moved to the cloud, we don't have to worry about backups and equipment. This has saved us thousands since we didn't have to outlay capital expense.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

Very good. Provided daily updates via status reports. We included them in our daily standups. The projects was delivered on-time and within budget.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their IT knowledge was outstanding. They always looked for ways to improve our process and we are more efficient because of this.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Could not think of any.