Begin Software

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a department manager at The More Than Giving Company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

The More Than Giving Company helps nonprofits strengthen their operations through fractional teams in finance, technology, systems, and fundraising support.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Begin Software to accomplish?

• We hired Begin Software to provide a centralized NPVA client service management platform where we could manage recurring nonprofit service subscriptions, track monthly hours and time.

SOLUTION

How did you find Begin Software?

Other

Why did you select Begin Software over others?

• High ratings
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Begin Software were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Support and Maintenance - 

 • Cancellation Notifications • Reactivating Clients • Migrating to Airtable OAuth (from API keys) • Monthly re-prioritization of tasks

Discovery and Workflow Audit -

 • Workflow audit diagram(s), detailing existing processes and pinpointing inefficiencies

• Software integration, automation, and low-code recommendations

• Implementation plan detailing the recommended solutions, associated costs, and timelines

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Begin Software gave us a centralized system for managing NPVA client services, recurring subscriptions, and time tracking. It improved visibility into team workload, provided clients with a self-service portal for payments, and standardized our service delivery processes.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

The team was responsive and collaborative throughout the implementation and ongoing support. They communicated clearly, delivered requested work, and were quick to answer questions or troubleshoot issues. They genuinely listened to feedback and worked with us to find solutions whenever possible.

What was your primary form of communication with Begin Software?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What impressed us most was the Begin team's responsiveness and their genuine willingness to listen to our feedback. They were approachable, transparent, and invested in helping us succeed with the platform. We also appreciated that Begin brought together subscriptions, time tracking, and hour information into a single system, which helped us manage our NPVA service more effectively during an important stage of our company's growth.

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

Our needs eventually evolved beyond what the custom setup's underlying architecture was designed to support. Because our solution relied on several integrated tools working together, many of the challenges we experienced weren't things Begin could have done better without a rebuild. I think they did a good job within those constraints.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the COO of FYM

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

FYM is a multi-faceted team of content creators who work with innovative brands and companies to create engaging motion projects for a new generation of viewers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Begin Software to accomplish?

• Enable FYM to pursue large contracts by building a system that supports managing a substantial contractor workforce. Each of which, need an individual contract signed, payment details, etc.

SOLUTION

How did you find Begin Software?

Referral

Why did you select Begin Software over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from Begin Software were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

Begin worked with us to build an FYM Project Portal which included these deliverables: 

• contractor management
• project budgeting
• performance reports
• feature for contractor payment advances
• producer level project organization
• portal sync with FYM internal tools to generate workflows

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Current progress/success is directly associated with the portal's usage during the highest-value contract that FYM has worked with. We were able to make key decisions based on the data visualization that the tool provided. 

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

Project management was very organized. Delivery was timely, and they were responsive on Slack. Additionally, they continued to check in after delivery was complete to help measure outcomes and provide support if needed. 

What was your primary form of communication with Begin Software?

Email or Messaging App

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

They are unique in that we never felt that we were just another client. They took our business use case and needs as their own. They had an ownership mentality in their work and made it a point to learn our business. They not only performed to our expectations on the product but also helped with product decisions from their perspective that we could've missed had we been too narrow-focused.

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

The only thing we can think of is maybe a report with recommendations on what others to implement based on the scope completed. This is a small detail, that given the velocity we were working under, probably wasn't realistic, but, I think if we had to nitpick that would be it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am a Senior Operations Analyst of Dude Wipes

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Wet Wipes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Begin Software to accomplish?

• Automate internal processes
• Automate external processes

SOLUTION

How did you find Begin Software?

Online Search

Why did you select Begin Software over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from Begin Software were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

• Process data sent via email or in an online portal. 
• Normalize the data into an uploadable format. 
• Be able to provide live error handling for the team in order to process data outside of the normal structure. 
• Send email to our ERP for it to be uploaded.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

Ability to successfully provide the outcome we wanted within the hours quoted to us.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

They delivered on time and went above an beyond what was originally asked of them. Team is very responsive and is able to meet all requests made of them. They were open and honest about amount of work hours, payment and were flexible to our invoicing needs.

What was your primary form of communication with Begin Software?

Virtual Meeting

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

I was impressed by their ability to find a solution to any problem we came to them with, their responsiveness and ability to be flexible to what we needed.

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

I'd be interested to see more live reporting of the hours of their work and project tracking.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Customer Growth VP of Mars Petcare

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Antech is a top veterinary reference lab supporting veterinary practices in delivering best-in-class, innovative diagnostic testing quickly to create a better world for pets. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Begin Software to accomplish?

• Implement flexible automations across a disparate, disconnected tech stack

SOLUTION

How did you find Begin Software?

Referral

Why did you select Begin Software over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Begin Software were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

Describe the scope of work in detail. Please include a summary of key deliverables.

We've brough Begin on to be an extention of the team, so they have delivered a variety of projects for us over the past two years. Projects include building trigger automations for the sales team based on buyer behavior so sales practively knows who to call. 

Also a project to help buid a sales pipeline funnel by connecting backend business systems for data that is currently disconnected due to several business acquitsitions and data remaining in legacy systems. With this project, Begin delivered something in 2 weeks that would have taken other vendors months and full business systems integrations. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What were the measurable outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The projects we have completed with the support of Begin have led to incredible time savings outcomes for the sales and commercial teams. For example, they were operating in an environment of beings only reactive to client issues and they aros and now the sales team can be proactive, and they get automatically notified of certain behaviors so they can proactively support clients before and issue can even arise. 

In addition to time savings and issue reduction, this has also helped our Net Promoter Score improve over 10+ points YoY.

Describe their project management. Did they deliver items on time? How did they respond to your needs?

• Begin is highly accountable and responsive to our needs. 
• We often have very aggressive timelines and they are flexible and committed to helping us reach them.

What was your primary form of communication with Begin Software?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

The Begin team has been unbelievable collaborative through the entire partnership - Thanks to the team's creative problem-solving skills and understanding of my business, we have a 2+ year partnership. They are really embedded in the team and driving business value. 

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

Nope - I am always looking for more and more ways to leverage their unique skills!

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the president of ClaimInformatics, Inc., a healthcare company. We work with self-funded companies across the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Begin Software?

We needed help automating a lot of our procedures within ClickUp. Our team members weren’t following our internal processes, so we needed a tool to help us ensure that our staff followed our methods to yield the best results for our customers in an effective and timely manner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Begin Software provided workflow automation services for our ClickUp platform. To jumpstart the project, we briefed them on our policies and procedures and provided some direction on what we wanted. Based on that, they applied their technical automation expertise to build everything based on their perspective.

What was the team composition? 

We worked with three members of Begin Software’s team, including a project manager, a developer, and their president.

How did you come to work with Begin Software?

Someone referred Begin Software to us.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $10,000 with them on this project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from December 2022–January 2023.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Thanks to Begin Software's work, we noticed a significant positive impact on our business — they met our expectations.

How did Begin Software perform from a project management standpoint?

Begin Software delivered everything on time and within budget. Regarding tools and communication, they were very responsive, and we used phone calls and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Begin Software’s team was highly proficient, communication was great, and they were good across the board.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I didn’t think there was anything they could improve on — I’d hire them again in a heartbeat.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be open to taking their advice because they know what they’re doing and are very good at their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-owner of Mammoth Five Star Lodging, a vacation rental company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Begin, LLC?

We needed help with custom workflow automation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Begin has helped me build custom workflow automations to draw data from various sources and process it based on certain rules, events, and automation processes of my design. Thus far, we’ve done 3–5 different projects together.

For every project, I simply meet with them and tell them what I want to build, and they build it. They also build the documentation and present it back to me. Then, we work together to roll out the products for my company to use in our daily operations.

The process automations built by Begin are web-based and use off-the-shelf UIs to display data. Their team is in charge of developing the automation logic that we use to process the information we gather from other off-the-shelf applications. Then, we export the results of that automation into a project management platform that we use. 

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked with 5–6 people from Begin across several projects over the last couple of years, including Brandon (Managing Director & Co-Founder). We usually work with two people from their team, but they’ve had some turnover.

How did you come to work with Begin, LLC?

I’ve known Brandon for a long time, so I’ve been aware of his various ventures. I had been working with two other development teams in the past, but when this project arose, I realized that I needed more work than my prior two teams could deliver. Then, I found out that Brandon had put together a development team for Begin, so I enthusiastically signed up with them and gave them their first projects.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $50,000–$75,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in Q2 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The automations built by Begin have helped us take the workload off of our staff by eliminating redundant and consistent manual processes. Thanks to this, our quality of service and consistency are the highest that they’ve ever been and probably among the highest in the market.

We manage around 80 properties and make 4,000–5,000 reservations per year. Out of departing guests, less than 1% leave a three-star-or-lower review. This means that 99% of our guests leave four- and five-star reviews, so we consider them satisfied clients.

Moreover, the systems that we’ve built have helped us go from 18 units to our current 80 properties. We now manage around $100 million in real estate, resulting in $4 million–$5 million per year in gross sales revenue. For next summer, we expect to be managing over 100 properties because we have a waiting list of owners who want to sign up, and our reputation is the best one in town.

Our great results in growth, revenue, and reputation have been possible thanks to the systems and automations Begin is helping us build. These projects allow us to do a great and consistent job, eliminate time-consuming tasks, be highly responsive, and deliver great service in the market. Now, our company is widely successful.

How did Begin, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Although Begin’s team has had some turnover over the years, we’ve found equal success with everyone we’ve worked with — they have a great pool of talent. Their team has been able to deliver projects on time, and whenever there are delays, those are usually on our end.

We usually communicate via email and schedule Zoom meetings to walk through projects. Typically, Begin develops a flowchart on a whiteboard, shows it to me, and goes over the process. I always like to address projects from a UX perspective because I think about how my employees will use the system, so I tend to leave the technical decisions up to them.

Moreover, my three development teams talk and collaborate with each other well. Thus, if someone from the other two companies has worked on something applicable to the project at hand, we communicate openly and share information. I really appreciate how well Begin works with my other teams because it makes our processes more efficient.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I really value how organized and accurate Begin is. We have three teams doing very similar projects. Out of those three teams, Begin is the most detail-oriented. They tend to be more thorough with their assessments and provide more accurate estimations.

On one project, for example, Begin gave me an estimate I wasn’t comfortable with, and another company estimated a lower price. When the project was completed, I ended up paying the other company as much as Begin had told me the project would cost. Thus, I’ve learned over the years that they’re very thorough in their planning, so I can trust their estimations. If they estimate a high price, it’s surely because the project is hard and expensive.

Additionally, out of the other two development teams I work with, one is almost retired, and the other one is well into their career. Despite their experience, neither of those teams is as good nor as thorough as Begin is in project management.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything Begin could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I don’t have any specific advice for working with Begin. If you’re looking to contract development services, think through what you’re looking for before you start the project and ensure to write it down. Additionally, I recommend recording the meetings to be able to review them later if needed.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the President and Creative Director of Foundry512, a full-service advertising and marketing agency.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We hired Begin to help us develop a custom website application, analytics tool, insights content platform, and mobile application.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We worked with them previously in the past and they came in for us with a large client.

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

Thye developed a react multisite application with SSO. We started with a dedicated discovery stage where we analyze the current digital ecosystem of the client. Once design was completed Begin worked in 1-week sprints. They gave us weekly updates that were conveyed to the client and handled last-minute changes that the client requested. The final product was tested by users and client stakeholders. Final approval was given and the platform was launched.

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

3

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Stunning design and detailed development work. The analytics portion of the project required heavy data analysis and UX to simplify the platform.

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

They regularly provided updates via web conferences on the latest developments. Both email, Slack, and web conferences were used to convey updates.

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

The ability to hang tough on difficult and large projects. They were not quitters when so many other firms would have gladly given up. The project was very difficult and ended up a success because of their dedication.

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

The only thing that we would have wanted is more of their team members. The nature of the project moved so fast that it was not a good idea to interrupt the progress with the learning curve of bringing on a developer.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Jelly; we help restaurants recover unauthorized refunds and unpaid canceled orders through third-party delivery apps.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Begin, LLC?

I wanted to find a development partner to build a backend system to organize our CSV files in a database and expedite our tasks.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

First, I met with the team to explain what I was looking for and Begin, LLC helped me define the requirements. Then, they built a custom software solution from scratch using pre-existing tools. After developing the system, they used Make to integrate our software with ClickUp to access our tasks. 

What is the team composition?

We worked with 3–4 people from Begin, LLC, including a project manager, a co-founder, and an IT team member. 

How did you come to work with Begin, LLC?

We found Begin, LLC on Instagram. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $25,000 in the partnership with Begin, LLC. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We engaged Begin, LLC in March 2022, and they delivered the project in September 2022.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Begin, LLC has exceeded our expectations, and we’re delighted with the results. They worked with our budget to build a really effective system that changed our business for the better. We’ve encountered minor bugs here and there, but they’ve been quick to fix them. Since implementing the new tool, our customers have been really happy with our services; we couldn’t have gotten to this point without Begin, LLC. 

How did Begin, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

Begin, LLC executed a really smooth workflow. They submitted deliverables on time, and I never felt the need to micromanage because I felt I was in good hands. At the beginning of the project, the team decided to build the system using existing tools to accommodate my budget, which I appreciated. They were efficient, supportive partners; we communicated via email and met via Zoom.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re very well-rounded and knowledgeable. When we started working together, I wasn’t sure what I wanted or how to ask for it, and Begin, LLC provided me with the answers. They were transparent and genuine throughout the entire process. Even when there was no apparent solution to a problem, they went out of their way to create one. The team was invested in developing the best possible system with our budget. For example, instead of building everything from scratch, they created a spider web of connections between existing technology to deliver what we needed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I have nothing they could improve on; I was very satisfied with their services. 

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I advise you to trust Begin, LLC with your project. They’re experts in their field, and you can rely on them to deliver the project without micromanaging or intervening in their process.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a modern social platform that’s specifically developed for the book community.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Begin, LLC?

We were working with a software developer, so we needed an agency that can continue to supply us with custom software development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We brought in Begin later in our development to provide us with continued support. They’re continuing to build the platform to the next level by fixing bugs and rolling out new features.

Some of the features they’ve implemented are a community page, similar to social media sites — the page allows users to see who their followers are and who they're following in one space.

What is the team composition?

We started with one talented senior engineer who transitioned the role to another person, and we've been working with the current one since then.

How did you come to work with Begin, LLC?

I was doing some research online and came across Begin through Clutch. I saw that they were local to my area so I reached out to them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested around $13,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership started in November 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s difficult to put a metric on the ongoing development progress, but they’ve resolved dozens of bugs and integrated several features over the past few months so we’ve been experiencing significant progress.

How did Begin, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

I basically serve as the project manager, so we’re utilizing management tools within our organization. We use email for simple correspondence, but our primary communication tool is Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re impressed with their responsiveness and empathetic approach to what we’re working to achieve. They’re very flexible when it comes to providing us with support and I really appreciate their desire to help us resolve our problems.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They don’t really need to improve on anything, as they’ve provided me with good resources to continue the project.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would advise you to set your expectations up front and be very clear with what you’re trying to accomplish.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a business process automation company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Begin, LLC?

One of the software companies that we represent was lacking a plugin for Gmail, and I decided I wanted to develop it. I have developers on staff, but it was more than I could spare them for. Most of our work is client-facing, so we don’t have much of a budget for pure R&D. It would have caused a capacity problem.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We did a discovery phase with them and decided to build a clickable prototype, as opposed to developing the full software package just to see if we could get traction.

The plugin would allow an icon to appear on the side of the screen that connected our customer to their CRM, preventing them from having to click back and forth between two screens.

What is the team composition?

I worked with Brandon quite a bit (Managing Director), and Cody (Co-Founder). I don’t remember all the developers but there were quite a few.

How did you come to work with Begin, LLC?

I never get on Facebook, but this one day, I stumbled across their ad.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from September–November 2021 on this project. After receiving the plug-in, we’ve continued to engage them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I have nothing but praise for Begin. They’re absolutely phenomenal. I’m still working with them on this project and others, and I wouldn’t be doing that if they were slackers. We’re in the sell cycle for it right now and are in-talks with our client. They’re impressed by the quality of the work; it’s a perfect representation of how the application would work.

How did Begin, LLC perform from a project management standpoint?

They were prompt, transparent, and good with communication. One part of their business that is exceptional is their proposal process. When they send a proposal you expect their to be a range to the cost estimate, but they gave us a hard ceiling on the quote. They took ownership of their process. Rather than hedging their investment or saying they missed something, they stick to what they offer.

We collaborate through GitHub and use Google Meet to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their quoting process stands out the most.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Everybody can improve but I don’t have any real constructive criticism. They didn’t drop the ball. I feel like I’m doing this review a disservice by not having anything, but I really don’t’ have any complaints.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I don’t know if this is specific to Begin, LLC or to software development in general, but it always helps if you know what you want. Having a specific request helps the process move along quicker. If you’re going to develop a custom product, have an idea of what you want, or at least be flexible in letting the professionals do their job.