CoSpark

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the owner of ManxBMD

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

A small website offering a subscription service for civil registration records from the Isle of Man.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire CoSpark to accomplish?

• Fix problems with WooCommerce and PayPal
• Improve function and reduce errors

SOLUTION

How did you find CoSpark?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select CoSpark over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from CoSpark were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

I have a small website which was monetized last year.  After some issues with PayPal payments and WooCommerce, the setup collapsed and I was unable to get help from either vendor.  I'm also not a technical person, I'm a genealogist.  I found CoSpark after viewing the experts available on the WooCommerce website.  I explained my circumstances and they were able to accommodate me. Alex was fantastic.  It's not easy to explain what is happening when you don't have a technical background, but in two months, Alex has done everything I asked for.  Visitors to my site can now manage their subscription there rather than direct with PayPal, and gives me more information on what's happening.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I'm an individual, not a company, so I didn't really have any measurable outcomes as such.  I just needed my site fixing, and improved so that it worked.   It works as I wanted, so it's definitely a success.

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

There wasn't an official project management timeline for this.  Emails went back and forth discussing issues and solutions.  

What was your primary form of communication with CoSpark?

Email or Messaging App

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

That CoSpark were willing to work with such a small entity

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

Not really.  

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Sr. Solutions Architect of Homestead Living

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Homestead Living is a media company committed to equipping more than a million homes worldwide with practical education and inspiring stories to fuel their homesteading journeys. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire CoSpark to accomplish?

• Server Performance & Optimization
• Development Services

SOLUTION

How did you find CoSpark?

• Online Search
• Referral

Why did you select CoSpark over others?

• High ratings
• Great culture fit
• WooCommerce specific hosting services

How many teammates from CoSpark were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

We were continuously experiencing server issues hosting our Woocommerce-based website. CoSpark stepped in to help take the load (pun intended) off our small team. We saw results immediately. They've continued to provide on-going support with scalable solutions when we need it most (ie. new product launches). Their team is very responsive and communicates well. 

Additionally, they've provided dev and IT consulting to our Solutions Analyst when she needs an extra set of eyes. 

CoSpark has been a tremendous help and saving grace to our team this year! 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We went from several (10+) daily errors on the backend of the website for our team to less than 5 in the last 5 months. 

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

With our custom plan, we have access to their team via Slack. They are responsive and provide communication as to when they can get to our request (if they are unable to answer immediately). They worked with us to fit into how we manage projects and what would work best for our team, which meant seamless onboarding. 

What was your primary form of communication with CoSpark?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Willing to work with us in whatever way best fits our company (ie. Slack communication). 

They know what they are talking about and understood our needs from the very first call. 

They also provided a free demo with our site which means they migrated our site to their servers and showed us the test server - free of charge! Another company wanted to charge $3,000 just for migration! 

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

Currently, no. We're very happy with our ongoing work with CoSpark! 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a managing partner at a SaaS company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CoSpark?

We needed someone to manage our WordPress and WooCommerce system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CoSpark manages our WordPress and WooCommerce system. They use software to check the status of our system and make security and other updates as needed. They also do custom programming.

What is the team composition?

I work with Phil on the custom programming side and Carl on the management of the software and its plugins. I also have interaction with Heral.

How did you come to work with CoSpark?

We found them through a lot of different searches. We interviewed five different companies, and we picked CoSpark.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in July 2024, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

CoSpark promptly addresses any technical issues when they arise. They meet our expectations in terms of performance and service quality.

How did CoSpark perform from a project management standpoint?

They meet deadlines and stay on budget. They use Basecamp for project management, so we communicate through Basecamp, email, and phone calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re good people who do what they say they’re going to do when they say they’re going to do it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything they could improve on.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be honest and have open communication.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive of DeEnterprises Inc.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Family owned cosmetic manufacturing company that offers great products and services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire CoSpark to accomplish?

• Help Integrate my WooCommerce Site with Netsuite
• Save Time
• Reduce data entry.

SOLUTION

How did you find CoSpark?

• Online Search
• Clutch Site

Why did you select CoSpark over others?

• High ratings
• The way they phrased their company information.

How many teammates from CoSpark were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Professional, talented and easy to work with. I actually get the feeling that they care about their customer and their customers success. They solved our issue and will continue to look to them as a resource for any website or woo commerce needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They created a custom plugin that achieved a simple solution to a relatively complex issue and it worked. They created an easy to use test site and then the go live went smooth. They also have been great when there have been any updates that required a tweak.

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

Yes. There was a short delay here or there, but they communicated why without issue. They are a relatively small group and they still got everything done within the expected deadlines.

What was your primary form of communication with CoSpark?

Email or Messaging App

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

Their level of talent and desire to actually solve the problem without gouging or trying to bloat the project.

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

No. I was pleased with their work.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Communication Manager of Pathways LA

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Provide services to families such as financial assistance paying for child care for families across Los Angeles.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire CoSpark to accomplish?

• Attraction to the main website
• Increase in enrollments through website
• Increase awareness of services being provided to public

SOLUTION

How did you find CoSpark?

Online Search

Why did you select CoSpark over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget

How many teammates from CoSpark were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

CoSpark assisted Pathways LA with the enhancement of the main website by providing in detail recommendations of having a user navigate the Pathways LA website with direct message to what our programs provide, promote the visibility of the programs and overall give a user a friendly experience of our website. Overall, summary is to have enhanced the website.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Through the use of communication apps, and email. Although some of the communication may have been a bit delayed, the project got done. Feedback from our team was taken into consideration and accepted any edits as they came, without limitations.

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

yes, project was delivered within the time recommended. Although there where some delays in the back-end programming, CoSpark was able to deliver the project.

What was your primary form of communication with CoSpark?

Email or Messaging App

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

We were impressed with their ability to turn things around quickly, and high-level of professionalism.

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

none.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the digital marketing manager for a brokerage company that’s an intermediary between buyers and sellers of barges, push boats, and other inland marine vessels.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CoSpark?

We ran into a problem with our application. Our site and its inventory were built in WooCommerce with a Ruby on Rails layer that we didn’t maintain. It got out of date and broke, so it caused a lot of problems and things went awry. We needed someone to iron out those problems and fix our website because it was crucial to our brokerage business.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CoSpark provides custom software development services. They initially recommended Kinsta as a new hosting environment, a maintenance program through WP Autopilot, and a separate company for backup to give us some sense of security. Then, CoSpark began the hand-holding process to make us comfortable with them and how they did things. We gave them access to whatever they needed from the old hosting environment so they could move it. Afterward, they got to work and kept us in the loop every step of the way.

Currently, CoSpark handles the maintenance of the website’s backend. We don’t need them all the time; sometimes we need updates or have issues, so they take a look at that.

What is the team composition?

We initially spoke with Heral (Managing Director). Carl (Project Manager) is our lead developer, but we primarily work with Grahame (Project Manager) and Martin (Backend Developer) now. They’re all familiar with our site.

How did you come to work with CoSpark?

We initially found developers that didn’t have the experience they said or were just an at-convenience project for people with other gigs. We were searching online for someone to fix the site and maintain the Ruby on Rails layer. However, this led to estimates that were over $100,000 when the project initially cost us $20,000 to build.

At some point, we came across CoSpark; they listened to us and offered a solution that could fix our issues with the added benefit of removing Ruby on Rails from the website altogether. Also, they weren’t trying to get $50,000 just to look at the problem.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in February 2022, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site is faster and more reliable; we haven’t had bugs. We’re currently thinking about how to improve it. 

Moreover, CoSpark was the bee’s knees during the process; they stepped up and made our website workable while making it painless for us.

How did CoSpark perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very responsive and trustworthy. They lay out the plan and explain the process, so we know the steps they’ll take.

Whenever there’s an issue, the communication lines are open, and the problems are solved quickly in the staging environment. Overall, we love working with their team.

We primarily communicate via Zoom, and they use Basecamp for project management.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Besides their responsiveness, they take the time to learn the problem. They also stand out for their WooCommerce expertise.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t know what they could’ve improved. CoSpark was our salvation; they’re a superstar company.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Explain your problem in detail and give them time to work through it. Just turn the keys of the car over to CoSpark.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of Illustrated Faith, an online artwork marketplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AnnexCore?

We were having issues with our site, so we needed a company that could help us resolve those issues and implement improvements to our site’s design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were having a lot of crashes on our site. We talked to various web development companies, and almost everyone advised us to migrate to a different platform, which wasn’t really an option for us. We have a lot of digital products on our platform, and it would be a lot of work for us to transfer all of our content to another platform.

Fortunately, AnnexCore was able to help answer a ton of questions that no other company was able to. They have redesigned our site and resolved all of its existing issues. Not only did they get our site up and running again, but they’ve also implemented various improvements in terms of the site’s performance.

They still provide ongoing support for the site.

What is the team composition?

I’ve worked mainly with Carl (Project Manager).

How did you come to work with AnnexCore?

AnnexCore was recommended to us by our previous hosting provider. One of the reasons why we decided to go with them for this project was their responsiveness.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $1,500 per month, so I’d say we’ve spent somewhere around $4,500 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The biggest metric that we have is that our website stopped crashing, which allows us to have more revenue. People aren't frustrated with our website anymore, and we're able to process orders more efficiently. 

Carl was also incredibly helpful not only in explaining the whole process to me but also in implementing every improvement.

How did AnnexCore perform from a project management standpoint?

AnnexCore has performed very well in terms of project management. They’re very responsive and efficient.

We primarily communicate through email, and we use an online ticketing platform for tech support.

What did you find most impressive about them?

AnnexCore is always willing to solve any problem that I bring up. Instead of telling me to talk to my hosting provider or the site’s developer, AnnexCore exhibits strong project ownership and assures me that they will fix every issue themselves and handle everything going forward. I’m very confident that whatever issue arises, they’re going to take care of it and not blame it on someone else.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CFO of a kitchen and bath remodeling company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AnnexCore?

We had an existing and outdated platform that wasn’t giving us the rate of traction we wanted, so we needed AnnexCore’s team to build an SEO-friendly website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AnnexCore has built our platform from the ground up, and we’ve only provided them with the pictures that they’ve put up on the website. Apart from making the site SEO-friendly, they’ve incorporated elaborate and user-friendly functionalities for our clients. AnnexCore also revises our blog content and keyword list regularly and runs site updates on an ad-hoc basis.

What is the team composition?

We work with 4–5 resources from their team.

How did you come to work with AnnexCore?

We hired AnnexCore because of their straightforward and solution-oriented presentation skills. Additionally, we liked their values and vision as a family-owned business.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent more than $50,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?’

Our ongoing collaboration started in February 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

AnnexCore is a one-stop shop for all our needs — they’ve given us qualified leads and a marketable website that represents our brand well. Most of our clients belong to an older age group, so they appreciate the simplicity and user-friendliness of our website’s features and functionalities.

How did AnnexCore perform from a project management standpoint?

We mainly rely on Basecamp for project management. As someone with particular standards for communication, I appreciate AnnexCore’s prioritization of our needs with their prompt responses and the immediate results they deliver.

What did you find most impressive about them?

AnnexCore’s focus lies more on delivering impeccable results on time than charging us immediately without following through with deliverables.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There’s nothing I’ll recommend them to change, and I hope every team works as efficiently as AnnexCore — I’ll give them seven stars if I can.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Prepare your plans, expectations, and budget ahead of time and trust AnnexCore to deliver the results you need to improve your business.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of an online organic food marketplace.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AnnexCore?

We needed their skills in web development.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Our team has thought of making our existing website more user-friendly and customizable to expand our market reach, so we’ve engaged AnnexCore to make these site modifications for us. We’ve relayed our requirements and design preferences to their team, and they’ve suggested the best tech stack we can use to address those needs.

AnnexCore has then implemented the backend solutions via WooCommerce and some user-specific changes on our UI/UX to help make the website more accessible to our customers. They’ve also added customizable features to streamline the food ordering process.

What is the team composition?

We work with a team of 2–3 resources from their team.

How did you come to work with AnnexCore?

We reached out to them after seeing their company name on a list of WooCommerce experts, and we instantly liked their responsiveness and thorough understanding of what we wanted to achieve.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about $45,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing engagement started in July 2021.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

AnnexCore has always understood our main priority from the start: our customers. They’ve built straightforward yet user-friendly solutions that have made everything easier for our customers, and they’re always quick to suggest insightful ideas to improve the quality of our website. 

I’m not an expert in web development or technology in general, and I appreciate AnnexCore’s sincere attempts to make everything more digestible for us. Overall, we've had a very easy and productive engagement — I can’t thank their team enough for that.

How did AnnexCore perform from a project management standpoint?

AnnexCore is on top of their project management game. They generate timely and precise solutions, which proves their commitment to helping us meet our goals.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’re most impressed with their openness to work with a company that’s as humble and spontaneous as ours. As a customer-oriented company, we appreciate their understanding of our changing needs in our journey towards delivering the highest quality of services to our clients.

Are there any areas they could improve?

AnnexCore performs impeccably, but we’ll appreciate easier methods of communication, such as phone calls.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Relay your requirements transparently and communicate closely with their team to guarantee that they’re working towards meeting your goals.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager at a private medical practice; we do both alternative and traditional health care therapies.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AnnexCore?

We needed someone to run our practice website with blog content. Additionally, we needed to set up an online store for our business, which we already had, but it was difficult for us to keep it going.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

AnnexCore has been integrating plug-ins to our site to enable features like search functions, images display, checkout processes, PayPal, and credit card usability. We’ve also been working together on the site to block potential frauds and other issues of the same sort.

What is the team composition?

We’ve been working with 4–5 people from their team, involving project managers, developers, designers, and other experts.

How did you come to work with AnnexCore?

We found them on Google. We chose them because they had a nearby office presence, which we think is helpful for our business.

How much have you invested with them?

We invest around $4,500 a month with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2021, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I can see that the sales on the website have been working much better than before — I know it’s a long project, but I’m happy so far. 

How did AnnexCore perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Basecamp and email for communication. I also get reports from their marketing department with information concerning the project.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their fast turnaround times are what distinguishes them the most.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We’d like more feedback in terms of how we should change things to improve the project. It would be helpful to me if they provided further advice to improve my business because I’m not an expert in this field.

Any advice for potential customers?

Be aware that you have to invest money so things can work out for your business.