Flux Tech

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the founder of Shadower, an online platform that helps amateurs find experts to shadow in real life in a variety of fields. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Flux Tech?

We reached out to Flux Tech to work on the backend development of my web application, while I provided most of the frontend work myself. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Flux Tech developed the backend of my platform, which is built on React Native. After some initial meetings to go over project goals and designs, I sent them a mockup and they built a static version of the site for my review. From there, we communicated back and forth as they built out features and functionalities, incorporating my feedback along the way. 

What is the team composition? 

I worked directly with two people, including Jonathan (Owner and App Developer, Flux Tech), touching base with them at least a couple times per week. 

How did you come to work with Flux Tech?

I believe I found them on Google Maps and did some additional research. I liked that they weren't a huge company, which meant they'd be more affordable and able to give us more personalized attention. I also had a similar background as one of their developers, who studied the same area as me at the same college. 

How much have you invested with them?

We invested about $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked on the project from June 2018–June 2019. Although the bulk of work has been completed, they continue to make updates and changes as needed. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The site just launched, so we don't have any success stories yet. However, I've received positive feedback from people with a coding background on the quality of their work.

They did their best given the designs I provided, but because I'm not a professional web designer, I probably should've had another vendor provide the mockups in retrospect. The site they created is about a 90% accurate depiction of what I envisioned. 

How did Flux Tech perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, they've been great to work with, but the project ended up being three months late, which is likely due to the fact that we underestimated how robust the platform needed to be. I was hoping to complete the project in six months and they planned for nine months, but it ultimately took a year.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I liked that I was able to provide a lot of input and be very involved throughout the process. Had I worked with a larger company, that wouldn't have been the case and I would've paid a lot more. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

As I continue working with them in the future, they can improve their timeframe estimates. Because the app took longer to build, we weren't able to be the first app of our kind on the market.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure to flesh out concepts as much as possible ahead of time and provide detailed mockups if possible to avoid delays. I'd also recommend being more proactive than we were about micromanaging the process in the beginning to make sure everything is progressing as expected and in a timely manner.