Solar Digital

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am founder and at the time the only employee of my small company named “Anastasia Sannikova. Jewelry Design”.  I create handmade jewelry. I started this several years ago, but mostly as a hobby.

And it appeared that it was popular among certain people, so they wished to buy what I created. So I decided to create a brand and launch this business more officially.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did you retain SOLAR Digital?

I needed services of SOLAR Digital because I wanted to create a logo which would have a clear idea of itself and story behind it. Also, I needed certain brand identity elements which would be helpful in starting my business.

SOLUTION

What were your goals for the project?

The key goal was to create logo + brand identity elements. I had clear idea of how it should look like, at least more or less. But wished professional to improve the idea and bring it to life the best way it was possible.

How did you select this vendor?

I reached SOLAR Digital about 2 years ago and wished to worked with them that moment. But I had some troubles in my own life so I was not able to start our collaboration that time. So when I had a chance I came back and wished to create something I needed with this very team.

Describe the project in detail.

I had clear idea of what should be in my logo and clear idea of colors I wished to be in it. And still I was not sure about what name I wanted my Company to have. Guys from SOLAR Digital didn’t have to, but still provided me with certain options of naming. The options were good, but in the end I chose my own option.

Due to the story of my life, I wished phoenix to be in the logo. And I knew that I wanted black and gold colors. And still I didn’t have 100% vision of how it should be in the end.

One of the main circumstances was that it was express logo. It means that I had to be provided only with one option of logo without opportunity for corrections. But they were in touch with me all the time so I saw the work in progress and could provide my own comments to what I liked or not. So basically I had more options than one.

In the end I received 3 concepts instead of one. With tiny differences, and still that was a nice bonus.

After the logo was approved, we moved to brand identity elements. And they were done appropriately as I expected.

What was the team composition?

There was a project manager whom I started communicating with before the start of the project and he was helping me to communicate with designer while the project was in progress. Even now we’re still in touch with him.

Also there was a nice designer who also was into this very project, had their own ideas and added little but nice detail in final logo version. There also was an art director, we never met, but this person was responsible for inner approvement before anything could be presented to me.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What was the outcome of the project?

It’s hard to say at the moment because my main channels of sale are social networks. So now I’m the progress of their promotion. And even now I start getting positive feedback about my production and brand. So, everything progresses quite well.

How effective was the workflow between your team and their team?

It was great. I enjoyed working with everyone who took part in the project.

What was the most impressive part of working with them?

They didn’t just do what I asked them to or what they had to do because of our agreement. They did even more, showed interest in project, shared their opinion and were arguing (positively) with me when they had a different opinion because they really wanted to make it the best way possible.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Nothing to improve at the moment. There are some things which I would want to create later, but I don’t need anything now.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing director at indiGem Inc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solar Digital?

We needed to create an online platform for events. I hired Solar Digital to do design and frontend work.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Solar Digital did the design — web and general code — and frontend development of the platform while working closely with another team I hired for backend work to deliver the final product. They developed solutions and customized functionality with the backend team.

They added functionality to the platform that allows vendors to join and run their stores independently. There are also many modern functions, including promotion, discount, and auction, that they incorporated. Additionally, the team rebranded the indiGem brand. Currently, Solar Digital is handling the maintenance of the entire platform. 

What is the team composition?

There are about 3–5 people on the team including a project manager, designer, tech specialist, and developers. The project manager is my main point of contact, although I can contact the general manager if necessary.

How did you come to work with Solar Digital?

I had worked with the owner of the company before. It was a good experience, so I reached out to hire the team when the project came up.

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve invested $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them around March 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They keep track of modern trends and technology.

How did Solar Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

In addition to being flexible, their communication is really good. Both project managers I worked with were highly qualified and communicated excellently in English. They are very responsive and provide detailed invoices. We use Trello to keep track of their progress. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I liked their design approach, which was also the main reason I hired them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They switched banking information and currency, and they wanted to be paid in full during the project. It was a minor annoyance.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re stable and trustworthy, so I recommend working with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a manager of a farmer’s market called Frisco Fresh Market.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solar Digital?

We needed a more robust system to process our 92 different vendors. At the time, we used Excel spreadsheets to process our vendors including payments and leasing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Solar Digital developed a web application that manages our different vendors. As we didn’t have a platform, they created the product from the ground up. I laid out my ideas for the design and they filled in the gaps. Their team leveraged the Laravel framework to build the product. The platform enables us to process payments, booking dates, leases, and maintenance requests. We had many phases of development when their team made changes. 

What is the team composition?

I communicate with a project manager who directs the team from Solar Digital that works on this project.

How did you come to work with Solar Digital?

A marketing firm that we hired in the past referred us to Solar Digital.

How much have you invested with them?

Over the course of two years, we spent between $50,000–$100,000 on their services. That figure includes all of the project’s different phases.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our collaboration in June 2018 and the project's almost finished.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It’s a good product that works well for us, which makes this project a success. Our team's happy because it was difficult for us to keep up with billing all of the different vendors. The system is generally appreciated. Our team, which had to deal with additional work hours previously, is happy.

How did Solar Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

Solar Digital’s professional, showing up to our calls on time and prepared. Their team’s processes information, so we don’t walk away confused at the end of meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their flexibility’s certainly noteworthy and deserving of praise. Our team's small but we’re a farmer’s market, meaning that we're busy. They’re able to work with our schedule and manage the difference in timezones well.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m satisfied. I don’t know where our engagement could improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Generally speaking, make sure to define your scope clearly and make sure that you don’t leave any details out. We realized that we wanted different features during the development, so we added those ideas to the project. When you’re creating your scope, think about the final product thoroughly.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am founder and CEO of Castagnette EV&ED, an educational platform aimed at developing a vibrant and modern culture. Our company’s core mission is to promote individual development through eclectic events and activities that teach new skills.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Solar Digital?

We needed to create a brand name for the company, develop a logo, design social media pages, and fashion elements of our brand identity.

What were your goals for this project?

The goal was to develop a brand that could summarize all our corporate values.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

The main reason why I chose Solar Digital was that of the way their team members communicated with us. They were really flexible and responsive.

Describe the project in detail. 

Solar Digital created the logo and our name, Castagnette, based on a simplified form of a castanet, a Spanish musical instrument. The instrument symbolized rhythmic sounding, inner rhythm, emotions, and passion—all values our educational classes and events sought to emulate. Using these themes, their team designed our social media pages and further developed our brand identity.

What was the team composition?

Our team consisted of two designers, and one project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

I didn't know how to visualize our main corporate idea into a concrete form. The team of Solar Digital helped me to analyze certain details to transform my vision into reality.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our workflow was effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their team members were easy-going, usually replied within few hours, completed tasks on-time, and provided a full-cycle development. Because of this, I received a quality ready-to-market solution with no need to refactor the code.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CEO of the pizza delivery service. Buddha Pizza is an online luxury food delivery restaurant that delivers high-quality ingredients within 59 minutes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Solar Digital?

We needed unique branding: stickers, box designs, and other elements. We also needed a website with other creative elements.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a catchy website and corporate identity to launch our restaurant.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I was referred to them by one of my partners. After the estimating the project's costs and duration, we started development.

Can you go into detail about the services they provided and the scope of the project?

Before starting the project, Solar Digital researched competitors to choose the best options for the product. Then, their team developed a platform with creative and professional animations. Focusing on usability, they created a great UX/UI and backend. They implemented the optimal functions for every click a user would make. They developed filters that allow a user to choose ingredients to types of dough to combine different tastes. Solar also created pizzas’ descriptions and a karma system for users to review their experience. They configured the platform to be mobile-friendly.

What was the team composition?

The team consisted of three designers, one backend developer, one frontend developer,  and a project manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

The platform they developed really helped highlight our company against other pizza delivery services.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

Our project manager was very effective. Throughout the project, their team was always kept in touch with me and updated me on the work they've done.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team was client-oriented, attentive, and responsive.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of a shipping company working in the Black Sea. We’re dedicated to port logistics and shipments of cargo. We provide services for freight, chartering, agency and forwarding.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenges were you trying to address with Solar Digital?

From the moment we started the company, we decided to provide our clients with additional services related to big data and research of cargo movements. We wanted to do this through a CRM platform. We were originally focused only on movements of cargo on the Black Sea and from Ukrainian ports. We’re now building a global platform for tracing and analyzing flows of cargo shipped in bulk (not in containers) between ports.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They have been involved from the beginning in developing our platform. We gave them ideas about how the system should work and look. They helped us with the design and all of the development of the platform. They use technologies like PHP and MySQL and have integrated APIs to link industry software for tracking ship movements. We have launched 3 versions of the platform so far, the first in May 2014, the second in September 2016, and the third in October 2017.

The platform analyzes data in different ways to show results of the industry. You can check profiles and shares of a company, who is working in which areas, what cargo is moving, and what ports are working. They upgraded our database since we needed to expand from initially focusing only on Ukraine to accommodate large amounts of data as we grew the platform to a global scope.

We have multiple projects ongoing. We’ll start working on version 4 as soon as version 3 is finalized, by the middle of 2018. We’re discussing with them how to integrate new technologies to manage additional data sources. They helped us build a mobile application for iOS and we have plans to develop an Android app. Now they’re developing another CRM system for our internal use as we needed to digitize a lot of paperwork we have. They provide ongoing technical support on all of these projects.

How did you come to work with Solar Digital?

We were searching for a partner to develop the program but also thinking about maybe hiring our own IT guys. We changed our minds after a meeting with the CEO of Solar Digital. I had known him for a quite a while already, which was one of our reasons for choosing them. We trusted him as we had worked with him on other projects for 3 years. We knew they were reliable. They also had quite a competitive price for that kind of development.

How much have you invested with them?

Approximately $200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working with them since May 2014.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Our work and our financial returns have increased 3 times since 2014. We provide reports of the data that we collect and analyze free of charge to our clients. They’re increasing their requests and we have new clients coming onboard because the system works so well. We’re considering changing our model to provide a subscription service to capitalize on increased demand.

How did Solar Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

With each new version, there are some bugs to fix but it’s always done on time. We work with them by regularly sending lots of small requests, rather than providing a full order to the developer. They respond quite quickly. We’re making improvements to the system all the time so we communicate on a daily basis.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They started working with us as partners and have now become friends. They help us a lot to understand exactly what we want. We often give them unclear tasks which they have to translate to digital language and provide us with possible solutions for. They provide multiple solutions and we get to choose. And they always come with additional ideas on top of what we requested.

They have approached the work in a really personal way. They're not shipping guys but they’re trying to understand the problem. They go quite deep in order to understand how our industry is working and to create a product that we really need.

They have a very good designer for graphics and a developer who makes changes very quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Maybe they could guess what we want even better than they’re already doing it. I’m fully satisfied. They bring stability and trust to our relationship. I don’t have any complaints about their work.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

My company is a leading vegetable oil terminal in Ukraine. Our clients are big international firms. I’m the head of business development and the marketing department.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solar Digital?

In March, we decided to develop a new site to serve as a business card for our clients. We wanted to increase our business opportunities.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We developed our site from the initial stage. I prepared all the technical tasks, content, and references. They made corrections to my content and came up with a design that we approved. Then they programmed it.

The site had already been designed by another firm, but Solar provided everything connected to that design. They did all the features, text, placement, effects, underlining of key messages, etc. They also provide support and hosting for the website.

What is the team dynamic?

We were in contact with 2 people, the CEO and a project manager.

How did you come to work with Solar Digital?

I was looking for a company to perform a test. One of our clients recommended Solar Digital. I was told they were a good firm who could perform a good job, and I liked their project.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the project in April 2017, and they finished the site in June 2017. They provide ongoing support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I use Google Analytics and check weekly to see how many visitors come to the site. The last few months, there have been people who actively use our site. Our site has become very popular among our industry and won a few awards for design in Ukraine and abroad. All my colleagues and clients who have visited the site have given me positive feedback. It’s a unique site, simple to follow, entertaining, and modern.

How did Solar Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We developed a plan, moved through the process step by step, and did everything on time. We made a schedule together for design and content. At the end of the process, we were improving some flaws. I like their team; we met sometimes in a local office. I also speak with them regularly on the phone, and we use many kinds of messengers.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their time management is impressive, and I like the quality of how they present information. I also like the effects on our site and how they're designed.

Are there any areas they could improve?

There are no limits for perfection. I think they could develop their interaction, but in general, everything was great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the co-founders and director of Sailica, which is a yacht-booking service that provides boat rentals all over the world. We have six people working from the office and another six outsourced members.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solar Digital?

We had a complicated and expensive website project and needed to find professionals that could deliver well at not too high of a price.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had my own requirements for the website’s design and function, but I also asked Solar Digital about how it should look in two years. They gave me advice and have helped make it real. It’s an end-to-end production, from design to the functional elements.

Our service involves large databases which need to be retrieved from our partners’ yacht-booking systems. The first goal was to create a large database of yachts from all over the world, and we currently have around 5,000 entered but it’s complicated to gather good content and enter it into the service. The objective is to have a real-time functional database that allows customers to book yachts with a single click, so our managers receive the requests by email in a few seconds and answer at any time.

What is the team dynamic?

Solar Digital had a six-person team working with us, which included a designer, two backend developers, a frontend developer, and a project manager. We had daily Skype meetings. 

How did you come to work with Solar Digital?

A good friend recommended them to me; they had been working together for a year. He said that if I’m looking to work with an IT company on a long-term project, I needed to get in touch with them. I talked to their owner and we understood each other. I didn’t start any tenders; it was a matter of referrals and Solar’s good price and impressive team.

How much have you invested with them?

The cost of their services has been $70,000–$80,000 so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with Solar Digital in January 2017. The design process started either in late February or at the beginning of March. The product is 60% complete, and I estimate that it will be fully functional in one year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any feedback yet from owners and skippers—the people we’re working with—on the alpha version delivered at the end of July. The people working with Solar Digital’s team found the design to be perfect. We’re waiting until December and January to get real feedback from the actual users.

How did Solar Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

They delivered without any problems. I worked out of their office three days a week and they also came to mine.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They really listened to us and it seems to me that they have very good designers. It’s the strongest part of the team.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I really like them and I can’t say that anything has been wrong.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The best advice I could give is to phrase what you want accurately. Clients need to talk to their project managers and designers, taking a pencil, sitting down with them, and addressing everything they want to see within their service.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m one of the founders of our extracurricular activity platform. My husband and I moved to Salt Lake City a couple of years ago and had trouble with finding and organizing extracurricular activities for our children. We came up with the idea of creating a portal that would connect parents with the small businesses that provide activities for children such as karate, gymnastic, pools, and so on.

Our idea was to have a place where parents can look up all of the events and where small businesses and extracurricular activity providers can have a calendar and a schedule of the activities within their business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Solar Digital?

We needed to come up with a platform that could sync with Google Calendar or whatever other calendar the provider wants to use. We needed a user-friendly site for parents to organize their schedule for their children. It was a challenge because of all the backend building, thorough thinking, and data mining this project required.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

A great UX [user experience] and a friendly user interface were the major things we needed. Our platform needed to be catchy and easy for parents use on their mobile device and also well as the web. Eventually, we want to have a mobile app as well.

Solar Digital provided a website build, data storage, and Google Sync set up. They’re also on board for long-term support as our website constantly requires attention for updating information. It all has to be synced up and we need Solar Digital’s operational support on the development and IT side with adding new companies and removing the ones that exist. Vue.js, PHP, and Laravel were the major technologies they used.

What is the team dynamic?

We have a project manager, a UX designer, and a backend consultant assigned to our team. Overall, we have 10 people assigned to different tasks.

How did you come to work with Solar Digital?

I’m originally from Ukraine, so aside from having connections, I always try to help the Ukrainian economy by outsourcing IT work because there’s a lot of talent out there. I tried to find a team that’s reliable, trustworthy, and with ample experience. At the same time, I can help them grow outside of Ukraine and provide ideas to grow their business.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $120,000–$150,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2016 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They’re really great at providing fast results and have helped us upload over 450 local businesses in our database within a couple of months. Additionally, they’ve also added 1,000 one-time events. They give us a lot of really good ideas for the UX as well. We have really good feedback from the companies that are interested in advertising with us. So far, we haven’t had any issues loading calendars—it’s a really easy flow.

The people or businesses that have events that really don't have their own marketing ad found out that we're really good at creating ads for them really fast. It's a cute and nice way of marketing for those little companies on our website.

How did Solar Digital perform from a project management standpoint?

We have a project manager assigned to us; we’ve interacted through Trello and also have a really good management tool in pace. They use Agile methodologies and are really good at managing tasks through the use of a project management board, which makes it really convenient to see the progress of the project.

So far, we haven't had any communication issues. They consistently have a project manager in another country as well in order to be available 24/7 to keep up with global growth. Overall, I’m really pleased with the results of their work.

What did you find most impressive about them?

One of their strengths is their UI/UX expertise. I live in the U.S. but I really like the western Europeans’ fresh look of things—they have new ideas that I’ve never seen here. Solar Digital is a little different and can bring these fresh and cool ideas. Their work speed is also really impressive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything. They just need to continue growing and keep up the good work.

Do you have any advice for potential clients of Solar Digital?

Clients should definitely give them a chance and provide a good set of requirements for what they need in a consolidated manner, making sure to leave room for them to put in their input as well because they have a lot of good ideas and information. The team is really exceptionally well put together and talented, with an out-of-the-box approach that is very helpful.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the CEO of CLAROS FARM

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are Solar Digital, a full-cycle design and development company. We build web and mobile applications, custom software, and digital platforms that help businesses scale and operate more efficiently.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Solar Digital to accomplish?

• We hired Solar Digital to improve our digital presence and build a more scalable platform for our business.

SOLUTION

How did you find Solar Digital?

• Online Search
• Clutch Site

Why did you select Solar Digital over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Solar Digital were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Solar Digital handled the full design and development of our platform. The key deliverables included UX/UI design, custom development, and optimization to improve performance, usability, and overall user experience.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The platform became more efficient and easier to use for our customers. We also saw improved engagement, smoother navigation, and better overall performance after launch.

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

Their project management was well structured and reliable throughout the process. Solar Digital delivered items on time and were responsive whenever we needed adjustments or support.

What was your primary form of communication with Solar Digital?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What stood out most about Solar Digital was their ability to quickly understand our goals and turn them into practical, well-built solutions. They were proactive, detail-focused, and easy to work with throughout the project.

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

Overall, our experience with Solar Digital was very positive. There were no major issues, and everything was delivered smoothly and as expected.