The7bits

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of NoCodeDevs. We’re a community of makers, designers, marketers, and product managers who make digital products with codeless or low-code tools. Our team focuses on things like digital marketing, web, and digital automation. We do challenges, tutorials, and also have some products, it’s really a smorgasbord of things.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The7bits?

We hired The7bits specifically for our weekly challenges. Every week, we host a no-code challenge. Historically, it had been hosted through Twitter. First, the challenge would be posted on Twitter. Then, participants’ submissions were posted to the tweet in a thread and voting was completed by liking the submissions tweets. It was very rudimentary to use an existing tool.

As time went on, the number of participants, submissions, and sponsors, as well as the complexity of the challenges, increased. We really needed a dedicated page, database, and backend tool to manage our challenge users, sponsors, and submissions. Our team hired The7bits to help us build that database.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The7bits' primary role was to provide development, but they also did some design and frontend work. They used their custom, low-code software called Tabbli to build out the solution. In the planning stage, we exchanged wireframes, mockups, and different prototypes. We collaborated through Sketch pads, Trello documents, and all sorts of different channels.

What is the team composition?

I worked directly with two project managers. However, I’m not sure how many people were working in the background.

How did you come to work with The7bits?

I can’t remember exactly how I became aware of their company. We’re in the same space, so I had a general knowledge of their work. I must’ve found their platform through my own research. Because their low-code product, Tabbli, is custom work, I probably reached out to inquire about it.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested less than $5,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our ongoing partnership began in February 2020. The database is live but the engagement is continuous. They put everything together in a fast turnaround.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

From inception, I was a little nervous about the outcome; but in terms of it being built and launched so quickly, my hesitations were squandered. We launched it on time, and I was positive we’d discover bugs and issues the day after it was live.

However, we had hundreds of users and registrations as well as thousands of visits all in one day with zero problems. It was absolutely seamless. There were no issues with transactional emails, registration, or workflow. What’s more, we jumped to the #5 spot for the product of the day.

Furthermore, as the challenge participants became customers, we’ve been able to transition them into using the platform; that’s retention that we weren’t expecting to see. Our team has had almost no questions from users on how to navigate the system. It’s easy to use, self-explanatory, simple, and intuitive. The frontend is designed well even though we didn’t ask The7bit’s for that; they voluntarily did.

We’ve been able to continually grow our challenges from week to week. The solution has helped us increase the amount of voting, participation, and interested sponsors. These sponsors have gone from small independent companies to more corporate professional ones. This is all due to the fact that we have a professional frontend challenge page in comparison to when it was all on Twitter.

These results are due to the fact that the system was designed well and has functioned correctly from the beginning. All of this is a testament to The7bits, Tabbli, and their team. They completed all of this while charging cost-beneficial rates. That’s one of the things that’s attractive about working with them. The7bits has low-code tools and can build off an already established platform, so they’re not rewriting everything every time they need to build it.

How did The7bits perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re great at project management. There were no problems, and they communicated well — possibly even over-communicated, which was not a problem on my end. The7bits found very creative ways to share information that reduced cost and friction. Their team identified problems before they came up. Overall, they were excellent.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The speed of their development is clearly their biggest competitive advantage, followed by cost and communication. They’re great communicators who quickly deliver products at little cost — they’re a very valuable partner.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I can’t think of anything because I’ve had a really good experience.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you understand that every product has its limitations. For example, we were initially using The7bits as a web development firm. However, I also used a product they offered to help develop my own product; and I knew the limitations of that. My advice is to know the limitations of the company that you’re working with.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of OurHub Europe, a B2B and B2C e-commerce platform. We help brands create their own brand page, and likewise for influencers. Influencers can promote brands that they like and get the affiliate benefits.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The7bits?

We needed a good system to be able to monitor and track our processes. It needed to provide a login for influencers to customize their content and website design.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We started with a kickoff meeting and discussed our requirements, after which they developed our MVP of the landing page for an event. I wanted to use Magento, but after some discussion, they told me it couldn’t handle the complicated requirements I needed, so we chose Python. 

The software is an e-commerce platform where we manage our members, and where they can send out an affiliate link to their connections. When the member shares a link to their connection, they can click the link to complete the order. The system then reduces how many credits can be earned from sharing.

What is the team composition? 

My main points of contact were with the team leader, a Python engineer, and a content creator. There are another three people as well.

How did you come to work with The7bits?

We connected through LinkedIn. They’re from Ukraine and my previous company I worked for was in Ukraine which gave me a good impression about software capabilities in the country. They also had an office in Holland, which is where my company is, which was a good combination. We had some face-to-face meetings in Holland and decided to kick off the project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in May 2018 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re in the maintenance stage and not intensive development anymore. It’s not fully complete because there’s some things we still need to automate, but the quality of the website is good. Sometimes the content has errors, but they correct them very quickly.

How did The7bits perform from a project management standpoint?

We worked in two-week sprints, checking up what we need to do with each sprint and maintaining daily contact. We now do four-week sprints, and use Trello and Slack, for really good communication. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their communication and the quality of the work are very good.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their team is mainly engineers, so they have room to improve with design and the user interface. They need a designer on the team.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I recommend using them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

Crane Locator is a marketplace for project logistics in the heavy transport industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with The7Bits?

I needed a complete platform build to support me with production, administration, and updating the platform.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had the idea in my head and put together a presentation of how it should look. I had some Excel files to show how the drop menu should look. I showed it to The7Bits and they shared their advice and knowledge. They advised me on what was workable and what wasn't. After making a prototype and launching it, there was another 6 months during which we made some updates that were quite important. After another year, we made another update.

They built it using Python and Django. It’s a place where you can add your company, get new customers, and promote your company and equipment. It’s also a trading platform and renting for special transport, so not just simple logistics. They did all the development and the design work from scratch. How it looks and the administration of the website is fully built by The7Bits.

They also helped me to set up all the marketing. That was mainly through emailing and talking on the phone with people. There’s SMM [social media marketing] and the server system, which is connected to the platform. It’s how we follow the users.

What is the team composition?

In the beginning, there were 4 or 5 people to build everything. To build from scratch, you have to build administration, production site, testing site, and another testing site. When everything was built, I had 2 people who were helping me set it up and keep it running. There was also a dedicated project manager.

How did you come to work with The7Bits?

I had offers from 2 other local companies. One company didn’t understand our idea and refused to work on it, while the other’s costs were too high. A friend of mine from Ukraine, introduced me to one of the guys from The7Bits. We then had a meeting with their complete team on Skype about the project. I felt they understood my idea and we started to work together.

How much have you invested with them?

More than 40,000 euros [$49,850].

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in February 2015 and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The way I pictured the platform to be built was fulfilled 100% for me. In the development, there weren’t a lot of bugs. Sometimes we had a problem with the server, but it was only because users and new companies were adding equipment. Some of the pictures were big and we were always missing the space. The7Bits told me it’s best to move all the servers from private to Amazon Web Services [AWS]. Now we have some slots on the AWS server for staging and for developing the website. It’s running smoothly. I don’t remember a time that platform ever stopped.

However, I thought there would be more activity on the platform. We’re either missing something or lacking good promotion with AdWords. It’s slow with getting new users and new companies. It’s not easy to promote the platform.

How did The7Bits perform from a project management standpoint?

They were a great help. Before I was thinking about what to do, they already had answers. They were always offering solutions for my ideas. There was someone who was always online for me and another who was available if we wanted to update, change, or deal with issues.

We communicated everyday using Skype and Trello to keep the tasks running. We also used Slack for news and updates. They delivered on time. We aren’t on budget because I’m always changing and updating things, which costs extra money.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their knowledge is impressive. They’re a small company that can do very special things with administration and production. I don’t have any doubts that they could follow 3 or 4 similar projects. I’m satisfied with what they’re doing. There’s always been a solution for any question.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They got some experience with my project. Based on my inquiries, they’ve been searching for extra information. It’s been challenging for them to find the right solution for the next step.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about what you want and try to put as many ideas on paper as you can. Talking on the phone or Skype, you can say a lot of things and ask for many things. For one person to judge all the information is quite difficult. It’s always good to have something on paper to show to the team. Share information correctly and explain what your actual idea is.