Unico Connect

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of Urban Reality Business, a real estate platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unico Connect?

I needed someone to develop a completely new website for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We hired them to build a static website that links to a few payment portals.

What is the team composition?

I work with 4–5 people in junior development roles.

How did you come to work with Unico Connect?

A friend recommended them to me.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between 300,000­–400,000 rupees (approximately $4,000–$5,500 USD).

What is the status of this engagement?

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

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Their work has been very poor. Their senior team members haven’t been very involved and have shown poor leadership skills, while junior members continue to make the same mistakes again and again. I’d never recommend them. They clearly don’t care about our partnership or our project.

How did Unico Connect perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, they haven’t managed the project well. Although they use an Excel sheet, they rarely update it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Nothing has impressed me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their senior management needs to take ownership of the project a start managing their team well.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Don’t work with them.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m an investment director at Cornerstone Venture Partners Fund.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unico Connect?

We wanted to get our web presence up and running. We needed a full-fledged digital portal that would enable our investors and partners to communicate. The portal would also provide access to our content and exclusive deal flow. 

We also needed an interactive and dynamic aspect to our investment pieces. We’ll be coming out with a lot more data points and facts for people to visualize what we’re thinking, how we’re thinking, what we do, and why we make the investments that we make.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Unico Connect delivered wireframes and an entire prototype to conceptualize our platform. They determined the UI/UX and which capabilities to build out. Then, they developed the platform using web-based technologies.

The portal has a complete, flexible, and hybrid database on startups and all of their information. The capabilities are built on top of a lot of functionalities. Users have access to multiple filters so that they can select their areas of interest and identify the right company for them. The system gradually learns about the user and personalizes their experience accordingly. The platform has a lot of personalization and recommendations built-in.

From a system perspective, the platform consolidates all our other assets, including blogs and reports. Users can seamlessly access all of our assets from one place. The Unico team also helped us create SEO-friendly content.

Unico finished one of our websites in April 2019. They began another one in January 2020 and finished it that June. We’re currently in phase two and are building more capabilities.
 
What is the team composition?

We primarily work with the managing partner, a project manager, and a senior web designer.

How did you come to work with Unico Connect?

I had a couple of references for Unico Connect from friends and colleagues in my past work experience. We did some background checks and liked their work. We checked out multiple other vendors, but we liked Unico Connect’s approach. Their costs weren’t the lowest but were one of the best. Given the quality of work with this cost, they were the best option.  

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $15,000–$20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2019, and the work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We are really satisfied with the quality of the work in terms of success. We measure their success in terms of the time it takes them, whether the capabilities we envision are available on the platform, and whether the UX is seamless. 

Unico met the timelines that were initially projected. They’ve been able to get all of the functionalities the way that we envisioned them, and the UX has been great. We haven’t had any downtime since the launch.

How did Unico Connect perform from a project management standpoint?

They share their progress on Google Docs or Excel in a way that we can understand.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They have an understanding of our business problems. It’s very important for someone to understand what we’re looking for and then building it out accordingly.

In previous experiences, the biggest challenge we’ve had is that the team didn’t really understand what we were looking for or what the business problem was. Therefore, the solution never came out perfect. This hasn’t been the case with Unico Connect. They’re able to communicate the business language into technology.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their design method was a bit elongated, and they could have shortened it. From a user perspective, we got all that we needed, and it’s working perfectly.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

They’re an absolutely fantastic team of UI/UX designers and front- and backend developers. It’s a complete package.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the co-founder of a company that provides a range of products and services for kids.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Unico Connect, and what were your goals?

Our website was not the most responsive. It was a little heavy and slow in loading time. We wanted to streamline our website so that our users would be met with an online presence that is intuitive, fast and responsive.

SOLUTION

How did you select Unico Connect and what were the deciding factors?

I was recommended Unico by a colleague who had recently streamlined her website. She was quite pleased with the work they did and the time they did it in.

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

We created a group where the team basically outlined the issues we were facing. The team at Unico then comprehensively studied the website and came up with their own set of observations and recommendations.

That kickstarted the project where both the parties were on the same page. It was then simply a matter of them making the changes, updating us, us checking the change and seeing if it had the desired outcome, and moving through the list.

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

There were three members from Unico who worked with us. Dipen, the owner was constantly in loop with all that was going on. And there were 2 other lead designers and developers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We've seen an increase in traffic on the website as well as gotten positive feedback from customers who previously found the website a little less responsive.

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

There were daily updates and a well planned schedule through which we worked. Our conversations were mainly through WhatsApp and the phone, where we would talk once a day to figure out the way forward.

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

They were open and honest about what we needed and didn't need. That is what stood out most about Unico. It wasn't 'You'll need this and that and this too.' It was practical and within our budget.

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

I think we achieved what we set out to achieve.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Innofitt is a pioneer in designing, manufacturing and marketing intelligent workplace accessories that enhance productivity and ensure comfortable working conditions, since 1981.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

Our Website was created in 2017 to help us engage and create new customers throughout India. We decided to hire unicoconnect to handle the development and maintenance of our website as we did not have the expertise inhouse.

SOLUTION

How did you select unicoconnect and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Unicoconnect as they came with very good recommendations

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

WE had a meeting discussing our goals, objectives, products, sub-brands, etc. from there, the team delivered exactly the right kind of placement and easy to use interface for our clients

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

WE have worked with multiple people from the team and they are all helpful and quick with the implementation of our updates and requests

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We have seen an increased amount of inquiries that we receive regarding our products. it has been our no.1 source of new leads

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

We are in constant contact with the team over call/email. it has worked fine for us so far.

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

We have a great website now and since we are not so well versed with updating our website, the team is really helpful and updates it regularly for us once we provide any new content or require any changes.

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

not so far

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the head of operations at Unurged.com, a company dedicated to help it's customers quit smoking through therapy.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

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

We wanted a nice website in the first phase along with the development of our own CRM. We are also discussing creating apps for iOS and Android.

SOLUTION

How did you select unicoconnect and what were the deciding factors?

We know the owner of Unicoconnect, Dipin personally. However, we still did our research and after evaluating other options and Unicoconnect, we reached the decision of working with them.

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

We started with broad scope of the overall project. then we split the project into multiple phases. This happened after discussion with the Unicoconnect team as timeline was very tight.

Then they asked for the detailed structure and content which we provided. They were able to provide us valuable feedback about the content presentation and we had to correct the content a few times. After that, they helped us setting up the website.

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

We worked directly with Dipin for the project scoping. Afterwards, we were in touch with 2 people from the technical team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I was impressed with the deliverables provided. They were of good quality and sent in timely fashion.

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

The documentation related to the project was sufficiently detailed. Also, we were trained properly on the functions which we needed to manage on our own.

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

It did not take too much effort into ensuring that the vision in my mind is the same the team is working on. So, that was a great positive.

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

There are always some areas where anyone can improve, but I believe that till now there is no glaring issue.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a managing director for Spectron. It’s a multidisciplinary engineering company with a core related to oil and gas.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with unicoconnect?

We have a security division, and we had created a hardware scan of the underbody of a vehicle. We needed a company to develop the software for that system.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They’ve developed the entire software for the security scanning system.

What is the team composition?

I work with Dipen (Owner) and Sunny (Director of Business Development), and they oversee the team.

How did you come to work with unicoconnect?

I found them online. I spoke with Dipen and Sunny, and decided to hire them because of their experience in a similar industry.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together around February 2019, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’ve been on the market with the system for roughly six months, and we have several customers, including the Indian Army and Navy. The team worked hard to remove any bugs, and to finish on time.

We’re continuing to improve the product and make it more affordable. My team and I are happy with unicoconnect’s work, and our clients are satisfied with the performance of the product.

How did unicoconnect perform from a project management standpoint?

We work closely together, very hands-on, in order to integrate the software with the hardware. There were 3–4 people from their team who came to work with our team for a few months.

After that, there continued to be constant communication between me, my team, and their team, via phone and email. We have daily and weekly meetings. They’ve had a clear process from the start and work in sync with my team quite well.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They are professional. They’ve contributed a significant amount of time and resources to come up with satisfying solutions. One of the biggest advantages of working with them is their technical ability to understand challenges and come up with a solution.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They need to have a team capable of scaling up, as I am wanting to scale the project up, locally and globally. There are also some clients who have very strict deadlines, unable to have the slightest delay without serious issues. This team is pretty good at deadlines, but they could be a little more particular at times.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Dazzle by Neha, a fashion jewelry company. I sell it on my website and social media channels.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with unicoconnect?

I was only selling on social media and in-person. Since everything is virtual and online now, I saw the need to get my own e-commerce site developed. I wanted a chic, style-inspired website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They developed my e-commerce website. He’s an expert with Shopify and suggested using it because uploading pictures is really easy — I just upload pictures to the app on the phone. They built it so it's really easy for me to track the orders and view the whole sales statement and all the data analytics on the backend. It’s easy to operate. They did the frontend design work as well.

They understood what I was looking for. He gave me a few options, I gave him a few references and he built on that. 

What is the team composition?

There was someone for design work, someone for the backend development, someone for coding, and I mainly interacted with Dipen (Owner). Dipen would pass on the work to the team.

How did you come to work with unicoconnect?

I was working with another developer and had a horrible experience. I spoke to a lot of web developers but I really liked Dipen and his work. I come from a fashion background so I wanted someone to understand what I was looking for and get the whole feel of a fashion website, not just a regular website. He was exactly what I was looking for.

How much have you invested with them?

I spent 1.5 lakh rupee (approximately $2,000 USD). 

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement ran from January–April 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

They did an amazing job with the quality of work and speed of delivery. They made the site in a few months. Everything went super smooth and easy. I’ve worked with developers in the past and didn’t have a good experience, so I was really pleased with their work.

I’m really happy with the product. Dipen made my website really chic. He is now working on a few of my friends’ projects as well because I was so happy with his work and I’ve recommended him to a lot of friends. 

How did unicoconnect perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management was perfect and communication was great. They delivered ahead of time and understood what we wanted. Everything was very systematic and organized, so they worked very efficiently. Everything was on a Google Spreadsheet and always updated. We had proof of what was done and what was needed. They connected us to different people on the team for every department.

I didn’t launch the site until August because I had to upload all the pictures and I had about 400 products to upload. However, his delivery was within 3–4 months. They delivered what they promised and everything was perfect working with them. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their team was really understanding and helpful — even helping me now if I face issues. Dipen is there and solves my issue. If it’s not his scope of work but it’s something I don’t understand, he will do it for me without hesitation or charging extra. In that way, they were really helpful. If I have any issues connected to the website, he handles it for me.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’re perfect.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You need to have your thoughts, layouts, and content ready because he’s so quick at his work. You need to be prepared with what exactly you want. He’s always there to help you and gives you different options. I’d recommend him to everyone and anyone.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and chief operating officer at an e-commerce pet pharmacy. We launched earlier this year and are currently licensed to ship prescription medications to 10 states. We’re hoping to expand our reach to all 50 states in the future. We sell pet food and other pet care items as well.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Unicoconnect?

We hired Unicoconnect to build our website. One of the challenges was that on the pharmacy side, there are many compliance issues to keep in mind. We had to work in accordance with the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP)’s regulations.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Unicoconnect really focused on delivering a great UX/UI while integrating customized site features. The most important things we were looking for were the veterinary input field, which allows us to authorize prescriptions with a veterinarian before we fulfill the order. They also integrated a pet medical history section at checkout, where users can input important information about their pets.

What is the team composition?

I worked primarily with Dipen (Owner) but was communicating with 3–4 other teammates.

How did you come to work with Unicoconnect?

I’d talked to a few different agencies, many of which I found on Clutch. I had a great conversation with Dipen, and he assured me that they could execute whatever I needed for this project. They also communicated their priority of fulfilling all of their client’s needs at a reasonable rate, so I decided to go with them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent somewhere around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working together in December 2019 and the project is ongoing since we have them on a monthly contract. They handle all of my web development needs.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I’ve been very happy with the decision I made since they’ve done a great job. They provide high-quality work and excellent customer service. I appreciate that they value fostering a long-term relationship over anything else and that they provide their work at good, reasonable rates.

How did Unicoconnect perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re very easy to get ahold of. We communicate through various channels. I can call them whenever I want, but we also chat through Skype.  

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’m not a technical person, so they’ve provided valuable insights and guidance regarding best practices. They’ve given great suggestions for the website — like unique plugins — that have helped me maximize value for my customers. Since they’ve worked with many startups, I suspect that they apply what they’ve seen to be successful to other businesses. I appreciate that and how they go out of their way to help you.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not really. I think they’re experiencing some growing pains, where while they’re expanding, their developers have to handle a pretty large workload. Because of that, they’ll sometimes take a little longer than usual to get back to me, but it hasn’t been a major problem at all. It’s been great working with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Try to figure out your goals and needs. Talk to a lot of different people, and understand that you’re looking to build a long-term relationship. It’s important to find a provider who can address all of your needs.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder and partner of an online jewelry brand. We manufacture and retail men’s bracelets, cufflinks, and any other metal-based accessories. We also retail ties and pocket squares.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with unicoconnect?

We wanted to build a Shopify website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

unicoconnect developed our first Shopify website in 2015 and the second version of it in 2018. They’ve been our web developer and maintenance provider.

They consulted us on what theme would suit our product types, what could be done within Shopify — which is a closed platform — and what the UI/UX should be. Their team created product pages along with a page where people can request custom jewelry. They also integrated a payment gateway. The coding language is Liquid, which is specific to Shopify.

We didn’t provide them with wireframes or any other design material. We just gave them feedback on font colors, styles, and so on. They charged us a fee for making subsequent changes.

They handled the site launch, gave us training on uploading new products to the site, and helped us fix any issues with the Shopify platform. Their team continues to consult us on how we can improve the site and what the current best practices are.

What is the team composition?

There were 10–15 people involved in each project, both designers and developers. I communicate directly with the team.

How did you come to work with unicoconnect?

Dipen (Owner) went to the same school as us, and both our companies are based in Mumbai. They had a very good cost, and we preferred working with a team that could come to our office. unicoconnect had experience working with Shopify, and there are only a few companies in India with this kind of expertise.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $2,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with unicoconnect around July or August 2015, and the initial site launch was in September of that year. The partnership is ongoing.

Our team switched from Shopify to Magento around 2017, using another developer. We went back to unicoconnect around July 2018 when we switched our site back to Shopify. We have an ongoing collaboration for maintenance.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We like the work they delivered, and building two websites for $2,000 was a steal. We got what we paid for, and they were always willing to help.

How did unicoconnect perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re good with communication. Dipen stays involved with the team, and he’s clear on what he needs from us. Not all of the team members speak English, so phone communication could be a challenge for international clients but they’re strong in terms of email communication. We’re getting good work at a much lower price than we could get somewhere else.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I’ve spoken to a few other Shopify developers, and unicoconnect is more flexible in the way they first engage with a client.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could’ve gone a bit further in consulting us on the website and giving a few options to choose from, given that we’re not tech people.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The client should know exactly what they want, given that unicoconnect will deliver exactly what the requirements state. They’re not the right developer for clients looking for someone to hold their hand.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a co-founder of a company formerly known as Frapp, which was recently rebranded as Futwork.com. We launched in 2015, mainly as a platform for students in India to avail different student benefits and discounts from different partner brands. 

We pivoted our business model toward internships and work experiences, and we changed our model to the gig economy in 2018. Rather than internships, we started offering very short-term, casual gigs that students from across the country could complete for other companies, and earn payouts and cash awards directly in the app. This is the model we’re currently running.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with unicoconnect?

They were instrumental in our early phases, developing an MVP that helped us go out to investors.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

unicoconnect helped us decide on our tech stack and onboarded our tech team. We built out our own tech team over time, and unicoconnect was mainly involved with us in the initial phases. They were instrumental in the MVP mobile apps and website we built. 

When we did our rebrand to Futwork.com, we also had a managerial change in our tech team. We reengaged with unicoconnect, and they helped us complete the rebrand and onboard new tech talent. They oversaw our migration to the new brand.

The team did more feature development for us in the original product, building the entire Android app. They built out our website as well as a dashboard for the B2B segment of our business, wherein companies would use the dashboard to create jobs, look at profiles, hire workers, etc. After that, they did a handover to our internal team, after which unicoconnect continued in a consultation role rather than doing actual development.

What is the team composition?

There were 4–5 people working on the project, but I was only in touch with three: a co-founder and two developers.

How did you come to work with unicoconnect?

We were working with a freelancer, but our project timelines were extended, and that person wasn’t able to deliver a quality product. I was introduced to a co-founder of unicoconnect through someone I went to college with. 

unicoconnect consulted us on how to get out of the freelance project we were stuck on, and we asked them to actually take on the project when we saw that it wasn’t going anywhere. I believe they had limited bandwidth back then, so it took us some time to start, but we eventually gave them the entire project.

What is the status of this engagement?

We launched the first version of the app in 2015, and we’ve been engaged with unicoconnect since then. Most recently, our rebrand was three months ago.

unicoconnect is in touch with our tech lead, so we contact them if we’re facing any legacy issues. We don’t have a formal contract right now, but we work with them on a project-to-project basis.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The MVP Android app unicoconnect built for us reached 200,000 downloads, and it was live on the Play Store between 2015–2016.

unicoconnect is a very small and focused team, and they’re a very good option for companies that require dedicated attention to projects. Their team was able to work as an extension of our own, and they actually worked from our offices when it was required.

Something else I like about unicoconnect is that it never feels like they’re walking away from the project after it’s completed. They provide ongoing support, and their team hanldes updates and reworking redundant parts very well.

They helped us right from the architectural level, in choosing the right tech stack and making the infrastructure scalable from day one. That helped us a lot. We were properly deployed on AWS from day one, our cloud settings were optimized, and everything was set up in a way that exempted us from having any problems as the company grew. Even when we pivoted our business model, everything was very easy and fluid to do.

How did unicoconnect perform from a project management standpoint?

Initially, the project management was done slightly informally, but it fell into place over time. We started following strict guidelines, with scope of work documents. Their team would give us a weekly plan for when the project would be delivered. 

Most of our projects were delivered on time, which had been a major concern for us. When we were working with the first freelancer, we had a lot of problems with getting the product delivered on time. This was the reason we went to unicoconnect in the first place, and they were a big advantage for us. 

We didn’t use any tools or use any sprint methodologies initially, but everything was done based on the scope of work we agreed on and the timeline they provided, so we didn’t have any complaints in that area.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Their company has always felt like an extension of our own. unicoconnect is personally invested in ensuring that our projects are delivered and maintained. It wasn’t a build-transfer-move-on mode, which was something we were really concerned about. They’re always accessible to work with us if we faced a challenge, and that was critical for us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Their team was smaller and more focused earlier on. They had limited developers working on a few things, so, even though the timeline they gave us was adhered to, it wasn’t extremely fast. If we were to work on a project with them now, we would require them to be fast. I’m not sure how large the organization currently is.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

The thing that helped us in our collaboration with unicoconnect was agreeing on a very specific scope of work. Everything we wanted to build out was well-defined on our end, on the product front, and we worked with unicoconnect only for the actual execution of the code and getting the project built out. 

That’s why we were able to achieve our work in a timely manner. As long as that’s in place, I think that unicoconnect can do a great job.