CODEINIT

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am a co-owner of Pass the OT. We are a worldwide study prep for graduate students who need to take a certification course to become an occupational therapist or assistant.

What challenge were you trying to address with codeinit?

Our first vendor in the US was extremely costly and didn’t work out. We needed to find a new development team to help us with this project.

What was the scope of their involvement? 

After a former company failed to test their designs before launch, our entire website crashed. We had a membership base of 300–400 active users at the time, so resolving this issue was time sensitive. The developers from codeinit completely rebuilt our WordPress site using SQL, PHP, and R Database. They assembled a full booking system based on a Bookly plugin for scheduling. The checkout system uses Stripe for payment processing.

The CEO manages our CRM, outreach, and accounting. He designed the overall layout and created our email automation. codeinit is responsible for virtually every add-on and is always building new functionalities. The platform has incredibly advanced statistics and tracking systems. Right now, they’re working on a built-in survey for all of our users. The responses will help us track our statistics so we can reach out to universities will a detailed report.

What is the team composition?

I work directly with Prayas (Co-Founder & CEO, codeinit). He and the lead designer have built an unbelievable number of features for our program.

How did you come to work with codeinit?

I found codeinit through Upwork.

How much have you invested in them?

We’ve spent $50,000–$60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since June 2016. Our site has gone through 3-4 significant developments, and we’re still adding more features. The new program we’re building will help students retain their license.

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

We have over 150 positive reviews and currently partner with 15 universities. After our survey goes out, we will probably have 250–300 5-star reviews. Our program has become sophisticated enough that colleges are now sponsoring students for our courses or partnering with us directly. We’ve helped over 2,000 students pass the NBCOT examination in the last two years. Despite being a small company, we’re competing on the scale of much larger rival businesses.

Since we developed a voucher system, 1,000 new customers have booked tutoring sessions. When we first started to get busy a year ago, I knew there was no way we could handle manually scheduling every session. Our 12 tutors are located across the U.S., and we have students worldwide across several time zones. We needed an efficient booking system, and codeinit helped us create one.

How did codeinit perform from a project management standpoint?

The American developer we’d used took two weeks to complete tasks that codeinit finished within a day. We work together either every night or every two nights, and they work six days a week. They use screen sharing through the video call option in Google Hangouts. During our discussions, they make sure to understand our goals thoroughly. 

codeinit makes us feel like we're working with a company located next door. When the site crashed, Prayas and I worked for 8-9 hours straight. He kept calm and was available, helpful, and personable. I was always impressed by how well he communicated via video, taking detailed notes and relevant screenshots at essential parts of the discussion. He always sends follow-up emails with an attached Word document that lists prioritized tasks.

What did you find most impressive about them?

codeinit excels at programming, especially tweaking existing plugins for maximum utility. They brainstorm functions that make our platform work.

Prayas genuinely cares. I proposed ideas for solutions, and he always came up with a viable plan for implementation. At this point, I consider him a friend. We’ve developed a special relationship.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I encourage future clients to be very specific about what they need. Creativity will help you produce the best system possible. Mutual respect and kindness are also important. Prayas has helped me when I’ve been in a jam, but I’ve also given him extra compensation. He’s very loyal and useful for our company.

Take advange of their project management methods. When codeinit uses screen sharing, I can see exactly what they’re talking about. I love this feature; it simplifies the process and makes it much easier to overcome slight language barriers. Physically seeing the designs and making markups on a screenshot is much better than hearing descriptions. Our site’s extensive redesign included numerous pages, and it would have taken three times as long using a verbal method.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a lawyer and a business owner of an online e-commerce company.

For what projects/services did your company hire codeinit?

After I hired my previous vendor, I engaged codeinit to develop multiple new service and e-commerce websites.

What were your goals for this project?

I wanted to hire a company with reasonable prices and talented developers to get my business from an idea to a reality. I wanted someone who could learn quickly, and research and develop my ideas with little to no supervision.

How did you select this vendor?

The ease of communication sold me on codeinit; the owner, who also served as the main developer, was fluent in English. The team also had a great portfolio.

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

The project started with one website, but later grew to multiple sites of varying complexity. I collaborated with the owner; he and his team took my ideas and then provided solutions for them.

What was the team composition?

I worked with multiple developers and about two designers.

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

The number of client conversions increased via my law office site. For my e-commerce site, codeinit did everything well. As a whole, the excellent team was versatile with both design and development. Whenever I asked the owner for a functionality he wasn’t aware of, he would research it and get back to me with a wonderful solution.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

The owner was communicative and always delivered work on time. He exceeded my expectations and got some projects in earlier than I anticipated.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The team was talented and strictly adhered to my instructions. They researched concepts, learned on the fly, and delivered excellent results.

Are there any areas where they can improve?

They can grow into a big company. I wish them all the best.