Cool Fire Inc

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the President & Founder of Zuku Review

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Online test prep in the veterinary space for students and graduates who are preparing for North American licensure exams. We also do continuing education. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire Cool Fire Inc to accomplish?

• LMS Drupal Infrastructure Migration
• Build and maintain an App (React) for both Android and Apple iOS
• Build and maintain multiple choice question tester tools and progress tracking tools
• Build and maintain faculty tools to monitor student progress
• Build and maintain streaming video tools for ongoing educational events
• Build and maintain translation features from English to Spanish and French
• Add image manipulation and notes tools to existing tester to align with notional test format
• Streamline and simplify setup of special mock exam products for schools
• Interface with server supplier(s) and advise on server capacity upgrades/updates

SOLUTION

How did you find Cool Fire Inc?

• Referral
• Other

Why did you select Cool Fire Inc over others?

• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from Cool Fire Inc were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The list of projects I gave says it all. Coolfire worked with us from idea to plan to beta testing to production. After push-to-production, they took care of the normal and inevitable issues that occur after any new tool is released into the wild. 
They consistently had our back and helped us double our business income in 3 years. Remarkable.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

Zuku came away with a scalable technology foundation, reduced operational risk, and better financial performance.
With Coolfire's help, we doubled Zuku's gross income between 2021-2024, took Zuku to market and had a profitable exit. We could not have done it without them.

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

Very responsive to our needs. 
Delivery on time varied: some projects wrapped up very fast (imaging tools/notes in tester), some projects were exactly on time and scope (streamlining standalone test products) and some projects we took on together were much bigger than we or they expected (React App). 
All in all, pretty normal. In 20 years of existence, we've never worked with a tech devel company that was always on time. 
More importantly, when something crashed, night or day, we were always able to get help and backup from Coolfire. 

What was your primary form of communication with Cool Fire Inc?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

• Creative problem solvers. They always find a way.
• When something crashed, night or day, we were always able to get help and backup from Coolfire.
• Real people, US-based. Not off-shored.

Are there any areas for improvement or something Cool Fire Inc could have done differently?

Like all good developers, Coolfire stays busy. Occasionally we need to text/call directly to alert them to address an issue or help with a feature, and they take care of it.  
If you need a server super-specialist, they'll be the first to tell you thats not their area of expertise. 
Even so, when our outsourced server provider crashed (and they always do, eventually) , Coolfire still stepped up to advocate for us and push a solution through.