Framna

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder and CEO of a business that provides a holistic retail management system to small and medium-sized chains around the world. We also provide services for shoppers in those establishments as well as to commercial real estate and large brands.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Bright Inventions?

We needed additional development capacity. I was frustrated with the caliber that I was dealing with, so I wanted a new outsourced team.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We first tasked Bright Inventions with a pilot, which they completed quickly and well. After that, nearly all of our development efforts became their responsibility. They took control of engineering, QA, and all other technical aspects of the company, as well as design and usability.

Our products are divided into three different toolboxes: shoppers, retail, and large brands. For the first, we built autonomous shopping capabilities that allow shoppers to purchase in and out of brick-and-mortar stores. These tools are for the end user (the shopper), and they come as native apps; we built an engine that can facilitate both Android and iOS native apps.

The second toolbox is a single point in the cloud that concentrates on all the different parts of a retail business. It’s a web service combined with a native point of sale product. Lastly, we built a special system for commercial real estate and large brands to monitor and manage their cohort of retailers. It allows them to see, in real time, what’s happening in a certain market or at a certain shopping center. The client can use it to optimize their rev share, and it contains other tools to enable better communication. Bright Inventions helped with all of these projects.

How did you come to work with Bright Inventions?

I was looking for international tech teams, and a colleague referred me to a different company. I began searching a directory that company was on, and Bright Inventions was also on it. I sent an email to many of the companies on that list and interviewed a few of them. Bright Inventions seemed to be a good match in terms of attitude and transparency, and they communicated well. They were familiar with what I wanted to do, so after our pilot, we met in-person, and I hired them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent between $200,000–$1,000,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve worked with them since 2013.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We don’t have any quantitative metrics, but Bright Inventions is a great partner and feels like part of our team. We trust them and their work so much that they have the liberty to make a lot of different decisions that aren’t typically allotted to contractors. They’re essentially responsible for certain pieces of our business; that’s how much we rely on them.

How did Bright Inventions perform from a project management standpoint?

They're extremely committed and responsive. We have a fairly small team with customers all over the world, so we can’t always invest a lot of time into Bright Inventions’ work, but they take ownership and always deliver.

We use Jira, Slack, Trello, and really any kind of tool that will help us get our work done. We have quite a bit of information that needs to be coordinated and multiple pieces of software, so we have to have a coherent process and clear guidelines for managing that.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Besides being extremely proficient in their field, they care about our business and want us to succeed. They also like to be challenged and are open to experimentation. Even if they’ve never used a certain technology before, they’ll give it a try and do their best.

They’re responsive, responsible, and enjoy their work. Most other companies provide standard and boring solutions, but Bright Inventions is innovative and engages with their work in new ways.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Most of the issues we have are on our end.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is called 24 Insights. We are a crowd-based market research company. We offer insights from the point of sales via a network of app users. Our clients want to know about the availability, pricing, and promotions of certain products, and also how they are perceived by shoppers.

Our app users go into shops, take pictures, answer questions, and talk to service people. They give the information back to us; we go over it and put it into our own dashboards. We show how different promotions perform in different areas and if product availability is something that has regional patterns over different chains of supermarkets, etc.

What is your position?

I'm the Chief Technology Officer [CTO] within the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with Bright Inventions?

Bright Inventions has been our development agency over the last two years. They have helped us with all our development needs including our main application, back-office, dashboard, and our mobile applications for Android and iOS.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

The main service they've provided is web development and the maintenance of our servers and system. They've also been involved in the domain and have helped us with the design of our features.

How did you come to work with Bright Inventions?

They had a previous relationship with our contact. We sent out the feature catalogue for our projects to a couple of companies. We talked to each of them and got an estimate for duration and budget for the initial phase.

Bright Inventions made a very good offer. We talked to them and found that they were invested in showing that they did good work, had great attitudes and good availability. We decided to work with them and have been very happy since.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

We started out working at feature-based prices and eventually worked out a full time agreement. Now that the work has decreased for them, we are feature-based again. At the highest point, when we fully utilized two seniors from them, as well as some support, we were in the $90,000 range.

What is the status of this engagement?

We will eventually not need them at some point. We are growing and I'm building the in-house IT department. They have been, and still are, great for the project, and will continue to play a large role because they know the infrastructure. They have been responsible for building everything we have so far, but I'm gradually replacing outsource work with our own team.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

In terms of metrics, in the last year, we have grown and managed to get returning customers in the German fast loading consumer goods market, and several requests for white-labeling their software. This is something that I'm very proud of. The analytics part of the dashboard has been especially successful so far.

How did Bright Inventions perform from a project management standpoint?

I am satisfied with Bright Invention's work. Especially in the early stages, they delivered results very fast and were always very flexible. This is good for a startup, since we have feature requests that sometimes come on very short notice.

We were always able to work something out to get minimal versions running in little time and work on additional details later. They've also been helpful in discussing designs and structures for how the application should be set up.

We have a very good working relationship. When there have been quality issues, they were caused by us asking for something being done quickly, knowing the risks involved. They have been good with providing those risky features on time and without breaking everything. There have been some interesting things we've asked them to do, and they always delivered.

What distinguishes Bright Inventions from other providers?

The most impressive part has been Bright Invention's availability. You always have crunch-times in a startup, especially in the early stages. You expect an agency to be on board with that. Whenever there was a special need, and we needed extra availability at late hours, we were able to make things happen and work on solutions together. Their attitude is very solution-oriented; that's something I really enjoy.

In the early stages, when you need a fix for something, a creative approach is great. For later stages, you maybe need different ideas that involve architecture and long-term sustainability, but I can't say much about that. We've been working in a state of needing to ship things. We've always been able to make that happen.

Is there anything Bright Inventions could have improved or done differently?

It's a bit hard to say. We've been a very difficult client and they've made many accommodations for us. As a company, we will start to work more on test-driven design and scaling abilities of the system. In my experience with them, I can't say that everything has been 100% test-covered, but that was not our demand from them. They accommodated us very well.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your organization.

My company is building a mobile app that offers loyalty programs for independent venues, such as clubs, restaurants, pubs and bars. It works on both iOS and Android, and it is a new and proprietary technology. It's been available on the market for a year.

What is your position?

I am a co-founder of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with BrightInventions?

We started working with Bright Inventions as soon as we had an idea for the app. We didn't have any development capabilities, so we had to outsource.

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

They built our mobile application and also provided back-end development using Ruby on Rails. We first started on our iOS app, and a couple of months after it was finished, we started on Android.

We handled the design ourselves. They were responsible for the development and testing.

How did you come to work with Bright Inventions?

We were working in the same building. I decided to hire them because I saw their work process and had a strong, professional relationship with them.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The price range is between $10,000-50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We wanted to build the basic MVP [minimum viable product]. After we did that, we started to build our own team. We have six of our own developers here. If we need any help, we will sometimes get in touch with Bright Inventions; our developers talk to their developers. They also helped us with recruiting. We didn't have the proper technical knowledge for that.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

They tried to be responsible, so whenever we came up with new ideas, they made it clear that it could extend the project and make it more expensive. Otherwise, they could have agreed to everything we wanted them to do, and it could have taken ages to complete. I like dealing with them.

How did Bright Inventions perform from a project management standpoint?

Everything we expected was delivered on time, and working with them was seamless. I was in touch directly with the developers, not with managers. The communication was quick and they were flexible.

What distinguishes Bright Inventions from other providers?

I liked that Bright Inventions was quite attentive to details. That's not always the case with developers. They actually care a lot about the design. You had to be almost perfect, and that was fine with us.

Is there anything Bright Inventions could have improved or done differently?

Testing. We were responsible for the testing. If they could implement something, that would be it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Founder of AJ Group s.c.

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We support premium service companies in building and managing their reputation with our web-based app.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire bright inventions to accomplish?

• We partnered with Bright Inventions to create a scalable and user-friendly web application that would help us deliver real value to our clients.

SOLUTION

How did you find bright inventions?

Online Search

Why did you select bright inventions over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

How many teammates from bright inventions were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The scope of work included the design and development of a custom web application for reputation management. Bright Inventions was responsible for product discovery, UX/UI design, backend and frontend development, as well as quality assurance. The key deliverables were a fully functional web platform, an intuitive user interface tailored to premium service companies, and a scalable technical foundation that allows us to add new features in the future.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The key outcome was delivering a scalable and fully functional web platform on time and within budget, which allowed us to start engaging clients and validating our business model.

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

We were impressed with their project management approach. Everything was delivered on time, but what stood out most was their flexibility and genuine responsiveness — they always made sure our needs were heard and addressed.

What was your primary form of communication with bright inventions?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

What impressed us most was their deep understanding of our needs, their technical expertise, and their ability to deliver a tailored solution efficiently.

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

We were extremely satisfied with their work. There are no significant areas for improvement that impacted the project.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Engagement Director of a food & beverage company 

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Our company is one of Europe’s largest family-owned food and beverage conglomerates, to thrive in the digital future.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire bright inventions to accomplish?

Development of an Android / iOS mobile app

SOLUTION

How did you find bright inventions?

Referral

Why did you select bright inventions over others?

• Close to my geographic location
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

How many teammates from bright inventions were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Custom mobile App Development (Flutter) included:

• Setup of Dev-Environments (incl. Appstore setups)
• Establishment of backend connection and endpoints
• iOS and Android mobile app development
• QA and Code reviews
• tracking implementation
• Third party integrations (e.g. consent)

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Team setup, alignment and workmode where excellent - right from the start
• Sprints where on time and in scope
• Low amount of QA findings

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

Bright deliverd always on time. They respond in a very flexible way to our needs e.g. in terms of the team setup, tool landscape, ceremonies etc.

What was your primary form of communication with bright inventions?

Virtual Meeting

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

The speed and quality of the work, as well as their great spirit and working style, are impressive. The team is easy to talk to, open for change and works in a highly constructive way.

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

no.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Development and Training Manager of MAKO TSL

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Managing a fleet of 800 light trucks and 100 heavy trucks in Western Europe

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire bright inventions to accomplish?

• Optimizing transport routes
• Process automation in company
• An innovative approach to fleet management

SOLUTION

How did you find bright inventions?

Referral

Why did you select bright inventions over others?

• High ratings
• Close to my geographic location
• Good value for cost
• Referred to me

What was the size of bright inventions’s team?

13

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

Creation from scratch of an entire program to manage the fleet and transport orders, including integration of transport exchanges. Determination, optimization, and adjustment of transport routes based on analysis of new orders from multiple external sources. All the set goals were met on time.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• program increased revenue
• reduction of empty kilometers
• automation of processes—reduction of costs

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

Their flexible and professional approach to business was impressive. The difficulties encountered in the creation process were never a problem, only a challenge.

What was your primary form of communication with bright inventions?

• In-Person Meeting
• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Friendly, family atmosphere with high quality and professionalism of work

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

Hard to say

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Product Owner of Heinrich Schmid

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

All kinds of work on a construction site.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire bright inventions to accomplish?

• Digitalize processes & documents needed on a construction site

SOLUTION

How did you find bright inventions?

Online Search

Why did you select bright inventions over others?

• High ratings
• Pricing first our budget
• Great culture fit

What was the size of bright inventions’s team?

2-5 Employees

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

Bright Inventions develops an iOS & Android App, designed to support our craftsmen & craftswomen on the construction site. Via the app, they can easily communicate and collaborate with their assistants at the office and also with their customers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Rapidly growing app usage proven by analytics tool
• Very high user satisfaction proven by representative survey

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

Well organized, own initiative, reliable, good technical understanding, critical (in a positiv way). Overall, they are productive & fun to work with.

What was your primary form of communication with bright inventions?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email
• Messaging App

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

• very flexible with additional resources
• developers have great communication skills & offer good technical suggestions

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

None

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

etventure GmbH is a digital and innovation consultancy company that serves as the entrepreneurial partner to our clients, from idea to execution. I am the project lead and responsible for managing our team, subcontractors, and clients. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Bright Inventions?

We hired them for end-to-end development of a mobile app for Android and iOS. 

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to build an app specifically for people suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

From past experience with Bright Inventions, we were familiar with their customer-centric approach, good pricing, and in-house skill availability.

Describe the project in detail.

They developed a user-friendly app with a great UX that appeals to our target group. 

What was the team composition?

We provided a project manager, user empathy expert, marketing manager, designer, and a product manager. Bright Inventions augmented us with a team of front- and backend developers for both platforms. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

The TULIPA app, which is available in the App and Google Play stores, speaks for itself. 

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow was great and the team flexible. We followed a scrum methodology using tools like Jira and Slack.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

They take ownership of the project and responsibility for their work. They are not just developers; they think for themselves, challenge ideas, and offer valuable suggestions. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

I would like to see a broader range of tech stacks and options.