Optima Ninja

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder & owner of Mala Sichuan Bistro. I have more than one location, and we serve regional specialty Chinese food. My mission is to introduce this cuisine to the general public.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Optima Ninja?

I needed a custom website designed and developed.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They designed and developed a customized website. I met with the owner and his team to present my ideas, including features and functionalities I wanted to see, and my overall business goals for the website. Then they wrote custom code, tailored to my specific needs.
The website has online order capability that goes straight to my POS. The menu is very detailed; each item has its own properties listed, such as spicy level, numbness level, child friendly, palette cleanser, hot or cold, soup entrée, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, bones in it, and more. The prices for the different locations, which vary, are listed, as well. 
The website is also done in a way that my team can edit the menu as items are added or removed, and when prices change.

What is the team composition?

Ryan (Co-Founder) is my point of contact, and he communicates my needs to his team.

How did you come to work with Optima Ninja?

They stood out as web designers. I felt comfortable working with someone who spoke my native language (Mandarin).

How much have you invested with them?

We spent less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from October 2018 – January 2019.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

It seems the website has good SEO; Ryan instructed me to have media publications put a backlink to us in their writing. When we launched the online ordering, orders started coming in within a few hours. It was surprising and exceeded my expectations.

Also, Ryan worked hard to ensure I received every order during the first few days after launch. If there was a glitch of any kind, he called me to make sure I got the order.

How did Optima Ninja perform from a project management standpoint?

They execute in a timely manner, are organized, and get results. Ryan is very hands-on and productive. We communicated weekly. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I trust Ryan to get the job done. He is smart, and always takes notes when I am discussing the things I want to see. I like that he speaks to his team kindly, making requests instead of demands. The team works tirelessly for their clients. They asked a lot of questions about future plans for the website, so they could plan ahead.

Are there any areas they could improve?

As they expand, they need to hire more team members to handle things, so Ryan won’t have to spread himself too thin.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Work with them. Ryan is smart, and gets the job done.