Plus Nine Design

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a partner in a retail business. We supply clothing and we also do our own embroidery and printing work.

What challenge were you trying to address with Plus Nine Design?

We needed help in making a website to centralize our orders. We’d become extremely busy and conducted our business through Instagram, which was time-consuming.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I contacted Plus Nine Design, and they sent me an excellent quote detailing what they were going to do. I spoke with Ciarán (Owner) over the phone and I was so impressed that he didn’t force a certain website on me. He sent me different websites tailored to certain businesses to consider. I let him know which websites I thought were user-friendly. 

After that, he built the site on Shopify. 

What is the team composition?

I just worked with Ciarán.

How did you come to work with Plus Nine Design?

I considered two other developers for this project. One of them didn’t get back to me on time. The other one was a bit more expensive, and I didn't like that they forced a templated website on me.

We reached out to somebody we knew, and they recommended Plus Nine Design. Ciarán was more transparent and told me he’d design a website tailored to my needs. I ended up choosing him because I could tell him what I wanted — he listened to me. The other vendor wasn’t really listening, and they were just trying to dictate a design that I didn’t want. 

How much have you invested with them?

I paid him €1,500 (approximately $2,000 USD) plus the VAT.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our engagement lasted from February–March 2021. 

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

The website has been live for a week, and we've had 936 page visits. We have a lot of recurring customers who are used to the Instagram ordering process, which is a lot of work for us. We are trying to convert them to using the website, and I’m sure we’ll get there in time. 

I still need to update our stock on the website. We have hundreds of products, and Ciarán only added 60 of our most popular products. I can add products by myself, and we're currently at 78 products. We’ll get to 200 products soon. However, we can use the Instagram process if a product is not on the site. 

How did Plus Nine Design perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication was excellent because Ciarán was clear and he always followed up. He was easily accessible and never forced anything on me. If I wanted something changed on the site, he worked on it until I was satisfied. 

I didn’t want to have to change the site after launching it — I told him to take his time and get everything right. I didn’t put any pressure on him, and he never put any pressure on me, either. He gave me regular updates as he worked on the site. 

I did a basic website design course, so I know a little bit about what  Ciarán was talking about. I spoke the lingo with him, but he never made our discussions too complicated. He kept our conversations at a level that I could understand. 

The key part here was just communication, and we always had open communication lines. He never went missing on me and he waited for my feedback before proceeding to the next step. It was a great experience, and it went smoothly because he listened. He didn’t try to take shortcuts or do tasks in a way that would have been easier for him. He did the website exactly the way I wanted it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Even though Plus Nine Design was more inexpensive than other vendors, the way Ciarán communicated from start-to-finish was excellent. For me, working with them was a really good experience. I’ve heard nightmare stories about other vendors, but I had no problem or complaints whatsoever with Plus Nine Design.

I can modify the website and update it by myself. Also, I like that I’ve been able to go back to Ciarán if I have questions. Even though he has been paid, he told me I could come back to him anytime I need help. I’ve done that, and there haven’t been any problems — he still helped me out. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can't think of anything that he could have done better.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I highly recommend the team to anybody that needs to build a website. If anyone comes to me, I will direct them straight to Plus Nine Design.