SmallCo. Inc

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive at a publishing company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Publish higher education books and ebooks.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire SmallCo. Inc to accomplish?

• A title management system

SOLUTION

How did you find SmallCo. Inc?

• RFP

Why did you select SmallCo. Inc over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Good value for cost

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

This isn't a one time project, it's an ongoing service. We have a title information system that can be used for reporting, ONIX feed creation, and asset storage tool.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

I don't know. The project completed years before I joined the company.

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

The team is responsive to issues as they arise.

What was your primary form of communication with SmallCo. Inc?

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

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

It's not common to see family businesses in the pub tech space. very cool.

Are there any areas for improvement or something SmallCo. Inc could have done differently?

Yes. In the past, when we've reached out with an estimate request of how much it might cost to make a certain change to our platform, we've been billed for the time it took to provide an answer. That's not something I've experienced with other vendors before, and something I feel should be done gratis.

As a small and price-conscious business, we feel it if we're paying $175 just to get an answer on how much more we'd have to spend to make a change to the tool. It makes us less eager to ask about additional services, which in turn might cause SmallCo to lose the opportunity to provide those additional services.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Outside the box thinker of mrwatson.de

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Develop fantastic tools for FileMaker database developers

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire SmallCo. Inc to accomplish?

• Make good (FileMaker) databases
• Make making good databases easier and more enjoyable
• Make FileMaker developers happy

SOLUTION

How did you find SmallCo. Inc?

At Conferences

Why did you select SmallCo. Inc over others?

• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from SmallCo. Inc were assigned to this project?

1 Employee

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

Albert & Smallco have presented us their design concepts at numerous FileMaker developer conferences with great content, style and humour.

The knowledge and concepts they deliver are breathtakingly perceptive, and embeded in a far greater framework of human psyche, perception, emotion and interaction that go far beyond the bounds of tweaking colour, white space and icons on a layout.

So much so, that you can feel in your bones they are right.

Applying their various concepts of 'From Workhouse to Workshop', focus & face (big head, big eyes, grouped info) and more have transformed the usability of many of my tools, and I am for this eternally thankful. 🙏

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

A warm feeling inside.

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

Presentation, participation and informal discussion at conferences were the basis of the exchange. Small. Efficient. Fun.

What was your primary form of communication with SmallCo. Inc?

In-Person Meeting

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

Their holistic, all-encompassing approach gives foundation, roots, logic, and passion to the design process.

Are there any areas for improvement or something SmallCo. Inc could have done differently?

Nope, all fine. Maybe we can do some more sometime!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am an executive of Crush-It

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

Recycles aggregate materials.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire SmallCo. Inc to accomplish?

• Fleet Management
• Job Management

SOLUTION

How did you find SmallCo. Inc?

Referral

Why did you select SmallCo. Inc over others?

• Great culture fit
• Company values aligned

How many teammates from SmallCo. Inc were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

Create a custom software to manage jobs, fleet, expenses and parts. The software had to have a desktop and mobile component for communication between the office and field. API connection was established between the software and our ERP for further automation.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We were able to continue to grow our business geographically with smaller overhead costs. Our company's headcount roughly doubled in that time.

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

We had weekly virtual meetings with deliverables. All jobs were estimated out with milestones and delivered on time and on budget.

What was your primary form of communication with SmallCo. Inc?

• Virtual Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their family culture and the quality of developers were important in making our projects happen.

Are there any areas for improvement or something SmallCo. Inc could have done differently?

Open to coding or moving to different platforms.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Manager of LPM Global

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are an industrial parts distributor to the corrugated box industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire SmallCo. Inc to accomplish?

• To develop, grow and maintain our database

SOLUTION

How did you find SmallCo. Inc?

Online Search

Why did you select SmallCo. Inc over others?

High ratings

How many teammates from SmallCo. Inc were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

The management of UPS / DHL shipments from multiple locations.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We ran trials with current and new warehouses to ensure UPS and DHL shipments worked correctly.

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

They delivered everything on time.

What was your primary form of communication with SmallCo. Inc?

Virtual Meeting

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

There is no limit to what they can implement. We throw big ideas without any hesitation.

Are there any areas for improvement or something SmallCo. Inc could have done differently?

None at the moment.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Production Manager of a publishing company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

We are the publishing branch of an academic learned society.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire SmallCo. Inc to accomplish?

• provide ongoing hosting and support for the developed database
• develop a database to organize information about our past, present, and future book projects

SOLUTION

How did you find SmallCo. Inc?

They responded to a RFP.

Why did you select SmallCo. Inc over others?

• Pricing fit our budget
• Great culture fit
• Good value for cost

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

We commissioned SmallCo to develop a database to store information about our past, present, and future book projects (e.g., titles, ISBNs, publication dates, scheduling). They delivered the database as promised. They continue to host the database with our metadata and provide support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Completed working database

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

They delivered items in a timely fashion. Any delays were within an acceptable margin and communicated clearly.

What was your primary form of communication with SmallCo. Inc?

Email or Messaging App

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

The company understood what we were trying to accomplish within our limited budget. They delivered an aesthetically pleasing product that functions as expected. They maintain strong communication post-delivery.

Are there any areas for improvement or something SmallCo. Inc could have done differently?

None. 

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and position.

I am the Director of a publishing company

Describe what your company does in a single sentence.

publisher of scholarly and general interest books

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What specific goals or objectives did you hire SmallCo. Inc to accomplish?

• install PressWorks database to store information on book projects, rights, and permissions

SOLUTION

How did you find SmallCo. Inc?

• Referral

Why did you select SmallCo. Inc over others?

• Referred to me
• Software was created for publishers, a niche business

How many teammates from SmallCo. Inc were assigned to this project?

2-5 Employees

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

SmallCo migrated existing FileMaker database to their PressWorks database, customized fields as needed, trained staff, and provided application support.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

• Clear communication about deadlines/schedules
• cost control
• fewer bugs identified over time
• prompt responses to questions/problems

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

I wasn't here for the original installation so I don't know if they met the original deadline. Project management has improved over time as their team grew, as have response times.

What was your primary form of communication with SmallCo. Inc?

• In-Person Meeting
• Email or Messaging App

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

Their understanding of the details of book publishing was impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement or something SmallCo. Inc could have done differently?

Responses to help tickets was slow in the first two years, and we had a number of tickets open. Regular meetings to review the tickets helped to resolve them and improved communication.