TheBhub

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of an event planning and management web platform called Sherehe. What we do is integrate various plans in the event planning ecosystem at a click of a button.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TheBhub?

One of the problems in the event planning industry is lack of trust. Sometimes, services are being paid upfront and then fail to show up. We act as a buffer to make sure suppliers will be able to deliver their goods.

Since I don’t have a background in software development at all, I handle mostly the conceptualization while TheBhub brings the project to life.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

TheBhub is building my event management platform to centralize different needs in one place. For example, if I wanted to plan a wedding, the solution would generate a dropdown menu of all the things I might need for a wedding. I could then message various vendors through the app and select the ones that suit my needs best.

There’s also a layer of trust involved. Rather than paying the vendor directly, a user can upload money into our platform’s wallet. Vendors won’t engage in their services until there’s money in the wallet, and they can’t access the money until the job is done. That way, everyone does what they’re supposed to do because the money could always be refunded.

To create the platform, we have discussions about how the pages will look or what the customer experience will feel. Basically, they do the designs with my guidance to make sure the website is appealing and sets the right mood. They provide me with design samples and I give them my feedback. The process repeats until we get what we are looking for.

What is the team composition?

My point of contact is Granville (CEO).

How did you come to work with TheBhub?

I’ve always had this project idea but I couldn’t bring it to life for two reasons. The first is that I’m not really a software developer. The other reason is the prohibitive cost of software development. 

Fortunately, I saw an ad on Facebook about TheBhub’s SME Innovations program that allows you to pay in installments. This program is really good during this COVID-19 pandemic because we pay when a milestone is met, and they update us on how far along we are with our goals. 

What really sets them apart is their cost innovation. It wasn’t possible for me to put together all our money at once so it’s very timely during this crisis.

How much have you invested with them?

Roughly, we’ve invested around $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The partnership began in July 2020 and it’s still ongoing.
 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

We’re still working on the alpha prototype. Once the functionality is established, then we can test it and onboard a few users in the event planning ecosystem.

The quality of their work has been really good. This is my first app ever and I didn’t know what to expect but I must say, they exceeded my expectations. They’ve really put in a lot of thought and could see blind spots in the functionality of the design. According to Granville, the backend will be so much easier as we’ve already thought of all the functionalities that the users should experience.

How did TheBhub perform from a project management standpoint?

We have Zoom meetings every week. Whenever there’s a huge ongoing task, they send me an email to review and reiterate what needs to be discussed about the final product. They go out of their way to make sure they have regular meetings. They always keep me updated on what’s going on because they’re also chasing my approval.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The graphic designer has been really impressive. He’s really talented and he’s blown my mind with how the site looks. I’m also impressed with Granville’s management style. They run like a well-oiled machine. Everybody knows what they’re supposed to be doing. They do their best and make sure the customer is always kept in the loop so I always know the direction of the design.

One of their most outstanding qualities is their willingness to get feedback from you at every step of the way. Most people, after you give them the money, they will disappear for a few months and then show up with the final product without you getting a say. TheBhub makes sure to get clearance when they design.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I don’t really have a negative thing to say. This is my first experience, and I’m not saying they’re perfect human beings, but they’ve really exceeded my expectations.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Whatever you have in your mind, just dream it and they can make it happen. Don’t be afraid that your dream is too big because they will work it out. Granville will make it happen. He has the people to make it happen.
 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the managing partner and founder of House of Major, which is a charity and communication consulting firm. We’re based in Nairobi, Kenya, and we have a footprint in three other locales, including Dubai; Johannesburg, South Africa; and the US.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with TheBhub?

Living and working in Nairobi, we realized that our access to information was quite low, particularly about employment opportunities. We’d done some consulting for organizations that were facing challenges in recruiting good, trustworthy workers, and we figured that we might as well solve it using technology. That’s how we ended up working with TheBhub.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We were looking for a mobile-based solution because Kenya has a great proliferation of online users, especially on mobile devices. TheBhub engaged us on a number of levels, starting with research. They helped us figure out the problem and a solution to that problem. They asked me what my design outcome was going to be and created a flowchart for the proposed scope of work in terms of software development and day-to-day schedule. I agreed to their terms, we signed up, and then we began working on the solution.
 
How much have you invested with them?

When all is said and done, this project is going to set us back $30,000–$40,000 to deploy. 
 
What is the status of this engagement?

We signed up with TheBhub toward the end of January 2020. We’re still working together, of course, but a couple of things may have slowed down. We’re targeting the end of May for a full testing and pilot phase.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

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

TheBhub keeps me abreast of every single thing. I’ve actually had a meeting with them today, and I’m taking it for granted that I’ll get an email from them either today or tomorrow, letting me know what we’ve discussed. I have all of those on file, so I can keep track of where I am and what we did last. That’s something I really appreciate. I don’t know if this is standard practice in the industry, because it’s my first time doing something like this.
 
How did TheBhub perform from a project management standpoint?

For me, it’s satisfactory. There’s urgency in some aspects, and I’m willing to take my time on others. Where there’s urgency, they drive it. Granville (CEO and Co-Founder) especially is super keen on making sure that whatever they commit to is delivered on time. There are no complaints here from my side. 
 
What did you find most impressive about them?

I can’t really say what made them stand out over other companies because I don’t have experience in the field. I’m a user of IT and different applications, and I know what I want out of it. 

So far, I’ve been impressed with just the level of attention TheBhub gives me. If we have any engagement whatsoever, they’ll update me in an email. Even if we have a small meeting, they’ll track everything. That’s very impressive to me. We also have status updates with the team working on our app. They check in with me at least twice a week. From a communication standpoint, they’ve been really on-point. For people to continually provide updates on where we are is a rarity in my experience, but TheBhub does it. 
 
The designers and everyone else working on this thing seem to know what they’re doing. The people working on my app have worked on some really big projects. It’s quite an expensive affair, but the proof will be in how well the product they churn out works. I’m curious about the pilot/beta testing phase. If we do this and it works, I might do something else with them.
 
Are there any areas they could improve?

They’re currently located in a distant part of town, and we have really bad traffic in Nairobi, so getting there can be tricky sometimes. TheBhub has accommodated me and tried to move some of their operations, but they need to move their facilities a bit closer to be more responsive to clients’ needs. Right now, everyone’s working from home, so it doesn’t really count much.
 
Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

If it hadn’t been for the initial research phase, I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed what I’m having with TheBhub now. We’re inclined that way as a business: we make sure we do our due diligence right at the beginning. We asked them a bunch of questions, and we went over it again and again before committing to any dollar spend. We made sure we understood how long it would take and whether what we were saying made sense.