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How many times have you searched for your favorite social platforms on Google? Or perhaps a funny video on YouTube that you haven’t watched for a long time? All of that has one thing in common – we Google what we want to see. And this time, for our client, it was no different. One peaceful night, when pretty much everyone was either sleeping or watching Netflix… A very professional developer was googling a “ruby on rails company” that would help him in implementing his desired idea. That’s basically the beginning of one of our startup success stories that we want to share with you today!
Meet our Client
“Sortly” founder contacted us directly five years ago. Since that time, we have extensively worked on his awesome project and produced a complete startup success story.
The concept of his idea was pretty simple. Just as any “Animal Crossing” game, which is – make an easy, yet flexible storing system for any kind of possession. With its help, anyone can manage almost any activity – from regular movings to art installations.
He urgently required a web inventory platform to gain a better marketing advantage among other inventory product analogs. Along with that, he showed his current working prototype. You won’t believe us, how, how impressed were we. Not only has he managed to implement his idea into a prototype, but he also did it by himself. With so much dedication, passion, and courage for innovations, our client has written some core and basic functionalities.
After sharing every detail with us, we made a detailed proposal with a precise quote and recommended approach. Yes, he did like it so much that we solved all the paperwork and started to work very quickly.
Diving into issues and requirements
It has been years of exciting journeys with “Sortly,” along with various development stages. However, in this article, our team wants to share the problems encountered during its initial iterations in “Sortly” startup success story. Behind so many years in active development, our team has learned lots of new things and implemented various cool features. We built a robust and high availability infrastructure that can easily handle high loads. That’s why today we want to share some of our primordial milestones.
After the first discussions were finished, we outlined a list of critical tasks requiring an immediate attention, and it was better to go through the Design and Discovery rather than straight to the MVP. Reason? Without proper UX/UI research, prototyping, business logic architecture, and detailed project specification, our client would get into more trouble. Along with the unforeseen expenses and sudden changes within the project.
The very first highlighted requirement was that the product had no structured business analysis on the identified tasks and goals. Our client truly knew how the product should look and how it should function. However, he had an issue with future aspects. He didn’t know how it should evolve, and what should be the next step after its core features are implemented. That’s where our product vision plan is taking action.
Next, we suggested to create a series of graphic interfaces and make a working prototype. The client did the prototype by himself and had a set of user stories. A visual representation is a must-have, at least for some core functions. Additionally, having a UI/UX mockup and a prototype will answer some critical business questions that he may not ask himself.
Another essential point is to have reliable and concrete business logic and app’s architecture. Both of the schemes are extremely important for any software product. The first one is responsible for all the inside functionality joint work. While the second is responsible for the app’s future structure and the given product’s accomplishment method. If both combined, the chances of getting a reliable product with a prosperous future on the outcome are much higher.
Finally, prepare the MVP development plan and estimate the budget for the future app. Our client had some vision for his product, but it wasn’t a detailed one and no there was no vendor. And once we were spotted on the horizon, our client required concrete and detailed business planning. Signifying the start of our important startup success story!
Unveiling the corresponding solutions
Our client knew precisely what he wanted to build and what were his business goals. However, we advised him to go through a custom Design and Discovery Phase that was explicitly assembled for him. If you want to know more details about this stage and what kind of perks it provides, see more details here. We proposed this solution because he agreed that his product lacked a proper foundation for an MVP.
First, our team broke down all of his business idea aspects into the Business Model Canvas. By careful and joint discussions, together we divided his business into several sectors or fields. That way, anyone will know exactly what his business model looks like. Some honorable areas to mention are key partners, customers, resources, and revenue streams.
Once the canvas was full, we reviewed the competitors using SWOT analysis. This one was done solely for identifying all of the potential competitors or product analogs. By doing that, our client saw where exactly his product should be moving forward. Here, you form a perspective vision of your product, and lots of unique ideas will infest you.
As we have identified all of the development streams, we started to draw out some of the leading graphic screens for his platform and developing his prototype. Well-done visual content can attract the attention of your customers and resonate with them. And the simpler your graphic design is, the more successfully your idea will venture into the user’s mind.
The next step was to construct both the business logic architecture of the future app and its technical architecture. The second one is required to lay down the sequent functionality roadmap and identify the best methods of developing your app structure. But what about the first task? To be honest, the entire purpose of building a proper business product logic focused on how exactly the product itself will interact among its different constituents.
Our team was slowly coming towards the final stage of the Design and Discovery Phase; it was time to put a reasonable effort into making an MVP plan. As we mentioned earlier, the client had only a thin layer of understanding of the development plan. Plus, he couldn’t find the right vendors who could implement his idea. Why’s that? Well, it is tough to pick the right and not make a mistake at the same time. Lots of digital companies may lie and ignore some minor points that could efficiently save your budget. In our case, we covered all aspects our client had to know. Highlighting even those that may set the alarm in the time of crisis.
All of the described actions took around 1,5 weeks. During this time we finished the MVP iterations plan and started the development progress. JetRuby team can confidently say that you have a good chance of producing a prosperous digital product future with the Design and Discovery Phase.
Business Outcomes of our Startup Success Story
“Sortly” has passed through lots of stages, iterations, implementations, and changes, since its initial state. Right now, it is a #1 inventory app in AppStore, which is still continually enhancing every single day. Since its first launch, the app gained more than 5,000 positive reviews on AppStore, with over 300,000 installations worldwide! Lots of users are already using it across the whole globe, while various enterprise companies are actively discovering its value. The list contains HP, Sanford Health, Yale, Pepsico, Lyft, and many more!
This is just one of the startup successful startup stories where a client has understood the significance of initial preparations and how to form a product vision. Together, JetRuby aims to bring startups and young entrepreneurs onto the correct development path. While at the same time delivering a risk-free future product vision plan. If you’d like to consult with us regarding your idea and understand how to avoid expensive mistakes, check out our Design and Discovery page. There we will have all of your questions answered and uncertainties dissolved.
