How the Inspire Technology web studio started

A Chelyabinsk web developer decided to open his own studio but had never run a business. From May to October 2010 we went with him from idea to first clients, and in 2014 we refreshed the studio’s logo and website.

6months from idea to first clients

2first clients from freelance marketplaces

2014new logo, pages and partner account

Project passportFrom the case

How the Inspire Technology web studio started

Client
Inspire Technology web studio, Chelyabinsk.
Timeline
Launch
6 mo
Redesign
1 mo
Team
Consultant: the agency’s founderProject managerGraphic and UX/UI designer
Tools
- logo
- website mockups
- tasks

Where it started

In spring 2010 he planned to build affordable custom websites. He could program and was looking for someone to take on the organization at the start and find the first orders.

Niche and plan

The studio’s founder had analyzed competitors himself and came with ready ideas. Together we chose the niche: development and support of corporate websites in the budget segment. We decided to look for clients on freelance marketplaces and among local companies. The founder insisted on an office, so there would be somewhere to meet clients.

For this we put together a simple financial model. The founder programs himself and passes some tasks to an assistant; clients are first found and handled by a project manager, later the search moves to a sales manager, and a designer is called in as needed. We drew the org structure, the rules for who works with whom and how, the sales and production flows, and wrote guides for the salesperson, the project manager and the developer.

Office, name and website

We found an affordable office in the city center. A video editing studio already worked there and was looking for a neighbor, so desks, computers and internet were in place. We prepared contract templates for clients and staff. Together with the founder we came up with a name, designed a logo and built a website on a free content management system with a ready-made template. His earlier work went into the portfolio.

People and first clients

We provided a project manager from our own team, the founder found an assistant himself, and we searched for the sales manager. Together we wrote the requirements and posted the vacancy; we took on the CVs and the first interview, and held the technical interview together with the founder. While the search was on, our project manager responded to orders on freelance marketplaces and found the first two clients to develop their websites. Once the salesperson was chosen and trained, the manager handed sales over and ran the projects until the studio hired its own project manager. After that the studio worked on its own.

The 2014 redesign

In August 2014 the studio came back with a new task. The logo hadn’t changed since the founding, and the old website lacked a personal account for the partner program, which pays a fee for referred clients. A new logo, new pages and a partner account interface were needed quickly and on a budget. We didn’t reinvent the brand and refreshed the old logo instead. The website was designed from scratch to the studio’s specs, and the logo and mockups went to the studio’s team, which built them on 1C-Bitrix.