The reverse side of the startup startup. Part 1
This week we have publicly launched the beta version of the Usedesk service. In an article on Habré, we told why inbox is losing helpdesk when it comes to user support, and what we suggest doing with all of this. Today I will talk about how we decided to launch the project and how the project has been working on so far.
2 years ago I thought of a startup. The idea was to offer the services of a personal assistant for middle-class people. They have a lot of things to do, they don’t have time for a lot of things, but the budget doesn’t allow them to hire a personal live assistant. On the back-end, the service used the Zendesk API, but it quickly became clear that the basic capabilities were not enough, and the enterprise tariffs were like a cast-iron bridge. The project did not go for various reasons and I froze it.
In September 2014, I decided to defrost the project and start it with helpdesk - the system for processing incoming requests. A great team was selected for launch , and in general the conditions were most welcome. In the article I will talk about all the stages from the very beginning to the current moment.
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To design the first version of the system, we used mental maps in mindmeister.com online service. The guys offer to draw 3 cards for free and even work in the sharing mode. At the first stage, this is more than enough.
The mental map visualizes the process of working on different parts of the service, you can expand the blocks that are being worked on at the moment and hide those that are needed now. Conveniently.
After designing the first version of the interface, we began development. I must say that we used the approach of developing MVP (EN) - the minimum working version of the product, which we will expand later. The card allows you to hide parts that will not be in the first version, but it is impossible to forget about them.
In parallel with the design, we began to legalize the company. We decided to use the Button - the guys came up with a service, very similar to my idea, only for entrepreneurs. In addition, I was very inspired by the performance of Anton Sizov at the 404 fest in Samara. At first, the cooperation was completely satisfactory: twigs, Kodik, that's all. Then we had to register the second LLC, because for the first one we took the term for submitting an application for the simplified tax system, and it was much more expensive to work on the OCH. A mistake, in general. The button, of course, placed all the blame on us, because they "warned us." Pro Button will be a separate post, do not miss:)
As a result, we have 2 LLC. One of them, which is from DOS, will be frozen until we get a large customer who wants to receive bills with VAT paid separately. For example, one there is some big bank. Companies on simplified corporate corporations are not very fond of because of the inability to return the VAT later.
For accounting, we use Elba, which has a wonderful fare , with the second company for free. By the way:) We do bookkeeping on our own, thanks to poking at the tasks and following the instructions is not so difficult.
To work on the tasks we use 2 systems. The first one for business is Bayscamp, there are simply no analogues with such functionality and convenience of work (write in the comment, if it exists). The second system is the work on development tasks, here we use the products of atlassian www.atlassian.com - gira, wiki and stash. We installed all the products on our server, but you can use the solution in the cloud: it unfolds very quickly and does not eat resources. Then you can always migrate.
About IT infrastructure will be a separate post. Let me just say that for a number of services we use the microsoft cloud, which can be obtained from the special project BizSpark Habr.
The development is divided into sprints. Every week we draw up a work plan for the next week and discuss the previous one. I must say that I always wanted to build a company in which visiting the office is an optional process. Well, that is, you want to work with Bali - well-being. The main thing is to be a good person.
This desire has not gone away, but the weekly meetings give a positive charge for 7 days in advance. Even if the team is geographically scattered, call up on Skype with the camera turned on at least once a week. And once a month it is better to get together with beer and pizza.
It makes no sense to start a blog, if the articles will be published there irregularly, regular readers will not appear there. Therefore, we have relied on regular content marketing: for the past 12 weeks every Tuesday we have been posting articles on Habré and Megamind on “near-apportionment” topics. Most enters public in VK and FB, which can not but rejoice.
Last week we launched a public beta of the product and continue to fix bugs. The development plan is planned for several months in advance. In the near future, the API will be ready, we continue to saw the integration of social networks and our own telephony. Follow our publications here, on Habré and in the blog, we will continue to share intersonnost. Of course, I suggest starting to use our system. The best service attracts the best customers. We give 30 days at our expense without the mandatory input of bank card details.
At this moment I want to stop and ask you: what else would be interesting to read? Does it make sense to dwell in more detail at one of the stages described above? Opinions, complaints and suggestions are also accepted, of course.
Prehistory
2 years ago I thought of a startup. The idea was to offer the services of a personal assistant for middle-class people. They have a lot of things to do, they don’t have time for a lot of things, but the budget doesn’t allow them to hire a personal live assistant. On the back-end, the service used the Zendesk API, but it quickly became clear that the basic capabilities were not enough, and the enterprise tariffs were like a cast-iron bridge. The project did not go for various reasons and I froze it.
Helpdesk
In September 2014, I decided to defrost the project and start it with helpdesk - the system for processing incoming requests. A great team was selected for launch , and in general the conditions were most welcome. In the article I will talk about all the stages from the very beginning to the current moment.
')
Design
To design the first version of the system, we used mental maps in mindmeister.com online service. The guys offer to draw 3 cards for free and even work in the sharing mode. At the first stage, this is more than enough.
The mental map visualizes the process of working on different parts of the service, you can expand the blocks that are being worked on at the moment and hide those that are needed now. Conveniently.
After designing the first version of the interface, we began development. I must say that we used the approach of developing MVP (EN) - the minimum working version of the product, which we will expand later. The card allows you to hide parts that will not be in the first version, but it is impossible to forget about them.
Registration Ltd.
In parallel with the design, we began to legalize the company. We decided to use the Button - the guys came up with a service, very similar to my idea, only for entrepreneurs. In addition, I was very inspired by the performance of Anton Sizov at the 404 fest in Samara. At first, the cooperation was completely satisfactory: twigs, Kodik, that's all. Then we had to register the second LLC, because for the first one we took the term for submitting an application for the simplified tax system, and it was much more expensive to work on the OCH. A mistake, in general. The button, of course, placed all the blame on us, because they "warned us." Pro Button will be a separate post, do not miss:)
As a result, we have 2 LLC. One of them, which is from DOS, will be frozen until we get a large customer who wants to receive bills with VAT paid separately. For example, one there is some big bank. Companies on simplified corporate corporations are not very fond of because of the inability to return the VAT later.
For accounting, we use Elba, which has a wonderful fare , with the second company for free. By the way:) We do bookkeeping on our own, thanks to poking at the tasks and following the instructions is not so difficult.
Work on tasks
To work on the tasks we use 2 systems. The first one for business is Bayscamp, there are simply no analogues with such functionality and convenience of work (write in the comment, if it exists). The second system is the work on development tasks, here we use the products of atlassian www.atlassian.com - gira, wiki and stash. We installed all the products on our server, but you can use the solution in the cloud: it unfolds very quickly and does not eat resources. Then you can always migrate.
About IT infrastructure will be a separate post. Let me just say that for a number of services we use the microsoft cloud, which can be obtained from the special project BizSpark Habr.
The development is divided into sprints. Every week we draw up a work plan for the next week and discuss the previous one. I must say that I always wanted to build a company in which visiting the office is an optional process. Well, that is, you want to work with Bali - well-being. The main thing is to be a good person.
This desire has not gone away, but the weekly meetings give a positive charge for 7 days in advance. Even if the team is geographically scattered, call up on Skype with the camera turned on at least once a week. And once a month it is better to get together with beer and pizza.
Marketing plan
It makes no sense to start a blog, if the articles will be published there irregularly, regular readers will not appear there. Therefore, we have relied on regular content marketing: for the past 12 weeks every Tuesday we have been posting articles on Habré and Megamind on “near-apportionment” topics. Most enters public in VK and FB, which can not but rejoice.
Future plans
Last week we launched a public beta of the product and continue to fix bugs. The development plan is planned for several months in advance. In the near future, the API will be ready, we continue to saw the integration of social networks and our own telephony. Follow our publications here, on Habré and in the blog, we will continue to share intersonnost. Of course, I suggest starting to use our system. The best service attracts the best customers. We give 30 days at our expense without the mandatory input of bank card details.
Question
At this moment I want to stop and ask you: what else would be interesting to read? Does it make sense to dwell in more detail at one of the stages described above? Opinions, complaints and suggestions are also accepted, of course.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/286514/
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