Written by Suleiman Leadbitter, lead frontend designer & project manager at Suljam
I currently run a small team in digital design, development, and consulting agency called Suljam, based in the UK in Peterborough's FutureBusinessCenter. We build web and mobile applications while also doing user experience design and analytics. We help our clients get their ideas off the ground so they're up and running successfully, with minimum stress.
We use ActiveCollab as a base for all of our projects, communication, and invoicing.
It helps us keep everything in order.
ActiveCollab solved a lot of problem for us since we started using it.
Before, we used various methods and foolishly listened to hype about the latest applications, but over years this trend-chasing just caused problems. We tried Basecamp, Trello, Asana, and others. Sadly, these made us look unprofessional and also take time and effort to learn, which ultimately costs money.
Another problem was, as we tried new tools, we constantly had to give existing clients new links to new tools (to which they had to register again and again). It was embarrassing.
Plus, we couldn't easily keep all those different tools in sync (the alternative was to use third-party services like IFTTT but it was too much hassle to keep setting them up all the time).
The main problem ActiveCollab solved for us was communication. It allowed us to break down projects so we could hand off each piece to a different team or a freelance specialist. By having one central hub from which we manage projects, we could see we were all working towards the same goal, which improved our communication.
We really like ActiveCollab's design (design here meaning both functionality and visual appeal).
We hardly had any troubles with getting clients, freelancers, and our in-house team to use ActiveCollab.
Writing estimates and invoicing is simple, and so are online payments thanks to the integrated Stripe payment option. It’s great to have everything in one place rather than having to guide clients through various online payment apps.
Since we started using ActiveCollab, we have run projects with ease and control. Adding tasks and getting feedback is quicker and easier than with any other application I've used before.
ActiveCollab has made projects more fun to work on, which I believe has ultimately created better results and provided real value to our clients in the long run.
