Startup Spotlight: A One-Stop-Shop for Web Development - Interview with Setfive Consulting

Magnetude Consulting gives you a closer look into the startup community.  We interview tech startups and other entrepreneurial leaders to bring you their stories, as well as insights into marketing techniques that have helped them along the way.

Today’s interview is with the one of the founders of Setfive Consulting Matt Daum. Setfive Consulting is a web development consulting firm that ranges in services from assisting in-house developers on existing projects to building custom web applications.

How do you describe the value you provide to your customers?

We aren’t the type of firm that disappears for 3 months and provides the final project back at the end.  We try to give customers feedback on their ideas and proposals throughout the process. We work with companies across many industries, and as we see that a client’s market sector is changing, we let them know in order to influence their strategy and help make their project more successful. At the end of the day, we want them to know that we’re looking out for their best interests.

Do you have any obstacles or challenges you’re currently trying to overcome?

Our biggest obstacle is figuring out how to do marketing.  Our company is comprised of developers, and we don’t have much marketing experience.  We find it difficult to position ourselves, as we work in many industries and offer a large variety of services.  We’ve also signed privacy agreements with many of our clients, which means that we have no way of showing our past work to prospects in order to give them tangible evidence as to the quality if what we do. It’s definitely been a challenge.

What is your process for acquiring new customers? What are the most important elements to doing this effectively?

Right now our clients are 90% referral-based.  We try to stay active in the community, attending networking events and forming relationships with other firms.  In the near future, we would like to rebuild our strategy for acquiring customers, and we’re definitely interested in engaging in more inbound and outbound marketing.

Do you have a favorite or uniquely memorable project to share?

One of our favorite projects was for an advertising company, Datapoint Media.  They are a case study on our site, and it describes many of the issues we’ve worked through with them.  They’re in a very competitive industry, and so we are helping them leverage their technology to give them a competitive edge.

You mention working across a variety of industries.  Are there any in particular you see changing drastically in how they think about their web experience?

I think we’re seeing the biggest swings in the older, ‘non-sexy’ industries such as health care, real estate, etc. that are looking to technology to help keep themselves ahead of the competition.

What is one thing you wish people told you about starting a business when you first began?

We’ve had negative feedback on our rates in the past, but we continue to find great clients who recognize the quality of our work without having to compromise our price point.  My advice is that there will be people that will try to push you around.  Be confident in the value of what you offer, and stand by your products.

If you’re interested in being interviewed for the Magnetude Startup Spotlight or you would like to learn more about our marketing services for startups, please contact us today!

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