Thrive Digital struggled with a disjointed tech stack and simplistic tools that weren’t built to grow with their business. Implementing Accelo centralized their work, saved time and increased profits.
Dean Oakley has been working in web design and development in Australia and London since 2004. After working hard to build his client base, he founded Thrive Digital in 2006.
The company is a full-service digital agency specializing in web design, branding, graphic design and more. As Director, Dean oversees all technical aspects and design for company projects.
Before using Accelo, Thrive Digital used a New Zealand-based project management system that ended up costing the company time rather than saving it.
“The tool was far too simplistic,” Dean recalls. “The number of projects and companies we had in the system was so vast it caused the entire system to slow down. It clearly wasn’t designed to scale with the business, which was really frustrating.”
The agency also used Freshbooks accounting software for invoicing tasks. Dean quickly realized he needed to find a new platform that worked for him, not the other way around.
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“We struggled to cope with administrative tasks as our business was growing, but we didn’t have a system that could support that growth,” he says. “We needed a platform to help streamline the whole business.”
Dean originally started looking for a new ticket management system and, during his research, found that one of the company’s very own IT providers used Accelo.
“We asked him what he thought about the platform and he was raving about it,” Dean said. “We had to try it. And once we saw what else Accelo could do, it just seemed like the perfect fit for our business.”
At first, Dean only intended to use the Tickets product in Accelo, but as he grew more familiar with the platform, he realized he could benefit from all of its features.
“I was impressed with the scalability of the platform. I feel like the company could grow 50 times the size and I could still use Accelo without hitting some kind of roadblock.”
Since implementing Accelo, Dean has seen the company change for the better.
With the amount of time Accelo has saved, Thrive Digital has increased billable work and managed more retainer-based clients. All of their work lives in one place, so the team can take on clients more confidently.
They’ve also seen a 40% increase in profitability, which they strongly attribute to Accelo for providing improved workflows, accurate time tracking capabilities and business performance visibility.
"Accelo is now the engine behind the whole business, which is exactly what we needed,” says Dean.
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