Freelo replaced the chaotic email communication in the 18-person team of freelancers and brought a clear overview of who is responsible for what.
Jan Kulda asks for Freelo
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24TIME.cz is an online shop with designer watches. The first launch of our e-shop was on July 1, 2013 and at first we offered the same watch brands as competing e-shops. However, we soon realized that without a complete change of strategy we would not succeed in such a competitive environment.
At the time, I liked two non-traditional brands, namely Wewood wooden watches and Italian designer watch brand NAVA. After we agreed to work together, we decided to change our focus and offer unconventional, unglamorous watches. In the following years, we also adapted the design of our website and overall corporate identity to this.
In the future, we would definitely like to open a smaller showroom with a design where customers could see these - some really unique - watches. And we would also like to expand into the Polish market.
It's definitely the approach to the customer, which we always approach individually and personally. Not only in the sales process itself, but also in the aftercare. This includes various strap adjustments, warranty and post-warranty repairs and more.
We make sure that the packaging is thorough and, of course, that the watch is checked before it is shipped. We simply want the customer to be happy with the package itself, which is brought to them by the courier.
We are also exceptional in our portfolio of unconventional design brands. More than 35% of the brands in the Czech Republic and Slovakia can only be found here. These include: concrete watches 22 Design Studio, The Horse, MVMT and others.
Photo: 24TIME.cz
The era of Internet and Freelo is now great because we can choose the best colleagues in the industry no matter where they are physically.
We are constantly striving to move forward and bring an ever better experience to our customers. We already have a nice list of customizations we're working on at Freelo. Apart from 24TIME.cz, we are planning several new eshops, such as 24WOOD.cz (wooden watches) and 24TOYS.cz (designer toys).
However, our biggest project is still ”in its infancy" and it is our own designer watch brand with global ambitions. We are working with two of the best designers in the Czech Republic to design the first model line, so it will be worth it. But I don't want to reveal more yet.
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The team currently has 18 members ranging from programmers, photographers and copywriters to SEO and marketing people. The vast majority are external colleagues who are ”spread all over the Czech and Slovak Republic.
The age of the internet and Freelo is now great in that we can choose the best colleagues in the industry no matter where they are physically.
We are still a ”punk company, where a lot of things are done on the fly. However, we have set up regular skype meetings in individual micro-teams, such as the team responsible for marketing, web, etc.
There are a lot of those things. I don't think a commodity like watches has any particular specifics.
The problems I see in the fashion industry in general, and that includes watches, are the various imitations from China that many eshops pass off as genuine. We have always been very careful about this. Otherwise, it's a complex and long-term work in building the brand itself, the position, the trust and most importantly the relationship with the customer.
I have to knock, but we haven't had an outright ”fuck up yet. From time to time a major setback will occur, but so far nothing serious that would jeopardize our business. We try to keep all internal things in order and under control, but of course there are external issues that are beyond our control. Then we need to react quickly, flexibly and above all as a team.
Thanks to Freelo, we no longer span all team members with e-mails. A huge amount of information was lost in the copies.
Before Freelo, we were constantly exchanging emails where everyone got lost over time. We used to write down individual tasks into several shared files with zero visibility about their fulfillment. As the number of team members increased, communication became pretty unclear and time-consuming.
Both went up rapidly immediately after the introduction of Freelo. Everyone had to-do lists, deadline assignments, budgets. The fact that other team members who weren't directly involved in the task could see it also had a huge impact on our workflow. We often had a member bring an important comment or opinion to the task.
Thanks to Freelo, we no longer practice spamming emails to all team members. A huge amount of information, tasks and most importantly, it was not clear who was responsible for what.
We have been in Freelo since the very beginning, when we were invited by an external supplier. We handled all the graphics and programming modifications of the e-shop there.
As our team grew, there was a need to change the internal communication. We did an internal benchmark of similar communication programs, but each one didn't suit us for some reason. Therefore, we clearly decided to continue with the proven Freelo.
Nowadays we have 5 major projects in Freelo. There will be more short term projects soon ;-) All projects are long-term nature with many subtasks. Every time we complete one, there are three new ones already.
Photo: 24TIME.cz
In most cases, there is no need to train colleagues specially in Freelo. If people don't know Freelo, they get used to it quickly, thanks to the simplicity and intuitiveness.
At Freelo, we already handle all activities in the company. From marketing to the development and design of the e-shop to the strategy itself. The individual activities are divided into individual projects and tasks and have assigned resources - team members. Some activities, such as marketing, also have budgets assigned to each activity.
As far as customer care is concerned, we have to react very flexibly and ”online". However, we definitely want to look at the possibility of using Freelo in this direction as well. Your new mobile apps will certainly help a lot in the future.
We cooperate with a lot of external suppliers. They have many experience with similar communication applications, so there is usually no need to teach them specifically. If they don't know Freelo, they'll quickly learn to use it because of it's simplicity and intuitiveness.
I don't think we can pinpoint only few Freelo's functions that we would consider the most useful. Freelo is simply a well-mixed cocktail of functions for team communication.
Photo: 24TIME.cz
Freelo is simply a well-mixed cocktail of functions for team communication.
Until recently, we missed mobile app. It exists now, so communication has been simplified and speeded up again. It would be good to see which team members are currently online in Freelo and the option to have online chat.
Team, efficiency and communication.
Each captain has several favorite brands and there is no saying that the shoemaker's children walk barefoot. Personally, I have Triwa and Mondaine watches and Michael (second captain) also has Triwa and MVMT watches.
