CASE STUDY

Big Fish Local

How Big Fish Local’s CEO Scales His Services with a GoWP Dedicated Developer

With the help of GoWP, Big Fish Local is better able to meet the daily needs of a growing client list

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Meet Seth

It’s the story every starry-eyed entrepreneur dreams of: late-night hours toiling in a basement, accompanied by only an idea, a vision, and maybe even a good elevator pitch.

In 2005, Seth Evans had all of these things when he founded Big Fish Local. In fact, the Dublin Entrepreneurial Center in Ohio awarded him the 2nd place prize in their annual Elevator Speech Competition.

Seth would not remain in 2nd place among competitors for long, however. His enthusiasm and reputation for genuine care for his clients’ long-term growth have been described as contagious.

It’s no surprise that today, his company is a leading digital marketing agency in the greater Columbus, Ohio, area. His primary mission is to help small and mid-sized regional agencies become the “big fish” in their respective ponds.

He believes in sustainable growth and quality solutions for his clients. Powered by a growing talented team, Big Fish Local creates beautiful high conversion websites, writes content, and thoughtfully customizes digital strategies for clients because “one size doesn’t fit all.”

The thing about good, enthusiastic work in cities like Columbus is that word gets out and the referrals roll in. Seth feels really good about where his company and team are right now. They are growing and scaling services.

And, good “scaling” should make any fish happy!

“GoWP made the process of managing and updating sites very scalable. We pay  a reliable monthly rate that fits well within the profit margins we have established. Our clients are happy because they know their edit requests are done when they need to be done.”

Seth Evans, Big Fish Local

Why GoWP?

Seth wants to focus on growing his products and scaling his company. He needed a reliable partner who could deliver professional development and maintenance services to his clients in a timely manner.

  1. GoWP is always available
    After some trial and error, Seth determined dependability and availability are non-negotiables. He prefers to plan ahead in order to avoid situations where work could slip through a gap because a freelance dev was unavailable or lacked the right skillset. GoWP uses a meticulous vetting process before matching a developer with an agency. Dedicated developers must demonstrate both skill and reliability before being hired. They work daily schedules that are consistent with the agency’s time zone and office hours. And, of course, sites on the maintenance and content edit services are covered 24/7.

  2. GoWP allows Seth to grow his agency to scale
    Like Seth, GoWP knows “one size doesn’t fit all” for clients. There is always room for flexibility. Big Fish Local’s partnership with GoWP started with putting sites on maintenance and content edits plans. Then they hired a dedicated developer to help with project work as the business grows. With GoWP’s white label service, Seth’s team can continue closing deals and taking on more project work while maintaining the same exceptional delivery his team is known for.

  3. Everybody wins
    Every agency owner wants a happy team. GoWP’s professionalism and stellar delivery of services instill confidence within an agency. The team can relax knowing odd or extra hours are no longer the norm because the support is there and work is completed. A team with work-life balance and mutual trust is a big win!

Seth’s Struggle

TLDR

For years, Seth used freelance developers to help meet the rapidly growing needs of his company but often found such partnerships end up costing his agency profits, time, and peace of mind.

The Whole Story

Seth started Big Fish Local to give small and mid-sized companies the digital tools to compete in their markets. Seth believes that quality work and trust are key to maintaining long-term relationships with his clients. By delivering on these core beliefs, his company grew steadily and was able to offer more products and increase the sales team from one specialist to three. But, Seth could also see that his company did not have a reliable process in place to scale growth; to continue meeting the growing demand and expertly maintaining existing customers’ sites.

“The development side is where we needed help. We really didn’t need to hire a full-time person and it’s difficult to find someone that you can hire at an affordable rate for just a part-time arrangement. We had a few other options but they weren’t reliable. We needed someone we could count on to be able to handle an extra project here and there and help out on small tasks in the meantime.”

He didn’t completely give up on freelance devs though. He tried other arrangements, but ran into difficulty getting the dev on his company’s work schedule.

He also knew that he and his current team could just take on the work themselves. This option, however, would shift focus away from growth and scaling. And, it risked burdening his already busy team. Something had to give. But what to do?

“Hiring is a long process and if you make a mistake, it can be costly. I’ve learned that firsthand.”

Finally, Seth considered GoWP.

GoWP’s Solution

TLDR

Seth partnered with GoWP to manage the developer hiring process for him and gained the peace of mind knowing his team is confident and that quality work is delivered reliably every time.


The Whole Story

In March 2020, Seth put some of his clients on GoWP maintenance and content edit plans. He is very happy with the 24/7 availability of GoWP’s Happiness Engineers. Because these services are white-labeled and meet the Big Fish Local standards, Seth’s clients maintain a smooth and efficient experience never realizing they are actually being served by his partners at GoWP.


Having GoWP handle the maintenance and content edits allowed his team to grow and soon after they were looking to hire a developer. After a few disappointing experiences with part-time freelancers, Seth decided to hire a GoWP Dedicated Developer. It was the perfect fit for his company’s process! GoWP handled the testing and onboarding phase of integrating the developer and they’ve been a happy team ever since.


Sales have increased. The Big Fish Local team is confident and happy with the partnership across the board.


“We no longer have questions about updates getting done. Who’s responsible for this? Are pipelines getting clogged? WIth GoWP, we have processes in place that have allowed us to scale and be confident in the quality of work.”

The Big Fish Local team can focus on growth and scaling!

“Any design or development agency can benefit from having solid processes that ensure their clients receive the best service and quality results in a timely manner. GoWP allows you to do that in an affordable way. Is it the absolute cheapest option out there? No. There are other options out there, but the combination of reliability, quality, and affordability is a winning combination. That’s why we partner with GoWP to grow our agency.”

 

Recap

Seth started a digital marketing agency to meet the needs of companies in his region. He also needed reliable professionals in place who could keep up with the daily content and maintenance needs of his clients.

Seth put his clients on GoWP white label maintenance and content edit plans. The partnership worked but didn’t meet all of his growing client list’s needs. What he needed was a skilled and reliable developer in order to scale his business. He hired freelance developers on a part-time basis and it wasted his time, money, and energy because they just weren’t good fits or readily available.

Once GoWP began offering the dedicated developer plans, Seth saw an opportunity and welcome solution for his agency. GoWP handled vetting and hiring the developer, and ensured the onboarding process ran smoothly and efficiently.

Seth’s happy with this solution and has been able to focus his attention on his business. Sales have increased and his team is happy and confident in the partnership with GoWP!

“By relying on a Dedicated Developer, I have peace of mind knowing that if something unforeseeable ever happened, the GoWP team is always there.  Projects don’t go unfilled. I never want that to happen, nor do I worry about it with GoWP.”

Seth Evans, Big Fish Local

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