Why did we increase our number of companies to 4 entities for strategic reasons? What will happen in 2023? And how often can we expect someone to go to the notary's office? Dive into our annual review and a little teaser about our plans for next year!
The Most Expensive Report in Company History
Okay, let's start with something negative! It just has to come out. We created a new report that taps into various data sources to ultimately display our project utilization rate simply and make it much easier to plan.
We've had this report since April, and everything has been much easier since then. How much did it cost us to create the report? Well, it took quite a few hours, maybe even a few days when you consider all the interface programming. The real question is: How much did it cost us not to have the report?
Telling the whole story here would require its own blog post, so here’s the short version: As trivial as this report may sound, and as 'easy' as one could manually gather the numbers (spoiler: it’s not done often enough): Not having this report in the first quarter cost us nearly €300,000, plain and simple. €300,000 that we left on the table because our project planning efficiency was good, but not excellent. It was a lesson for us; we reacted, and we improved.
Growth in the LEAN Family
But now for the good news: The LEAN family saw significant growth in 2022. Naturally, the annual financial statements are not yet complete, but I can already announce that all companies are exiting positively, meaning they are profitable - which is incredibly strong for young 'startups'! By the end of 2022, we are nearly 40 employees and are working with a team of almost 40 freelancers on our software projects - a lot has happened!
LEAN-CODERS Switzerland
With LEAN-CODERS Switzerland, we have established a new foothold in our neighboring country. In this first year, a lot of groundwork has been laid, infrastructure created, and initial clients serviced. Currently, we are primarily involved in software projects in the banking sector and legal field in Switzerland (big surprise). By the end of the year, we were also able to contribute 2 talks at the WebZürich conference, thus beginning our groundwork for the Zurich software community.
Plans for next year include ramping up our workforce and strengthening the sales area. We also plan to promote collaboration with Austria within the framework of international teams.
You can find more information on the Homepage of LEAN-CODERS Switzerland
LEAN-FORGE
Mid-year, a new software forge was formed in Vienna: The high-tech startup Expressflow became LEAN-FORGE. While LEAN-CODERS covers the classic areas of software development, LEAN-FORGE often works with cutting-edge technology: For example, this year we launched our first Flutter-based app, Appli.Dog , in the iOS and Android stores.
Next year, several significant points are on the agenda. Salesforce will be in focus. Our experienced and certified consultants and developers will design, implement, and enhance CRM implementations with Salesforce. As always, our motto 'craft with impact' will be at the forefront, guaranteeing quality and quick implementation times for our clients. Additionally, SecureBeam will come to the forefront - a service for securely storing and transferring files without relying on central server logic. We will integrate SecureBeam into existing business solutions, such as CRM systems, making it easily and quickly accessible for the B2B world.
More info on the Homepage of LEAN-FORGE
LEAN-HIVE
We achieved several milestones in 2022 regarding recruiting and personnel placement. At the beginning of the year, a lot of energy was spent on infrastructure (e.g., automation/tooling support for the recruiting and sales process) and initial market development, but the focus shifted towards personnel growth from mid-year. We were able to win 4 new colleagues for the acquisition of software projects and the personnel market.
The close integration with LEAN-CODERS is clearly noticeable: Anyone applying for a position advertised by LEAN-HIVE receives optimal support from both the business and technical perspectives. This way, we find the tailored job for our applicants. The focus in 2023 will be on further expanding all services of LEAN-HIVE.
You can find a list of currently advertised positions here: https://lean-hive.at/jobs
LEAN-CODERS
And finally, a lot has also happened at LEAN-CODERS. In addition to ongoing process improvements (see the first headline in this article...), further project volume and personnel strengthening, and of course the company formations, we were also able to bring in new colleagues in strategic expansion positions. The areas of DevOps, UI/UX, and back office have been strengthened, and we now have a Chief Operating Officer on board.
As one of his first official acts, a new dev team structure was also created. The teams were set up cross-functionally so that each team can take on projects holistically and completely independently (from business analysis to implementation, testing, rollout, and maintenance).
We have continued to engage with the community, hosting and sponsoring meetups for software developers, and contributing to one or two open-source projects.
Next year, we will continue to actively engage in community work and strengthen our efforts. We will delve even deeper into topics like open source, decentralized solutions, and Bitcoin applications.
If you are organizing an IT or tech meetup and looking for sponsors, feel free to contact us - for example, through the contact form at the end of this article!
2023 - and the notary's office greets us again every year
Now I’ve reached the point where I want to shout it out to the world - but I can’t yet.
We will establish another subsidiary.
Not in Austria!
Not in the IT sector!
You will hopefully find out more soon - but I can only say: 2023 will be AWESOME!
