Compared to the daily business of a software company, a rollercoaster ride is child's play :) Here we present an exclusive insight into our past business year 2021 and what awaits us this year! (With a mega cliffhanger at the end!!!)
Subsidiaries
I don't know if you already knew, but we have 2 subsidiaries. Uh, I mean, we had 2. One of them is running smoothly: The LEAN-HIVE GmbH is our new recruitment office for IT professionals and is an ideal complement to the software forge LEAN-CODERS, and we were cash positive here within six months. In 2021, we were able to build dozens of new projects and serve clients from Europe to the USA. Both companies fit perfectly together strategically, as we can now offer all kinds of solutions around software development: LEAN-CODERS for software project outsourcing and consulting, LEAN-HIVE for personnel power needs.
Admittedly a bit blinded by this success, we immediately started another project: We also had a short-term partner company (it wasn't technically our subsidiary) for programming services - MLABS.
And here we hit our first epic fail of 2021: We did not define a dedicated person to lead this company. We did it "on the side" because we were fully focused on building LEAN-HIVE. That doesn't work; the commitment was too weak. Either you do it, or you don't. At least we learned that much.
Back to LEAN-HIVE: Here we offer the placement of technical personnel both on a contract basis and on a permanent basis. We started with 2 new CEOs: Klaus and Markus. A new company, as you can imagine, doesn't generate revenue right away - but the personnel and other costs hit from day one. In the first half of 2021, we invested a significant amount monthly to keep the new company running.
And then came the turnaround.
Because Klaus and Markus really know what they're doing! Within six months, the company was cost-neutral, and we already brought on the next reinforcement: Fiti took over most of the recruiting activities.
The feedback is amazing: From the client side (quickly finding perfectly matching technicians) and from our freelancers (who particularly emphasize the technical competence and pleasant interaction), we are receiving massive positive feedback.
Over the past year, the company achieved impressive profit figures, allowing us to expand the sales team with a new colleague, Boryana.
Without wanting to reveal too much at this point: LEAN-HIVE has big plans for 2022. Nothing is fixed yet, but we will keep you updated!
LEAN-CODERS Becomes a Full-Service Provider
When the story of LEAN-CODERS began, we primarily took on projects where individual developers worked on-site in client projects. This is one of the simplest business models in this country, but it's not the best for team cohesion. Great for starters! But we became increasingly unhappy with this model - and it was our mistake not to move away from it sooner.
But everything changed with LEAN-HIVE. Now we could offer this business model exactly to the people who like to work this way: the freelancers.
This created space for significant development at LEAN-CODERS. Within a year, we transformed into a full-service provider. We understand this to mean that our development teams implement projects for our clients, from requirements engineering to maintenance. This creates two advantages at once:
- It promotes collaboration and team spirit
- We can offer our clients much more comprehensive services
Thus, we can no longer just provide pure "programming power," but also support in analysis, project management, UI/UX issues, DevOps + hosting, and maintenance of our software solutions. Our focus is on the best possible implementation of custom software projects. And for this, a holistic approach is essential.
For our employees, this means: Exciting projects from A-Z, collaboration in interdisciplinary teams, and creating value beyond a monotonous world like "We have now implemented requirement number 4702."
- Mistakes made: Check
- Learned from it: Check
- Added value for clients and team achieved: Check
UI/UX team expanded
And since we're talking about UI and UX: Our team tripled in 2021. This allows us to cover the different aspects in this area more deeply, and our clients benefit from:
- Lean, self-explanatory, and easy-to-use user interfaces
- Self-adapting to all common screen sizes, browsers, devices, and operating systems
- Concepts and solutions for easy software usability for people with visual impairments
Okay, we admit, that wasn't a mistake. Sorry for the clickbait headline :)
But we now offer an exclusive insight into the biggest pain of 2021 for us:
OKR: The Final Boss of Every Modern Thinking Company
O(bjective) & K(ey) R(esults) are a method to bring about changes/improvements in companies. It’s a creative and elaborate process. Renowned companies like Google and Intel use OKRs to secure their pioneering and thought leader role.
We have the mantra that we live by change. Change is in our DNA. That's why we founded LEAN-HIVE, and that's why we transformed into a full-service provider. However, we don't want to implement changes "on a whim," but with structured, proven processes.
In the previous year, we decided to use OKRs for change processes - with moderate to poor success. There were results, there were positive changes based on the OKRs, but the whole process was still quite bumpy. It's damn difficult to implement OKRs really well.
But we won't give up, because constant improvement, process optimization, and modernization are among the most important building blocks for us. Therefore, we have further educated and trained ourselves on this topic in recent months and will start our next OKR cycle in February. We will report on this, and we will not relent - promise.
Even more focus on LEAN
The core of LEAN-CODERS is: LEAN
But what does that actually mean? The Lean Software Development Methodology is the derivation of Lean Management in the field of software development. The basic principle is: create value, eliminate waste. We interpret this very specifically with our credo: "Create Value without Waste"
"Waste" is exactly that burden that typically arises in software projects. Here are a few tips to reduce waste:
- Deliver as quickly as possible (short release cycles, quickly gather feedback, develop and deliver the most important core functionalities of the software first, ...)
- Learn as quickly as possible: Deeply understand and penetrate the processes to be automated, develop prototypes/POCs and review them together with clients
- Test software! As trivial as it sounds, bugs in software are pure waste - they consume time and nerves. Software testing is essential, and yet unfortunately still not common practice in many projects.
This increases productivity, efficiency, and ultimately the joy of (collaborative) work. We have recognized that the daily business often poses a risk of forgetting the LEAN approach - our fail!
In 2021, we therefore refocused on integrating the LEAN method even more into our daily work so that all our engineers and project managers can directly pass these benefits on to our clients.
Revenue and Profit
The results blew us away. Just like from 2019 to 2020, we were able to double in 2021 compared to the previous year - in terms of both revenue AND profit.
Is that a fail? Of course, one can always wish for more, that's clear. But we want to be honest: The result is great, and therefore we label it a success :)
However, it is also a result that is not yet 100% certain. Because the final accounting year-end will only come in the next few months. Only then will the exact figures be available. But the projections are promising.
The question now is: How do we use this additional profit?
10% of it will be given as a bonus directly to the entire team of our employees - because it was a great year, and above all a year of team effort.
In 2021, we used the previous year's profit to invest in LEAN-HIVE and build a new company.
And in 2022, we will invest the profit again. In what exactly? We can't reveal that just yet...
Outlook
And thus we come to the outlook for 2022.
The year is still young, and there are many new projects and ideas.
A lot of great and unexpected things will happen.
One thing is certain: We were able to generate a decent working capital last year, with which we can now set new accents. Because we pursue a strategy of high reinvestment: Instead of distributing the profits, the shareholders invest in the further development of the company. This creates jobs, this creates opportunities.
As mentioned, we can't reveal too much here yet. But one thing is for sure: The next few months will be breathtakingly exciting.
Because this year we have a big goal.
Ready?
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-> LC goes international! <-
To a good collaboration and an exciting year 2022,
Your LEAN-CODERS
