Three Years of Building, Learning, and Growing
November 2021 marks StrikingWeb's third anniversary. When we look back at where we started in late 2018, the transformation feels both gradual and dramatic. What began as a solo freelancing practice with a commitment to quality code has evolved into a full-service digital agency with a dedicated team, a diverse portfolio, and an expanding set of capabilities.
This anniversary feels particularly meaningful because our third year coincided with one of the most challenging periods in recent history. Navigating the second wave of COVID-19 in India while supporting our team, maintaining client commitments, and continuing to grow tested every aspect of our organization. The fact that we emerged stronger is a testament to the resilience and dedication of every person on the StrikingWeb team.
The Numbers Tell a Story
We are not a metrics-obsessed company, but certain numbers from our third year paint a picture worth sharing.
- Team size: We have grown from a team of four at our second anniversary to a team of ten. Our new members include dedicated mobile developers, a DevOps specialist, and a project manager.
- Projects delivered: We completed 28 projects this year, ranging from quick marketing sites to complex multi-month SaaS platforms.
- Client retention: 75 percent of our clients from year two engaged us for new work in year three. This repeat business rate is our most valued metric because it reflects genuine satisfaction, not just marketing success.
- Revenue growth: Year-over-year revenue grew by approximately 120 percent, driven primarily by larger project sizes and recurring maintenance contracts.
New Services We Launched
Year three saw us formalize several service offerings that had previously been handled on an ad-hoc basis.
Cloud and DevOps
As our projects grew in complexity, we recognized that deployment, infrastructure, and operations could not remain afterthoughts. We hired a dedicated DevOps specialist and formalized our Cloud and DevOps practice. We now offer infrastructure architecture on AWS and Azure, CI/CD pipeline setup, container orchestration with Docker and Kubernetes, and ongoing infrastructure management.
This addition has been transformative for our clients. Projects that previously launched on shared hosting with manual deployments now ship with automated testing, staging environments, and zero-downtime deployments from day one.
Mobile App Development
Client demand for mobile applications grew steadily throughout 2020 and 2021. Rather than outsourcing mobile work, we brought mobile development in-house. Our mobile team focuses on React Native for cross-platform applications and provides native iOS and Android development when the project demands it.
Having mobile capabilities alongside our web development practice means we can offer clients a unified technology strategy. Shared APIs, consistent design systems, and coordinated releases across web and mobile platforms deliver a better experience for both our clients and their users.
E-Commerce Specialization
E-commerce was already part of our work, but the pandemic-driven surge in online shopping made it clear that this deserved dedicated attention. We built out our Shopify and WooCommerce expertise, invested in understanding payment gateway integrations specific to the Indian market, and developed reusable components for common e-commerce patterns like product filtering, inventory management, and order tracking.
Lessons from Year Three
Every year teaches us something. Here are the most significant lessons from our third year.
Remote Work Is Here to Stay
Like most organizations, we transitioned to remote work during the pandemic. Unlike many, we decided to make it permanent. Our team works from multiple cities across India, and the arrangement has worked remarkably well. Communication is intentional, documentation is thorough, and productivity has actually improved.
The key to making remote work sustainable is over-investing in process. We use daily standups, weekly planning sessions, and thorough project documentation to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. Every decision is recorded, every meeting has notes, and every project has a living document that any team member can reference.
Saying No Is a Superpower
As our reputation grew, so did the volume of project inquiries. Not all of them were right for us. This year, we learned to say no to projects where the client's budget did not align with the scope, where the timeline was unrealistic, or where the technology requirements fell outside our expertise.
Saying no to wrong-fit projects freed us to deliver exceptional work on the projects we did take on. It also protected our team from the burnout that comes with overcommitment, and it preserved our most valuable asset: our reputation for quality.
Invest in People Before You Need Them
Our biggest hiring mistake was waiting until we were overwhelmed to start recruiting. By the time we posted a job listing, interviewed candidates, and onboarded a new team member, the workload had already strained the existing team. We have since shifted to hiring ahead of demand, bringing on team members when we see growth trends rather than waiting for capacity problems.
Growth is not about getting bigger. It is about getting better at what you do while maintaining the values that got you here.
What Year Four Holds
Looking ahead, we are focused on three strategic priorities for our fourth year.
First, we are investing in AI and machine learning capabilities. Client interest in recommendation engines, chatbots, and predictive analytics is growing, and we want to be ready to deliver these solutions with the same quality standard we apply to everything else.
Second, we are exploring blockchain and Web3 development. While we approach the space with healthy skepticism about the hype, the underlying technology has genuine applications in supply chain verification, digital identity, and decentralized finance that our clients are beginning to explore.
Third, we are deepening our industry expertise. Rather than being generalists who serve every industry, we are developing specialized knowledge in healthcare, education, and logistics, where our existing project experience gives us a foundation to build on.
Thank You
To our clients: thank you for trusting us with your digital products. Every project we complete reinforces our belief that quality work creates lasting partnerships.
To our team: thank you for bringing your talent, dedication, and good humor to work every day. StrikingWeb is only as good as the people who build it.
To the wider development community: thank you for the open-source tools, the knowledge sharing, and the collaboration that make our work possible.
Here is to year four. We are just getting started.