How We Scaled a No Code Agency Ten Times in a Year

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This is a story of how we did it, where we are now and where we will be going in 2022.

The very first picture of our team

How We Started Our No Code Agency

In 2019, we discovered No Code tools and were fascinated by the opportunities they unlock. We saw a future where No Code platforms and Low Code development tools allow people to create sophisticated software in no time, with no technical knowledge.

What was impossible before became possible overnight: we could apply our skills and experience from product management to create full-scale software for businesses.

In addition, we saw how much easier the life of developers could be if they used No Code and Low Code tools instead of writing the code themselves.

Even though anyone can make software with No Code, it changed the game for professionals too. They could focus on solving really complex problems instead of obsessing over syntax, which would make development processes multiple times shorter and more efficient.

Of course, developers still have to look at syntax if they use Low Code tools, however, they also make development processes significantly quicker compared to a traditional development agency.

That is why we chose to rely on programmers to make you reliable and safe software faster than it was ever possible before.

We founded a No Code agency - Idea Link.

The first two years of our existence were mostly an experiment to see if there was already demand in the niche, as our founder ran the company and built apps himself.

In the final quarter of 2020, we started hiring and met 2021 with a team of four: our founder plus a designer, a developer and a growth specialist. Idea Link was ready to get serious.

How Idea Link Became the Leading No Code Agency in the Baltic States

Right from the get-go, we understood that we had to compete on a worldwide scale.

As No Code agencies are businesses that can easily provide their services online, our target market was anywhere where people needed to automate workflows, web design, web applications or a custom-tailored solution.

In addition to that, most of the members of our team have spent time living abroad and all have excellent English skills, which, combined with our expertise in building software products, meant that we could compete with the very best.

By the end of the year, most of our clients were coming from the US, the most notable of which was a social network for dogs in New York and an internal dashboard for an insurance provider.

By valuing the quality of output over a low-cost approach, we positioned ourselves as a no-BS, customer-first, reliable No Code agency that builds digital products for respectable businesses.

This approach clearly paid off, since our customers would normally stick with us after their original project had ended. Our developers become a big part of their business operations.

One more supremely important thing for a company that provides services is making satisfied clients your ambassadors. Referrals from past clients are one of the most reliable ways for your business to take off.

Next to excellent No Code software development, another thing that has helped us generate positive word of mouth was that we focused on solving the client’s problem, not always necessarily using Bubble.

If we saw that they needed proper (code-based) development, we'd offer that from our competitors. Not every client is your client. Sometimes another company can provide services that would satisfy both sides significantly more.

Do you have an idea for an app or a website? We can help you build and launch it in less than a month. Let's talk!

Idea Link as the Ambassadors of No Code Development in Lithuania

As our business got rolling, we started talking about No Code development loudly, both in our home market of Lithuania and beyond. Over time, we turned into the #1 source in the niche, while the words Idea Link and Rokas Jurkėnas became synonymous with No Code in Lithuania.

Our founder, Rokas, gave interviews that appeared in Lithuanian business news websites, technology conferences, podcasts and international publications.

This position was very beneficial to us, as any Lithuanian clients considering No Code would find us a no-brainer choice for development services.

No Code Platforms That We Use

There are two main No Code tools that we use in the development of apps and websites for our customers.

Bubble.io

Bubble.io is the king of all No Code app builders. This visual developer can be used to build both web apps and native mobile apps, while at the same time being very customisable, so we can build products that directly reflect the ideas and specific needs of our client companies.

It can also be used for automation inside the app or website it is hosting, eliminating the need for separate automation tools.

We wrote an article on why we use it: Why Bubble is Our Favourite No Code Tool.

Webflow

Webflow is a flexible and easy-to-use tool for building aesthetic and quickly-loading websites. We use it when our client companies focus on having a simple and aesthetic website (to show off their services, team, cost, tools, etc.) without complicated automation or other requirements.

Here's why our team chooses this tool for websites: Webflow development.

Idea Link in the Press

By mid-2021, we had already made waves in the No Code world. We were very pleasantly surprised to be mentioned by one of our favourite newsletters: Trends.vc, in their edition on the agency business model. It's a great honour to be considered one of the top No Code agencies in the world and be on the same list with such greats as 8020, Airdev and Ideable.

No Code Projects We Launched in 2021

2021 was a year during which we worked on a wide variety of projects and great companies. From a technical standpoint, we built numerous mobile apps, web apps, plugins and representational websites.

From a functional point of view, we also covered a varied range of purposes: developed solutions to automate business operations, implemented new technologies and helped small businesses save money and time.

In this paragraph, we will outline six of our digital products built in 2021 that we found the most interesting.

If you want to launch something similar to the products we have built below, drop us a line! We will be there to help you out.

Outgenie

Outgenie is a French multi-channel prospecting tool SaaS that we developed with Bubble. The tool can be used to digitize workflows that are usually manual: sending emails, SMS, Linkedin messages and making calls for contacting your leads. Outgenie works best when synced to a Hubspot account.

The project was pretty complicated to work on, as it came to us half-finished by another agency. Even though the app itself was built with Bubble, the underlying emailing system was built with code, making integrations and modifying workflows a lot harder.

In the end, though, we rebuilt the app from the ground up and finished it, so field testing with potential clients could begin.

Here is what Outgenie's founder, Adrien Aouate, had to say about working with us:

"We partnered with Idea Link to design the first version of our web app, a tool for multichannel prospecting. Idea Link helped us challenge the product specifications to keep only the core features, then developed it with a great mix of code & No Code to increase speed.

I was impressed by the reactivity and strong dedication of the team all along the project."

Kiwi

Kiwi is the only project in this list that originated in our home country. It is a social network for a small local community of Užupis in the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius.

The inhabitants of Paupio st. were able to vote on their preferred traffic control rules on the platform. The street could be completely open or closed to non-local traffic on select days and hours.

Once a consensus within the community was reached via a simple voting system (accounts had to be confirmed as citizens of the street by an administrator to be able to vote), official traffic rules were changed.

Kiwi was connected to smart signs controlling the live traffic on the street. The signs had cameras that scanned the number plates of cars entering the street and would either allow or disallow their passage according to the current rules set by the system.

This project is a great example of what No Code is truly capable of - a social network connected to the IoT would have taken traditional agencies multiple times longer and would probably be unaffordable for the client in question.

You can read more about the project here: Kiwi - Social Network Built with Bubble.

Bubble to Airtable Two-Way Sync Plugin

This project is a little different from everything else we have mentioned here. Since we customise Bubble by developing our own plugins as we build products (I guess you could say that we use Bubble more as a Low Code tool), we thought that making them public for citizen developers that don't have their own development team would be beneficial and enable them to launch fast by themselves.

This particular plugin is designed for enabling developers to use Airtable as an effective database for their Bubble app and save time as a result.

Airtable is an excellent No Code tool that can be used for complex data management and as a component to automate tasks. A plugin that enables users to download app data into and from their Airtable account saves them time and helps integrate the two tools properly.

The plugin gives you full control when it comes to setting up your synchronisation: it can be set up to update relationships between items in Airtable and Bubble, delete, load or insert rows or tables and more.

You can read more about the plugin on its Bubble page: Bubble to Airtable Two-Way Sync Plugin.

Mond

Mond is a social network for dogs in the New York area that is similar to Facebook. It is currently available as a native iOS app.

User profiles are dog-centric, with their breed, neutering status and personality being visible to friends.

The main feature of Mond is an interactive map of all of the dog parks in New York. Users can see what dogs are currently in a park and notify their friends when they are going out for a walk.

Among other features, dog profiles can also be synced with Instagram, which reduces the repetitive work of uploading pictures of your dog to the platform.

You can read more about the project here: Social Network for Dogs Built with Bubble.

Fitup Services

Fitup Services, a company that specialises in the interior design of buildings and ships for companies, wanted a representational website for their company that would reflect their work in an aesthetically pleasing and professional manner.

As a result, we developed their new website with Webflow, as it was the ideal tool for the job.

Here's what Matas Rutkauskas, their Project Development Manager, had to say about the website we built them with Webflow:

"Had the pleasure to work with Idea Link and its team to develop our brand’s new digital experience. We came to them with a need to create new connections with our potential customers through a website that could represent our new brand strategy.

From the very beginning, I was amazed by their professional communication and service. Idea Link's insights and technical know-how helped to create a digital touchpoint that strengthened our customer experience.

I highly recommend Idea Link if you want to create or upgrade your brand’s digital experience."

Open Infra

Open Infra was the biggest project our software development agency has worked on. At the time when this article is being written, our team is still building further iterations of this digital product.

The app is basically an all-in-one business operations management system for a telecommunications engineering business in Scandinavia.

Before we stepped in, the firm used a variety of different practical tools in their day-to-day operations that resulted in sub-optimal results, wasted time and monthly fees.

We joined the functionalities of these apps into one solution for specific needs that required the client to communicate with their customers, automate workflows and manage infrastructure installation projects with their partners through a fully interactive and editable map.

As a result, the client reduced the number of repetitive tasks in their daily routine, improved communication with their stakeholders and increased their operational efficiency.

Idea Link in 2022 and Beyond

We have started 2022 on the right foot, with the biggest amount of ongoing long-term projects we have ever had. Hopefully, we will be able to say the same thing in a year's time.

Our Growth Project Manager, Kasparas, has started writing articles for LOGIN.lt, a new tech-focused website in Lithuania. We have been cooperating with LOGIN since it was only a technology conference, so we are excited to see them become a much bigger player. LOGIN is an excellent vessel for us to spread the word about No Code and get more people hyped for what it can do.

Looking towards international waters, we have plans for CodeorNoCode.com to become the #1 resource for all things No Code: news, reviews, comparisons and more.

The website is currently going through a complete redesign in order to help users solve problems better than before. Together with the 2-minute quiz that helps you choose between code and No Code for your next project according to your particular requirements, the website will also have a detailed list of over 100 No Code tools to help you make the right decision.

We want to welcome more people into the No Code family and to make their journey towards setting up automation, saving money on software development and realising their business ideas easier.

As for the No Code agency, our core business, itself - the main thing on our mind is growth. Strengthening our core competencies of creating the right product for our customers, fast turnaround times and Bubble.io mastery, we will continue helping more and more customers achieve their goals that were not possible before the advent of No Code.

We will continue building professional business automation systems, MVP products, mobile apps and more in record time with visual development tools. We will also keep providing technology gap consulting for clients who do not know exactly what they need.

Do you want to be a part of our journey in 2022? Let's get in touch and build it together!

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