SlimSoft's Costa Rican Blog

A little over a month after we returned from Costa Rica, an exciting development happened. We began to discuss the possibility of adding a new partner into the mix. In the beginning of July, Renata and I welcomed a Brent Seely to our team. This was a pretty exciting development for SlimSoft. Brent brings with him a great deal of experience and respect which positions us better for our future plans.

The plans themselves remained focused on the same goal. We all agree that the world has changed. In today's global world, you need a global focus and a global view to remain competitive. At the same time, lots of companies have lots of horror stories about their outsourcing experiences. We think our model offers a solution to these problems.

The key principles of our business model are:

1. Near-shore, not off-shore. Why? Time-zones and flight times. Costa Rica is a 2 hour flight from Miami, and the last time I checked, a return flight to, say, Chicago costs US $800.
2. Our face to the customer will be High End, North American based, resources. We want your user experience to remain the same as it does when you deal with us today. We will manage our resources so you don't have to.
3. Competitive Rates. We will deliver solutions to our customers at an overall lower cost than our competitors. Our hourly rate will probably not compare to that of an off-shore company, but our near-shore model will provide the best of both worlds. More efficient project execution with more attractive rates.
4. We're going to be there to see this thing through. Renata and I plan to spend the majority of our time in Costa Rica. We will use our Manufacturing Experience to ensure that our Costa Rican resources not only know how to code, but understand what we are doing. They will know how factories work and why these things have to be rock solid.
5. Grow Responsibly. We are in this for the long haul! We will add resources as demand, and our cash flow warrants. If you have access to credit, its easy to spend it. But unless you also have the ability to generate revenue, you'll quickly be in trouble. My former boss Erik and his partners had it right. They grew there company from nothing to something to be proud of by managing their growth responsibly.

So know that we know where we're going, we just have to figure out how to get there. Stay tuned...