ED311 is a small business based in Austin, Texas, that has been providing unparalleled resources for public school administrators for the last 30 years. There is no one else in Texas that does exactly what we do: we specialize in school law and a myriad of legal developments impacting public education in Texas. It’s a big topic for a small business of 5 employees, and the tools we purchase from other small businesses – like Invoice Ninja –  help us get the job done.  

HOW HAS INVOICE NINJA HELPED YOU TO GROW?

Invoice Ninja helps us keep everything in order, no matter how complicated the transaction.

WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS MODEL?

We host trainings and conferences for school administrators with our expert attorneys, educators, and authors. Topics include Special Education Law (which is primarily comprised of federal guidance, so it isn’t only specific to Texas), Response Tiered Intervention and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, personnel law and ethics, the many legal updates that emerge from state and federal legislative sessions, and best practices in classroom pedagogy. 

This might sound kind of dry, but we promise it isn’t.  Or if it is, the ED311 Team still finds ways to stay lively.  Our team is made up of an herbalist and immigrant detainee activist; a future CPA and avid plant collector; a civic leader and fierce public park space advocate; a licensed paralegal and an obsessed women’s soccer fan; and a former teacher and closeted writer. We celebrate Christmas at a Star Wars movie every year.  We’re all on a different, questionable nutritional program, yet we still come together over breakfast tacos and peanut butter cups.

We work together in a cozy office four blocks from the Texas state capitol where we coordinate our events and manage an online bookstore. We publish and sell many titles ranging from school law in Texas to RTI to social-emotional learning and restorative practices. Our best-sellers include The Texas Documentation Handbook, a staple for principals throughout Texas that is a comprehensive “how-to” in supporting classroom teachers, and Classroom Circles, a popular title nationally that guides educators in creating a culture of connection and empathy amongst students in the classroom. Though we specialize in Texas school law, our products and services extend into broader areas of education, and we are working towards expanding our audience nationally. This growth is gaining traction, and we are enjoying the opportunity to be creative and connect with our audience in new ways as we grow our services.

Currently, we are moving our schedule of trainings and conferences for 2020 to online platforms using webinars, no small feat made only more complicated by the many ways that our customers can register and pay for our services.ED311 found success 30 years ago when it emerged as a niche service almost by accident. Now we are weathering the current storm the best we can as small businesses everywhere struggle.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR OTHER FREELANCERS AND ENTREPRENEURS?

We are trying to hang on by temporarily adapting our business model to the current situation and providing our services virtually. The best advice we have for other small businesses is to find your niche, adapt to the ever-changing world, and stay lively.

My grandfather Joseph Silverman started DCI as we are more commonly known in 1990. We are an insurance agency catering exclusively to In-Home Child Care Providers, Commercial Child Care Centers, Montessori Schools, and other early childhood education enrichment programs and organizations. We specialize in providing Liability, Student Accident Medical, and other comprehensive insurance solutions to the child care industry. Previously my grandfather worked for a large marketing firm where his job brought him into contact with the child care industry and he grew to really admire the community and family spirit of the industry and decided he wanted to make it his passion to help the people that help those who care for our nation’s future every day.

I had been around the business since I was a boy, and my grandfather invited me to join him when I graduated from college in 2007. My Grandfather retired in 2015 and as we navigate the year 2020 our goal of educating and protecting child care providers and the children they care for hasn’t changed. Since what we do is so specialized finding invoice solutions that were user-friendly, cost-effective, and robust enough for our needs was extremely difficult. Invoice Ninja allows us to provide our customers with a very user-friendly and secure experience to pay their invoices without having to create an account or remember a password if they do not wish to. Invoice Ninja also gives us the flexibility to make changes on the fly and gives my employees more time to focus on the customer.

HOW HAS INVOICE NINJA HELPED YOU TO GROW?

As a company as a whole, we were fairly late to the web-based technology boom that sent most business transactions online. When we first started accepting online payments we used a web-based program that was cumbersome and not user friendly for us or our customers which caused our technology growth to be stunted. Using Invoice Ninja has helped our web-based presence significantly. Customers are making their payments quickly and confidently and allow us to service our clients much faster than ever before. Because our overall process is so much more user-friendly customers are sharing this with their colleagues and we are attracting more customers.

WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS MODEL?

Our approach back in the 90s was very grassroots, word of mouth driven. While we were able to maintain this approach into the 2000s, we soon realized how important it was to have a credible web presence. Since launching the use of Invoice Ninja in 2018, it has highly illuminated the importance of having a quick, user-friendly experience for the end user supported by responsive knowledgeable customer service that evokes confidence in your product or service. Once you have attracted the users staying informed on your data is just as important. Being able to analyze your sales, and run reports on your products and services will allow you to keep up with your customers’ needs and allow you to bring them new products or services, and adjust prices at the appropriate times.

DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR OTHER FREELANCERS AND ENTREPRENEURS?

We used to think that our obscure niche place in the market was a detriment because it made advertising more difficult, but we realized that there were so many areas we were benefiting from it. Identify what makes you unique and find ways to embrace that. Every industry is different, there is no one size fits all book, approach, or a resource that will allow you to plug ‘n play the success of your business. Try to expand your awareness beyond your specialty into other related areas. You never know when you might see a trend, resource, or opportunity that could give you an edge or trigger a new idea.

You can find us at www.dcins.com and we invite you to ask questions or comments!

BIO

Virginia Fuentes is a video storyteller from Seville, Spain. She started her career as an advertising copywriter, working for Adidas, Vodafone, BMW, and other global brands. Virginia then pivoted to screenwriting, working as a scriptwriter for a cartoon series on Spanish Public Television.

After that series ran its course, Virginia moved to London where she completed an MA in documentary filmmaking, subsequently launching her career as a documentary producer and filmmaker. She has worked as a  freelance producer for Discovery Channel, Vice Media, and other global media companies. In 2017, she partnered up with Guatemalan producer/filmmaker Loubna Turjuman and the British-Kiribati born director Victoria Burns to form The Doc Collective, a production company specialized in short-form documentaries and branded content.

An independent filmmaker in her own right, Virginia’s film “MAMIS: a family portrait” (Havana, 2013) has been screened in over 30 international film festivals such as the BFI London Flare Film Festival, the 39 Frameline of San Francisco and the 45th Edition of the Montreal Student Film Festival. It won the “best Short Documentary” prize in several of these festivals.

FAVORITE INVOICE NINJA BENEFITS

The word I’d use is comfortable because spreadsheets like Excel give me a headache just looking at them!  Invoice Ninja is a great replacement. The interface is relaxing to my eyes when I open it up, and it’s super intuitive and easy-to-use. The platform automatically adds up all of the prices and taxes for me to quickly make and send a nice-looking invoice. So again, from the way it looks to the way it works, Invoice Ninja is just a really comfortable experience for me.

FAVORITE FEATURES

I love the good-looking invoice templates and that all of the calculations including taxes is added up for me. I want to focus my energy on the creative part of my business – these features help me to easily wrap up the uncreative billing part so I can do just that, be creative.

EXPERT VIDEO STORYTELLING ADVICE FOR OTHER INVOICE NINJAS

No matter what kind of business you’re in and no matter how small or how big your operation is, you can benefit from video storytelling. Video storytelling makes people care about you and your company – it can massively increase the trust they feel for you and your brand. The biggest problem is that many entrepreneurs don’t really know how to frame their own stories – they don’t even know where to start. Don’t be afraid to look at your own obstacles and how you overcame them – you can definitely weave that into your company’s story. Of course, if you need help with storytelling, feel free to contact me!

PLUG

You can hire me as an independent consultant, filmmaker, or producer via my personal website at www.virginiafuentes.com. For the full production of short documentaries and branded content, you can count on my full service production company, www.thedoccollective.com.

Would you like to be highlighted? Email us @ community@invoiceninja.com

Our third Invoice Ninja to be interviewed is Samuel Laulhau, a France-based full stack developer

Samuel Laulhau, an old school full stack web developer

Samuel started in video games when flash was the future, later moving to web agencies when social networks entered the scene. Eventually,  he moved to data analysis when the era of big data arrived before founding his own development agency, Lalop, where he works on a broad range of dev projects for web and mobile.

In his free time, Samuel contributes to several open source projects such as Invoice Ninja, and is the official maintainer of our Invoice Ninja docker image.

What Are Your Favorite Invoice Ninja Benefits?

Invoice Ninja helps me to focus on my real work : programming.

Before using it, I made my invoices by hand, making and sending them and receiving payments was annoying . I would get stressed out, forgetting to send invoices and knowing which clients are up-to-date with their payments. This was time consuming since I would often  send multiple invoices to the same client for various small charges.

With Invoice Ninja I’m more relaxed because I can create and send a quote, as well as receive payments and get fast reports, all in one place.

Your Most Used Feature?

It’s hard to select one, but I think the thing that really seduced me was the default invoice template –  simple and refined.

Expert Advise

I like to see my work as the search for the most durable and smart answer to a problem, whatever its complexity.

These days everyone wants to create an online service, however I think it’s important to first define define what problem you’re tackling and why your service will be the better answer, in order to stand out from competitors.

Ninja Plug

I’m mainly working with PHP and JS, using a lot of different frameworks and tools, choosing the one that is right for the work. I’ve done some mobile apps with React Native and I love working with Docker.

You can find me on my site (only in French… sorry) https://samuellaulhau.fr or on github https://github.com/lalop, You can also find me on mastodon  @lalop@mastodon.indie.host.

This is the second article profiling our Invoice Ninja users all around the world.

Would you like to be highlighted? Email us @ community@invoiceninja.com

The second Invoice Ninja to be interviewed is Ari Kuchar, Australian filmmaker & producer.

Ari Kuchar Productions / Cre8

Video & Animation Production

Ari Kuchar is a multi award-winning commercial and documentary filmmaker and producer. He has been working in film production for over a decade, working with clients such as Adidas, Nickelodeon and the Wall Street Journal.

What industry challenge are you fulfilling?

Video Production services can be expensive. Moreover, if you’re a client without the necessary experience, the process can be daunting and time-consuming. I have experience across the entire spectrum of film production, so I can work closely with a client throughout the entire process and ensure that every step is clear and every cost is accounted for.

My business isn’t groundbreaking in the least however, I have a strong work ethic and sense of responsibility that means I want people to get their money’s worth and get a good product as a result. It’s a time-worn cliché, but I’m only happy if my client is happy. Now, if their pet dies on the same day as we successfully finish a project – that gets a little complicated.

Tell us about your business growth?

My business has grown organically. I haven’t broadly advertised my services and my new clients arrive by word of mouth and they tend to stay. That’s the way I like to work because I really value the real and human relationships I have with my clients.

My business has grown to the point that I now manage a pool of vetted and talented freelancers. I am fairly strict about who I work with and will only select people with a strong work ethic who care deeply about the work they produce. An exciting part of my business is that I have also begun a collective whereby other creatives can work out of the same hub, giving us the flexibility and ease to collaborate or simply get advice, learn and grow.

What does the future hold?

I don’t have aspirations to grow too large. To me, the real value is not monetary but rather the work I create and the satisfaction of my customers. With this in mind, I have started working on pro-bono projects for charities and social movements.

Thoughts on your industry?

Film production and animation is an industry that moves so fast it can be dizzying. So many filmmakers spend a fortune for the latest tools but any successful filmmaker will tell you the following: It is all about story – and that is priceless.

NINJA BENEFITS?

I work in a creative industry and no matter how I look at it; the admin side of my business is just not sexy. Invoice Ninja makes bookkeeping as painless as possible by providing me with an intuitive and timesaving interface. It also reads my mind, when I want a particular feature it suddenly appears in the app before I know it.

FAVORITE FEATURES?

Apart from using it for quotations and invoicing, features such as time-tracking are incredibly useful. The client statements are also great. There are just so many ways to drill down to my data – it’s just so flexible.

THE LAST WORD…

Video has never been so popular. There are now 3-year-olds who are now more prolific in the art form than the masters of cinema were in their entire career. But the sheer amount of videos produced also creates a lot of noise and the challenge of a good video producer is to cut through that. I often say that everyone has a story. This is important because your story is unique and if told correctly it can genuinely connect you or your brand to your audience. In a world full of fleeting messages and values – such connections are remarkably powerful.   

NINJA PLUG

I’m a video production company that feels like you are dealing with one person and my aim to is to make that experience as fun and easy as possible.

https://www.arikuchar.com

https://www.facebook.com/webvideoproductions/

This is the first article in our new series profiling our Invoice Ninja users all around the world.

Would you like to be highlighted? Email us @ community@invoiceninja.com

The first Invoice Ninja to be interviewed is Phillip Stark, an American creative director, content producer, and entrepreneur based in Madrid, Spain.

After graduating film school in Ohio, Phillip moved to Spain in 2004, advertising himself on Craigslist Madrid as “An American Producer in Spain – I speak English!” At the time, very few people in Spain spoke English, so Phillip immediately got calls from American and British television shows, corporations, and communication agencies. His customers were desperate to find and manage English-speaking video crews across Spain. After successfully helping these clients to complete their video projects, they would ask Phillip if he could source  English-speaking video crews for them in other countries. They would ask, “Phil, is there anyone like you in Beijing, Buenos Aires, Berlin…” So like a good entrepreneur, Phillip answered “yes” to everyone and then went out and found the best people for the jobs.

Fourteen years later, Phillip is the head of Stark Crew, a global video agency with 1000+ video crews across 6 continents that provides its customers to find and manage video crews in any location on Earth, anytime. His customer roster includes global brands such as Facebook, Uber, Instagram, and Taco Bell.

Phillip is also a writer, lyricist, musician, and voice talent. He wrote a 60-episode web series for academic publisher McGraw Hill, he has licensed his original songs to brands such as Rip Curl and Axe Shower Gel, and he is currently writing lyrics for the new record of renowned rock band in Spain.

 NINJA BENEFITS

For me, the thing I love most about Invoice Ninja is the speed, hands down. I am insanely busy – I run a global video company, play in a band, work with other bands, produce my own video blog, do creative strategy and content production for other companies, and work as a voice talent. With all of this activities, I cannot waste a single second in admin stuff.

Also, I have main business with Stark Crew and a lot of side hustles, and I need to keep things separate. For example, I do a lot of Voice Over work on the side – I have an Invoice Ninja account that I only use for voice overs, to keep the branding consistent. So in short, it’s fast and efficient for me.

FAVORITE FEATURES

Because speed is my biggest problem, the easy-to-use and good-looking invoice templates is my favorite  feature. Also, as I work with clients all over the globe, I really like that I can assign different currencies to different clients.

QUOTE

I’ll keep to my work as a voice talent for this one. “I run a video company so I should be promoting video 100% of the time, but the fact is that we cannot underestimate the explosive growth of audio. People cannot watch a video while they are working, but they can listen to a podcast. This is why I think audio is only going to grow as the content people consume while they are doing other things such as working – or even working out. Companies and marketers should have this in mind and produce more audio content, even if it’s just making an audio version of a text article you’ve already published. People might not be able to read your article because they are busy with other things, but they can certainly listen to it!”

You can learn more about Phillip’s work as a Voice Talent, Creative Director, and Content Producer at www.phillipstark.com or visit the Stark Crew website.