When Viraj Shah started his own business, his number one fear was finding enough clients to keep his doors open. He had just left a job as an IT consultant to start Vetek Consulting, a company specializing in mobile and web design, CTO support and MVP launches. While confident that word of mouth would grow his business, he needed to build a strong foundation of meaningful relationships that would translate into recommendations and clients in order to get enough business to keep going.
The turning point came in March, when he discovered networking app Shapr.
“I was just amazed at how instantaneous the results were. From the first week, I was being matched with a number of people that I would not normally have met through normal networking events.”
In his first week using the app, he booked meetings with four potential clients and signed one: Sarah Toyo, a fellow entrepreneur who was trying to build a professional video sharing app.
After helping Sarah get her app up and running, (the app is now live!) Viraj started using Shapr to meet potential hires and gain valuable insight from other entrepreneurs. His team grew and now includes a second developer and several start-up consultants who are helping him with his growing roster of projects. After only a few months, Vetek Consulting has enough work to sustain itself, due in large part to Shapr.
“Shapr is one of the most consistent ways to find clients, because I don’t always have time to go to networking events. It’s really convenient — you can just do it from home. Shapr has been a big part in the success we’ve had in the last few months.”
Viraj uses Shapr every single day. He says that in addition to potential clients, he has met several mentors who have given him advice and helped him through the first year of owning his own business. “It’s great that we are not only able to meet clients, but also able to meet people who have done this before,” he says.
“The number one thing I recommend every consultant do is download Shapr. My consultants and freelancers and developers all swear by it.”
