As we approach our second birthday, it’s amazing to look back and see how far we’ve come in terms of our UK and global expansion plans, ongoing development of the product, the work we do with our channel partners and hiring the right people to make it all happen.
So how have we managed to do this?
UK and global expansion
Considering the business was only started in 2012, our rate of expansion both here in the UK and overseas has been surprising – even to us. Through our partner programme, we’ve introduced Purple WiFi in more than 50 countries and translated the product into 16 different languages so far. Thanks to our partners we’re really and truly global now.
Earlier this year we made the leap across the pond, opening a second office in San Francisco with Anne Lakstigala appointed as VP Americas. And we aren’t stopping there. We recently appointed Allen Pan as VP for the Asia Pacific region, another key step in our global expansion.
Product development
We have always believed in the strength of our product, but we are mindful that the technology business changes very quickly. And we don’t just keep up – we always try to be innovators, game-changers and influencers in our field. That’s why developing our product is so important to us. If we hit issues with development, we don’t sit around, we hold internal hackathons and encourage staff to really work together to overcome any hurdles.
Our development and IT teams have been working hard of late to introduce and implement a range of new features including presence analytics and location based services. The customer portal has undergone a major facelift too, with e-shots, reports and splash pages now easier to customise than ever before.
Channel partnerships
Our business is based on the channel model, which means that we don’t sell directly to customers. Instead, we operate through a network of reseller partners, distributors and manufacturers. We have channel partners all over the world and our sales team is focused entirely on supporting them on a day-to-day basis. A key factor in our development is onboarding new hardware and we now work with most leading wireless manufacturers.
Our team
Of course, none of this could happen if we didn’t have the right people in place. Recruitment is so important to us. We’re always recruiting, that never changes. We now have 37 full time staff – or ‘Purplers’ as we like to call ourselves! The move to our swanky new offices in Ashton-Under-Lyne proved to be a good one, as it’s close to Manchester city centre and has excellent transport links. We’re always on the hunt for clever techies to join our development, support and IT teams. This year has also seen new staff joining the finance, marketing and sales departments. Although having the right skills and experience is important, it’s attitude that matters most here at Purple Towers – and we’ve got that by the bucketload!
What’s next for Purple WiFi?
As with any entrepreneurial led business, we never stop thinking and planning. There’s so much in our product roadmap we could tell you about (but we’d have to kill you). We also hope to have a big announcement to make later this year. But shhh, we can’t say anything about that yet.
There’s one thing we are sure of, the future for us, is most definitely Purple.