Gittr
Project Type: Web App/API Development, Front End Development
Dates: 2016-Current
Title: CTO
Summary
Gittr is a project I started with my business partner Brennan in 2016. This webapp enables local-level courier companies to have online ordering and an all-in-one management system. Gittr routes payments, helps manage orders, and improves customer service. The main component of the app is the online ordering.
Challenges
While building Gittr, we wanted to address 3 major issues we saw with
similar solutions: security, simplicity, and integrations.
We found that online ordering systems our company had used prior had
major security issues that could lead to data leaks. We wanted to
provide a solution that was more secure and used modern methods of
storing user passwords and information to prevent against attacks.
Simplicity was something that we are striving for constantly. Other
systems were bloated and didn't always work the first time. Gittr was
built to be easy to understand and has extensive documentation to make
that easier for the user. It's not complex for admins or end users to
navigate the site or do the things they need to while on the site.
We wanted Gittr to integrate with other softwares that couriers use -
primarily TwinJet, a dispatching software. This would make the
workflow for dispatchers seamless. We also integrate with accounting
software and Stripe to make accounting and invoicing easier.
Solutions
We addressed security issues by changing from the Yii platform to
CodeIgniter, which made it much easier to keep our presentation layer
and data layer seperated, which meant better security. We also never
allowed our API to be accessible with out the proper keys. The biggest
security solution we implemented was disallowing self-hosting, which
allows us to monitor attacks and respond in kind.
We made Gittr easy and quick to use by implementing a no-nonsense
presentation layer that makes actions quickly identifiable. Our admin
dashboard is well documented and easy to understand. Since we both used
the software in our day-to-day jobs, we had real-world testing to rely
on while building, and trusted beta testers to provide feedback.
To integrate with other services, we built out optional services which
sent data to the other software via APIs and exported files (like .csv
files for accounting software like QuickBooks©). We integrated
with TwinJet to seamlessly send orders over and update each system
simultaneously.
Results
Gittr has never experienced a security breach. We have been attacked,
but we've been able to manage those attacks with good security
practices and by using basic tools like captchas.
We're improving ourselves daily by responding to user reviews and
reports. I'm not sure there's an imperical way to quantify simplicity,
but our users like it.
Integrations have gotten even better since first launching. We've added
multiple export options to integrate with many accounting programs.
Our Stripe integrations have improved and users can manage Stripe
settings right from the admin dashboard.
In the abstract, we have generated over $100k in pass-through revenue
and turned a profit. We have helped our dozen or so clients
take and deliver over 10,000 orders and route payments to 100s of
partnered businesses like restaurants, bakeries, and small shops.