Our story: where we come from and where we’re going (Part 2)
Hi,
In the first part, I told you how we started, how we launched many projects, and how we learned along the way. But then came a turning point: we realized we couldn’t keep going like that.
We had too many open fronts, and we were paying the price: we weren’t giving clients the attention they deserved, and our products weren’t moving forward as they should 😓. We were overwhelmed.
We knew we had to make tough decisions. And shutting down a service is never easy. For several reasons:
- it can look like a step backwards,
- clients using it deserve explanations and alternatives,
- and every shutdown requires planning and sensitivity.
Still, we knew it was necessary. So we began to let go. First, we shut down projects that had never really taken off, like Private FTP and The Lab. Then we realized selling hardware wasn’t for us: any store could do it better. We were software creators, and that’s where our value was. So we closed The Photographer’s Shop 🖥️.
We even decided to discontinue the Arcadina Agenda 📅, which had been well received but didn’t fit our main goal: growing within the professional photography and video sector.
Then came the big decision: should we continue with management software, or bet on internet services 🌍? We chose the latter, because it was the future, because it opened international doors, and because it allowed us to scale better.
That choice led us to another key moment around 2017: to unify all our products and services into a single online subscription (SaaS) 💻. That’s how today’s Arcadina was born: an all-in-one solution with portfolio websites, client galleries, booking calendars, contracts with online signing, blogs, domain and email, WhatsApp Business, and even AI to sell photos with a selfie 🤳.
It wasn’t an easy road 💪. We had to learn about finance, marketing, support, sales… and we had to overcome several crises. But today we are stronger than ever, with a clear vision: to help you be a better professional, organize your work, attract more clients, and increase your sales.
That’s our drive, our leitmotiv.
Thanks for being with us 🙏.
Best regards,
Félix
PS: Here is the first part of our story.
