Today we’d like to introduce you to Fernando Isern Busigo and Gabrielle Chanel.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Fernando and Gabrielle. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Working together as a husband and wife team takes a lot of passion and patience and requires two people who are completely in sync, in terms of values, goals and aspirations. For us, it all started when we met in New York City. We were both creative trainers, teaching technology and software at one of the busiest Apple Stores on Fifth Avenue. That experience teaching customers from different skill levels how to use computers cultivated both a passion for technology and a desire to see people succeed. We didn’t know it at the time, but those experiences would be instrumental in helping us get to where we are today. Without looking for it, we fell in love working side by side and embarked on a whole new life, getting married and dreaming about starting our own business. In 2012, we decided to move to Los Angeles. Newly arrived and without much to do, I remember going to Costco to purchase one of those giant dry erase boards to list all of our strengths and experiences. We came up with many ideas, some better than others, but nothing seemed to click until we asked ourselves a couple of important questions: what are we good at and how can we share our talent with the world? Everything we wrote down pointed us in the same direction: love of technology and wanting to see people succeed. And that’s how we came up with NETWORKFOLIO, to help individuals and small business owners establish a web presence.
Anybody can make a website these days. There are many tools and platforms out there that allow anyone to build their own web presence and some are even free! However, just having a website is not enough anymore. To stand out, your site has to be able to predict and fulfill your customers’ needs, surprise and delight them and present exactly what they are looking for. A good web designer will focus on delivering a site designed to achieve your business goals, not just putting up photos and text. While it has become easier to make a website, it has become harder to make a website that stands out. The other major shift in web design is mobile.
Everyone expects a website to load fast and look great on their mobile phone. E-commerce is moving in the same direction, with consumers and even B2B customers expecting to be able to place an order on your site while on the go. We see the industry going almost 100% mobile, with more and more customers owning only a mobile phone and not a computer. From our foundation at NETWORKFOLIO, we’ve focused on websites optimized for mobile make sure our clients are ready for the future of e-commerce.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road here hasn’t been easy. Not only were we new to LA, we were new to business. It’s a big leap to go from working with one of the most successful companies in history where they take care of everything from advertising, accounting, human resources, sales etc. to having to do it all on your own. Starting your own business had always been a dream for both of us many times we felt we chewed off more than we could handle. One example comes to mind: wanting to sound and look professional, we quickly spent money we didn’t have (we weren’t getting a lot of work back then) to set up a business phone line. I can’t tell you how many hours we spent looking at that phone, hoping for it to ring. It was painful paying a monthly fee for that phone, knowing it wasn’t going to ring. We were barely getting any clients, so family, friends and old acquaintances stepped in to save the day, hiring us to do small projects that would help pay the bills but also help us develop our business and web design skills. And that’s how our business developed to what it is today; through friends needing a website for their business, people we’ve met along the way in New York and Los Angeles looking for a web presence and referrals from satisfied clients who went out of their way to show our work to others. It turns out we didn’t need a business phone line, just to connect in a meaningful way with the people around us; a skill we had been developing all of our lives.
NETWORKFOLIO – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We’ve worked on projects big and small, from strategizing with a startup on choosing a company name to managing an entire e-commerce project for a billion-dollar company.
NETWORKFOLIO specializes in web design, business and e-commerce consulting, covering all stages of a project: planning, development, launch/marketing, quality control/testing and overall project management. We are known for helping clients navigate the fast-moving waters of e-commerce, technology and the web with a focus on high-performing websites that look beautiful everywhere, from computer screens to mobile devices. What sets us apart from others is our focus on the needs of our clients and their customers. On every single project, we assume the role of their customer and deliver the website we would want if we were them.
Web Design & Business Consulting starts at $500/month and varies depending on scope and complexity of the project, as well as the tasks you want our team to take care of. We work on projects big and small and are looking to establish long term relationships with our clients, so our minimum engagement is 6 months.
Services:
Web, Business and E-commerce Consulting
Proposal and Contract Review
Project Management
Web Design/E-commerce
Product/Model Photography
Website Maintenance
Quality Control/Testing
Web Marketing/SEO/PPC
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Getting our first referral was definitely our proudest moment. The idea of a client being so thrilled with the work you’ve done that they recommend you to their business associates is such a great honor. It might seem like a tiny milestone, but it let us know that we were well on our way to creating a successful business.
Pricing:
- Starting at $500/month with a minimum engagement of 6 months.
Contact Info:
- Website: networkfolio.com
- Phone: 347-803-0944
- Email: fernando@networkfolio.com
Image Credit:
Fernando Isern Busigo
Gabrielle Chanel
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
