The Best Performance Enhancing Mobility Devices Began From Humble Beginnings – and a Need to Get Moving
Sidestix, a small Canadian-based manufacturer of custom-made forearm crutches, based in the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia began in 2009 and its small team of employees has expanded to create and ship the world’s best performance-enhancing mobility devices around the world, from Alaska to Tanzania. Through the use of PluginHive’s Canada Post and UPS plugins, Sidestix has become one of the dozens of small to medium-sized entrepreneurs to expand and grow their business using innovative software and incredible business tools that benefit businesses of all sizes.
Kerith Perreur-Lloyd and his wife Sarah Doherty began the company simply to fill their own need of a way for Sarah to continue to enjoy the sports she loves without being held back due to the lack of proper equipment. Sarah was hit by a drunk driver when she was 13, leaving her with only one leg. She continues to be an extremely active person, who according to her stepson, Kelly Perreur-Lloyd, “She refused to let [the loss of her leg] slow her down at all. When she met my dad, who is an engineer, they developed the first prototype of something better for her to use to walk on.”
From there, the inspiration for Sidestix was born after Kerith and Sarah realized there was a real need in the world for others like Sarah whose quality of life was being limited by the lack of adequate assistive and performance-enhancing devices.
From a small town, the internet is essential to reaching the right customers
Although PluginHive has helped many other small family-owned businesses adapt their brand online, Sidestix has been an online business right from the start. “There just aren’t that many people on the Sunshine Coast and in general people all over the world are needing this. It’s not a concentration of people in one particular area,” says Perreur-Lloyd. “Right from the start, it was always better for us to be online. That way anyone who had access to the internet could have access to these forearm crutches. There aren’t very many people doing completely custom-made forearm crutches that are made for outdoor activities. We have one with a shock absorber in it called The Boundless. I don’t believe there is anything like it out there.”
Due to the high demand for their products, Sidestix was set to find the best method to ship their products while providing an accurate estimate of prices to their customers and keeping their own costs down. PluginHive stood out because of its niche availability to Canada Post users but also because of the care they brought to their customers as well as its ability to provide a world-class customer experience with affordable tech solutions.
“About six years ago we redeveloped our website and we moved to WordPress and WooCommerce. We were looking for plugin solutions and PluginHive was always mentioned with good reviews. In the beginning, you were the only one developing a Canada Post plugin that did everything we wanted to, which is definitely one of the major reasons why we first began using PluginHive. And then we liked it so we went with the UPS plugin as well.”
Kelly Perreur-Lloyd
Sidestix has been using the Canada Post and UPS plugins, which, according to their team, “have been excellent for us to provide customers with an accurate delivery estimate as well as accurate pricing. We have quite complicated packaging because we have so many pieces that are all odd sizes. So the fact that the plugin allows us to put in all of the box sizes and all of the package sizes has allowed us to be quite accurate in calculating the correct costs for our customers which is really great.”
* WooCommerce UPS Shipping plugin with Print Label
* WooCommerce Canada Post Shipping plugin with Print Label
Canada Post and UPS plugins save costs while continuing to allow Sidestix to offer its unique product to the global market
One of the biggest benefits that the PluginHive team has provided to Sidestix is the ability to streamline the shipping process and minimize error and estimation in calculating costs, which has saved the company money as well.
“We are able to save costs because we can accurately pack everything. Without trying to guess shipping costs, we aren’t overcharging or undercharging our customers which would definitely eat into our costs. We [would have] to then make up the cost if we inaccurately gave them an estimate,” says Kelly “It has also helped us a lot just by the fact that just the packaging and estimating feature has made it quite a seamless procedure for us.”
Sidestix did not and has not faced many issues while using the PluginHive plugins. “I don’t believe we faced any issues immediately – possibly one or two minor ones but the PluginHive support has always been very good. Further to that, we have added some customizations to the plugins and we’ve had questions about how to incorporate that customization, and the PluginHive support has answered all of those questions for us as well. You are very responsive to us.”
When asked if the Sidestix team would recommend PluginHive to their businesses, Kelly responds by saying, “If I knew a developer or someone starting a business we would absolutely recommend PluginHive to them. You’ve made an excellent product and your support is very good.”
The PluginHive team has understood that every business is unique, from custom-made forearm crutches to grocery and fashion, however, their commitment to customer service remains the same. No matter what service you provide, a conversation with PluginHive will ensure that you receive the best care possible – so you can likewise give the best service to the final customer. Reach out today.