
App Development Case Study:
elev8.dance
The Relationship Starts
We met with the founder of elev8.dance in 2018 when the elev8 competition scheduling app was just an aspirational concept. Debra Cadrain came to us with an idea to help her save time when scheduling dance competitions, a task that normally took weeks of effort and planning.
We were game to give it a try, not realizing at that moment how complicated this programming problem would become.
After many conversations, we just started to scrape the surface of what was required to make this thing work, but also the huge potential this product could have in the market.
The germ of an idea, if done right, would be incredibly lucrative, and we were excited but also daunted by the very first startup project we'd waded into.

App Development Case Study:
elev8.dance
Lots of Moving Parts
As 2018 wound down and 2019 started up, development continued at a rapid pace, and we learned A LOT about how to plan out a complicated technical project.
Along with development, discussions about how to market and sell the product began. We were interested in helping Debra create a SAAS product to take the dance world by storm.
In the fall of 2019, Debra tried out the scheduler for the first time with real registrants using the app to register their studios.
She learned the joy of debugging a new tech product, and we learned more about the dance world. The partnership grew stronger.

App Development Case Study:
elev8.dance
Project Interrupted...
Unfortunately, we nailed the launch in the worst year possible - the 2020 dance season was cancelled due to COVID.
That gave us time to regroup and plan out some new products, and bring on some new developers to smooth out the rough edges in preparation for 2021.
We all had our fingers crossed that the dance competition season in 2021 would be a go, and it was - sort of. COVID restrictions meant big changes to the format, and took the competition online.
We scrambled to help Debra build a platform that would give her an opportunity to engage audiences and dancers through streaming video and a new parent app component.
The season even with these unusual aspects was a success and elev8.dance starting to catch some attention from other competitions.

App Development Case Study:
elev8.dance
We have a Winner!
After a relatively successful 2021 season with elev8.dance, we poured more developer labour into the product to build out new features, including a parent and dancer app for accessing competition information, and a storefront to sell tickets for what we hoped was a live 2022 competition season.
In among all the craziness of developing what amounted to 3 different applications all at once, Debra, her co-founder and sister Brenda, and our CEO and original eleve8 developer, Jared Fedorchuk, all threw themselves into the Co.Labs Co.Launch program that teaches tech startups how to get their product to market.
The Co.Launch season ends with a grand prize of $15,000 to the winner - and elev8 won! We were thrilled and excited to have gotten the recognition of such a vital tech community in Saskatoon, and to get to engage with other founders for mentoring and opportunities to learn.

App Development Case Study:
elev8.dance
Here We Grow
In the fall of 2022, we ramped up development again to finish off the ticket selling portion, make more improvements to the studio registration portal, and to add in new options for adjudication.
As more users get familiar with the platform, and features continue to evolve, we continue to debug, test, build and deploy, all during the busy competition season.
We keep building, and as each season rolls into the next, we look for new competitions to bring on board to help us keep growing the product.
The product is always in development, and we keep our eye on making the product the best thing it can be, while also keeping an eye on new opportunities to make the product an SAAS success.
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