Rider Shell is a small startup located in Adelaide, Australia that designs motorcycle armor. At this point in its development, the company consists of an engineer working on the research and development side while founder Scott Adams oversees everything else. “It’s a very small team,” he said. “We’re all about designing the product and will probably launch in the market late 2023.”
As Rider Shell is designing motorcycle armor, the company must test and work with standards agencies in order to get the prototypes approved.
“There’s a massive gap in what capabilities are possible versus what’s on the market,” Adams said. “We’re answering some of the common problems that riders have today with respect to protection, but also issues of overheating.”
Currently, Rider Shell manufactures with 3D printers to fit together the armor and develop mechanisms to control the movement of parts to protect the rider in the event of a crash.
“We’re still in the early stages,” he said. “We’re looking at purchasing machinery to automate much of the process as well as new materials to use to custom-fit the armor for every customer.”
ProjectManager fulfilled the need for powerful yet easy-to-use software
Adams’ day job is in telecommunications while his free time is devoted to Rider Shell. He needed project management software that was easy to use but also met his needs. Being located in what’s essentially the middle of Australia, he needed a tool that could connect him to everyone he needed to work with to successfully launch his product.
“The moment I formed the company I went straight into ProjectManager,” Adams said. He was already familiar with ProjectManager from previous jobs and knew it was a good fit for him. His engineer doesn’t share a location with him and, in fact, is an hour and a half away. ProjectManager gives him the tools to seamlessly work remotely with his engineer without the lost time commuting.
Microsoft Project wasn’t suitable for collaboration
Like most project managers, Adams has experience with Microsoft Project and it didn’t endear him to the product. “Microsoft Project is terrible for collaboration,” he said. “It just doesn’t work.” He needed an online solution like ProjectManager.
Other project management tools he looked at would address different aspects of work from a business and financial perspective. “Project management,” Adams said, “was a second thought.” He looked at Monday.com, “But that’s a pure task management app,” he said.
ProjectManager can adapt to Rider Shell’s growing needs
It was a smooth transition. Adams simply signed up for the free trial and setting up a plan was easy. He did it all online. “Rider Shell is a small company, which helps,” he said. But Adams added that as the company grows, so will its relationship with ProjectManager.
Currently, as R&D advances based on customer feedback, there will be marketing pushes, roadshows and other initiatives. Adams said that ProjectManager will be there to make sure these various initiatives all go as planned.
Until Rider Shell reaches that point, Adams said he’s been using ProjectManager’s timesheets and reports to present to potential investors, get further funding and map out strategic plans for the company.
“It’s great that for every task I can put notes and attach files,” Adams said. That makes it easy for him to refer to engineering documents. Plus, he refers to reports with a business coach to help understand where the company is and plan for where it will be.
He’s also very excited by the recent update to ProjectManager that delivers risk management and recurring tasks. “That’s really important,” he said. “It’s a big help.”