Business

Interview with Ateeq Rafeeq CEO Webful Creations

WordPress Maintenance Service
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Muhammad Ateeq Rafeeq

We managed recently to interview with Ateeq Rafeeq who is the owner of Webful Creations. As they are trying to help businesses around world to get their websites right way since 2009. We tried to ask them few questions to give you opportunity what they have in 2020 for your websites.

Our interview questions were simple to get the idea what they have been doing to establish their business since 2009. And what they are having in their plate for 2020. I hope you would like our new series of entrepreneur interviews.

Hard Work leads nothing, But success.

Ateeq Rafeeq

Going back to the basics, how did your business get started?

I didn’t have clear directions on how and what to do before I actually could start my web development business. It was 2008 when I started making simple blog sites myself and with the help of internet search. Luckily in 2009 I took a course for web development and design. And if I say that was the game changer for me it wouldn’t be wrong. That course actually merged all my knowledge and helped me to put things in the right sequence as well. 

So in 2010 we started a small web development agency as a freelancing firm to help people solve their web problems. So in 2011 we had our own small office with 5 team members and we started growing up together and of course the learning was ongoing with it. As the web technology sometimes responsive development came into the game and WordPress became so popular. Also continuously improving and becoming more powerful web tools.

So we were going through different phases of technology and trying our best to stay in business as well. This is how this business was started.

What challenges have you faced in growing your business?

When we started in 2009 the freelancing market was really a huge market for freelancers. It was really easy to find new projects and clients until 2012 for us. But there was a problem the clients who were looking for freelancers their prime purpose was cheap providers. Also there was a huge new entry in the freelance industry at that time. So the competition didn’t only increase but it was not possible for experienced providers to get the projects on right price according to their skills.

That was the time we decided to keep the good clients we have and continue working for them. Also this was the time when we started building our products. Initially we started from PHP softwares which was and is our primary expertise. Some of our famous PHP projects were like. PHP login Script, PHP General Ledger, PHP Multi Store Point of Sale, PHP Project Management System. 

Anything you build if that doesn’t make you enough money it’s useless no matter how perfect you made it. Unfortunately PHP was not in huge demand and the demand in Market we saw in 2016 was WordPress themes. This was another game changing decision to start designing and building WordPress themes for us.

WordPress Themes
WordPress Themes by Webful Creations

So since 2016 we have been building WordPress themes and this is doing well for us. We also develop WordPress plugins and develop plugins for customers as well. Knowing the importance of giving back to the society we are not providing tutorials about web application development as well.

Tell us about some exciting projects that have helped you grow.

I would start from the quote “Do Good, Have Good”. This quote looks good for ethical perspective. But trust me its equally applicable in your business growth. You cannot grow until your customers are not growing. I always try that my customers get the best from the money they spend. And that is the key to my success. In late 2018 we also started a great service to help the website owners to grow their website’s organic reach. Actually, I have seen thousands of people since 2009 they build websites invest thousands of dollars and time but then they are never able to achieve the results for which they started the website for. Keeping this issue in mind, I thought to help people grow their traffic as they are not technical. Now websites need to perform fast, with better SEO and available help for customizations and edit requests. We really want to thank 2checkout Inc. Who helped us launch our WordPress maintenance service and we easily can receive payment for our products as well for subscriptions for maintenance service clients.

WordPress Maintenance Service
WordPress Maintenance Service

This was the project which really helped me to get financial freedom. Yes, financial freedom is really important in case you want to build new products or projects. If you do not have enough financial support there is nothing you can do effectively. Thinking good for my customers also returned me the financial freedom. Now I am capable to focus on new products and projects with full peace of mind. WordPress maintenance service have helped me grow my business the way I always wanted.

What’s in store for 2020?

Since the beginning we have been dependent on different marketplaces and freelancing sites. In 2020 our complete focus is towards making direct sales through our website. As we already have made several products and services and are already selling more than 60% directly now. We are also going to introduce many great WordPress themes and plugins this year. We do not only make themes which look beautiful but they are impressive in terms of functionality. 

We are also very eager to give back to society so our tutorials would be helping people learn the technology and avoid the issues we faced. 

You want to give the credit of your success to yourself? 

I couldn’t have made this if I didn’t have support of my lovely wife Samar Ateeq. We married in 2013 since then she has sacrificed hundreds of weekends. Made me delicious food and tea to maintain my level of energy as well. Also my mother who always prays for me and loves me unconditionally. But I would dedicate my success to my beautiful daughters Fajar Ateeq and Zumar Ateeq. They are my life and I am sure my wife wouldn’t mind this dedication to them because of her help, support and sacrifices. Thank you Samar for always being there for me.

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