PearlThoughts led the strategic transformation of 1851 Franchise, a multi-publication franchise promotion platform, from a legacy PHP (Yii2) system to a modern, headless CMS-based architecture. This project showcases our ability to modernize complex systems while ensuring business continuity and enhancing performance.
Project Information
Client:
Nick Powills
Location:
Philadelphia, United States
Project:
1851 Franchise
PROJECT DURATION
Since 2019
Website:
https://1851franchise.com/
Challenge
The existing 1851 Franchise platform faced several critical issues:
- Built on PHP/MySQL with sub-optimal database design
- Unstable system with numerous bugs
- Difficulty in adding new features
- Cumbersome to work with, hindering productivity
Our Approach
- Incremental Migration: Employed the Strangler Fig pattern to build the new system around the existing legacy platform, minimizing disruption.
- Technology Stack Upgrade: Transitioned to Laravel for backend development, leveraging our team’s expertise and the similarity to the existing system.
- Headless CMS Implementation: Adopted a headless architecture using Strapi to future-proof content, improve SEO compatibility, and enhance readability.
- Unified Authentication: Consolidated authentication across four publications using Firebase, aligning with the client’s Google ecosystem and streamlining user management.
- Infrastructure Modernization: Migrated from Liquid hosting to AWS, utilizing Infrastructure as Code (IaC) with Terraform for improved scalability and management.
Key Innovations
- Unified Portal: Consolidated separate author and brand admin portals into a single, unified system with role-based access control (RBAC).
- Streamlined Content Creation: Redesigned the article authoring process into a single-page interface, significantly improving author engagement and content production.
- Iterative Development: Implemented small batches principle and iterative design to minimize friction during the transition.
Project Management
- Utilized Jira for tracking deliverables and coordinating multiple teams.
- Implemented the 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX) methodology to set and track success baselines.
- Adopted a hybrid approach combining Agile, Scrum, and Lean methodologies, customized based on client and team feedback.
Results
The transformation yielded impressive results:
- Monthly traffic increased from 50,000 to 200,000 visitors
- Total stories grew from 12,000 to 20,000
- Brand partnerships expanded from 65 to 120
Client Collaboration
We maintained close collaboration with Nick Powills throughout the project:
- Regular communication through weekly calls, Loom videos, and live demos
- Transparent discussions about challenges and the importance of engineering improvements
- Quarterly milestone-based goals tracked in a dedicated sheet
Conclusion
The 1851 Franchise platform transformation demonstrates PearlThoughts’ expertise in modernizing complex systems. By implementing a strategic, incremental approach and leveraging cutting-edge technologies, we significantly improved the platform’s performance, scalability, and user experience. This project showcases our ability to deliver comprehensive digital transformations that drive tangible business results.
