top of page

1851 Franchise Platform Transformation

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.

bottom of page