Interview With ThemeFuse WordPress Theme Store

1. When and how was ThemeFuse created?

We started Themefuse almost 2 and a half years ago, when the WordPress themes industry was very different place. Back then, we didn’t have our own WordPress themes shop, but only posted our themes on specialized marketplaces, like Themeforest. We did very well there, but we always felt that we wanted more – our own place where we could really express our creativity. So we launched our own shop, Themefuse.com.

2. How many people currently work at ThemeFuse?

Currently, our team has 12 members, which might seem fairly big for a start-up, but we’re trying to keep this number as small as possible. We don’t want to grow our team only for the sake of “bigger is better” philosophy. We feel that, sometimes, keeping the team rather small is the right thing to do. We hire people only when the situation really commends it, and we like the fact that in smaller teams everyone feels like one big family.

3. Does Themefuse actually run on WordPress? Why or why not?

Yes, of-course we use WordPress for our website. It’s perfectly suited for everything we need and it’s what we know best. So this was the obvious choice for us. Plus, more and more websites from all industries (not only blogs) are starting to use WordPress as their base, making it the most used CMS out there – so this says a lot of WordPress security, features and expandability.

4. What are your top 3 selling themes?

The top 3 selling themes for us are:

1. Welcome Inn, a WP theme for Hotels, Motels or B&Bs

2. Medica, a template for doctors, dentists, and medical staff

3. Envision, a WordPress theme for businesses, corporate, Internet start-ups.

5. There are constantly new features being added to WordPress. Do you always try and integrate new features into your themes, please provide an example?

We always try to update our themes for the latest WordPress version as soon as possible, so our themes will support right away the new features Automatic brings every time they add something. Also, when speaking of new features that arise in the WordPress industry or web design in general, like Shortcodes or Responsive WD, we like to add them pretty fast to our themes but only if it really adds value to them. So, usually we try to analyze the idea before jumping head first into an important development cycle. Sometimes, adding features too fast means you spend a lot of time working on things that are not yet proven to be really worth it, past the initial hype, as users won’t use them in the long run.

6. So what’s next? Any sneak peaks you can give our readers?

We are currently working on a Club Membership feature for our theme store, which will make our regular clients very happy, allowing them to pay only a few dollars per month for full access to our themes library. This update to our website will also bring lots of new great features for our users – be it clients, affiliates or just visitors. Coming very soon!

Also, next up for release is our most complex theme to date – HomeQuest Real Estate. This theme was designed specially for the real estate industry, with many cool features that will make realtors’ life very easy when promoting their properties. We really believe that this type of project, with the features and options we’re baking in, hasn’t been done before in the WordPress themes industry. Yes, it’s really that good… [You can see some sneak peaks on Dribbble]

7. There are A LOT of theme stores out there, what makes you stand out and why should people choose your theme’s over others?

Themefuse is all about original designs and niche ideas. For example, we try to cover niche templates like Hotels, Coffee Shops, Medical, Sports Magazines or Lawyer Offices themes instead of doing the same run-of-the-meal generic templates you see on many competing shops.

The problem with generic themes is that, although powerful and versatile, they won’t attract buyers at first sight because they don’t look anything like what the client wants or expects to see. But when people look at our niche themes, they already see their future website there, because our templates are designed and developed for the exact needs of those customers in that industry.

8. Do you have any tips/advice for other people who want to open their own theme store?

Yes, just one: DON’T. Joking aside, this industry is getting crowded really fast and if you don’t have the enthusiasm and knowledge to create something that leaves all other theme shops out in the dust, then it’s probably not worth it.

9. Any other thoughts or things you wish to mention?

Just wanted to say hi to WPExplorer readers and fans out there. Keep using WordPress, guys! Cheers!

Check out ThemeFuse

If you haven’t visited their site yet you might want to head on over to Themefuse and see all the great themes they have to offer, who knows, maybe you will find your “dream theme”. Enjoy!