Meet Rakesh
My name is Rakesh Nakrani, and I am the Founder of CodedThemes. I’ve been working in the digital products space since 2013, specializing in web templates, UI kits, and dashboard solutions. Over the years, I’ve gained extensive experience in designing and developing high-quality admin templates that cater to developers, businesses, and enterprises worldwide.
What inspired you to create CodedThemes?
In the early days, we focused on selling our web templates and admin dashboards through popular marketplaces like Envato and WrapBootstrap. While these platforms provided great exposure, the high commission fees and limited control over our products pushed us to explore an independent approach. That’s when the idea of CodedThemes was born. In August 2017, we officially launched our own store, allowing us to directly connect with our customers, offer better pricing, and provide superior support.
Can you give us an overview of the range of Bootstrap admin templates you offer?
At CodedThemes, we offer a variety of Bootstrap-based products, including Admin Dashboard Templates, UI Kits, and Landing Pages. Our templates are designed to be highly flexible and cater to different industries and use cases. We also provide free trial versions, allowing users to explore the features before purchasing the premium version.
What are some key features or design principles that set your admin templates apart from others in the market?
We focus on delivering unique and purpose-driven design principles in each of our admin templates. Some templates feature a modern and creative look, while others have a more professional and corporate feel. Our goal is to ensure that developers and designers can find the right fit for their projects, whether for personal use or client requirements. Additionally, we prioritize clean code, scalability, and seamless user experience to make development easier and more efficient.
How do you ensure that your templates are not only visually appealing but also functionally robust?
While UI is our top priority, we believe that a template without essential functionality is incomplete. We closely monitor market trends and user needs, gathering feedback from our customers to understand what features and functionalities are most valuable to them. This feedback-driven approach allows us to plan and implement practical, high-quality features that make our templates a reliable and robust choice for developers and businesses.
Do you provide any built-in customization options or components within your templates to ease user modifications?
Absolutely! We understand that developers often need to customize templates to fit their specific use cases. That’s why we offer easy customization options for layouts, colors, and typography, enabling users to make quick modifications effortlessly. Our detailed documentation and tutorial videos further assist users in making these changes.
Regarding components, they are the foundation of our templates. We build our solutions using top-tier component libraries like Bootstrap, Tailwind CSS, Material UI, and Angular Material. These libraries provide flexibility and ease of use, allowing users to modify components seamlessly while benefiting from strong community support.
How do you help new users get started with your templates, especially those with limited design or coding experience?
We recognize that not every user has extensive coding or design experience, and we strive to make onboarding as smooth as possible. To assist beginners, we provide a comprehensive quick-start guide, step-by-step tutorials, and reference libraries. Additionally, we offer a Seed version of our templates, which provides a minimal yet functional starting point. This approach ensures that both novice and experienced users can quickly set up and start using our templates with confidence.
In your view, how will emerging technologies like AI or automation affect design and development workflows?
That’s a great question! AI is booming everywhere, and we see new AI-powered tools emerging daily to help designers and developers streamline their workflows. In my opinion, AI is proving to be a valuable assistant for developers by aiding in tasks like writing efficient code, testing, providing suggestions, automating deployments, and even generating documentation. This allows developers to focus more on creativity and problem-solving rather than spending time on repetitive tasks.
For designers, tools like Canva and Webflow are making it easier to create landing pages and websites in a fraction of the time, significantly speeding up workflows. However, AI still learns from human input, which means it can make mistakes just as humans do—it improves as we refine it. When it comes to UI/UX design, which requires deep creativity and critical thinking, AI still has a long way to go before reaching human-level quality.
At CodedThemes, we integrate AI into our workflow for tasks like code debugging, content generation, and testing. However, most of our customers build highly customized dashboards for their projects and clients, and they don’t rely entirely on AI-based solutions. While AI can assist with boilerplates and plug-and-play functionalities, it cannot fully replace the need for tailored, high-quality templates.
So, in my view, AI is not here to replace designers and developers—it serves as a powerful helping hand, improving efficiency and productivity while leaving room for human expertise where it matters most.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs looking to enter the SaaS or digital asset market?
Focus on one idea at a time. Once you gain enough exposure and revenue, then consider expanding. In the early days, I experimented with multiple categories—WordPress themes, Webflow templates, landing pages, UI kits, and admin templates. But by spreading ourselves too thin, we couldn’t succeed effectively in any of them. Eventually, we realized our core strength and interest lay in admin templates, so we decided to focus solely on that category. This focus helped us refine our products, build expertise, and gain traction. Once we had a stable revenue stream and market presence, we expanded into other categories.
Another key factor is customer support and feedback. Support builds trust in your business, and feedback helps you improve your product. It’s a win-win situation—your customers get a better experience, and you gain valuable insights to make your product stronger.
Did you enjoy our interview? Do you have anything to say to our community?
Absolutely! I loved all your questions—they were insightful and truly valuable for anyone reading. After all, the community matters the most.
I also want to give a big shoutout to SaaSpirate! I’ve read many of your interviews with great entrepreneurs, and they always inspire me. They’ve motivated me to keep pushing forward and contributing to the community. Keep up the great work, guys!
Thank you for the interview!
