Everything lives in spreadsheets and chat, and nobody has the whole picture.
You have outgrown the tools you started with, and the coordination is now somebody's full time job.
Custom business applicationsHow we start
You do not have to know what you need before you write to me
Most people arrive with a problem, not with a specification. Describing the problem is enough. Working out what should be built, and what should not, is the first part of the job, and it happens before anything is agreed.
What the first step looks like
You writein your own words
We talkfree, no obligation
You get it in writingscope, order, price
A clear problem, no idea of the solutionEnough
A half finished project from someone elseEnough
A written specificationHelpful, not required
A budget you have already decidedSay it early
One conversationto know whether I am the right person
In writingwhat I understood, what I propose, what it costs
Yoursthe code, the data and the accounts, from day one
Where you are
Which of these sounds like your week?
You do not have to pick correctly. This is only to save you reading six pages.
The same information gets retyped from one place into another, every day.
The work is not hard, it is repetitive, and it goes wrong exactly when everyone is busy.
Workflow automationTwo systems we already pay for do not talk to each other.
Somebody exports from one and imports into the other, and the two never quite agree.
System integrationOur website brings nobody, or there is not really one.
It exists, it looks acceptable, and it has never produced a single enquiry.
Web design and SEOIt works, but nobody knows how it was deployed or how to undo a change.
Every update is a manual sequence, done from memory, slightly differently each time.
Infrastructure and deploymentNobody looks at it until it has already stopped working.
You hear about downtime from a customer, and backups have never been restored.
Managed hosting and securityNone of them, or several at once? Write it in your own words. It is my job to work out which, not yours.
Already started, and stuck
A project someone else left unfinished
This is more common than anyone admits. You paid for something that was never delivered, the developer stopped replying, or it half works and nobody dares touch it. It is a normal situation to be in, and it is a normal thing to ask about.
- It was never finished, and you are not sure how far it got
- The person who built it is gone, and nothing was written down
- It runs, but every change breaks something else
- The accounts, the domain or the source code are not in your hands
It starts with an audit, not with a quote. Anyone who gives you a price before reading the code is guessing. You get the findings in writing whatever we decide afterwards, and if the honest answer is that it should be rebuilt rather than rescued, I will say so.
What gets checked firstTypical answer
Source code, complete and buildableOften partly
Accounts and domain, in your nameOften not
How it reaches the serverRarely written down
Backups, and a restore ever triedRarely
Dependencies, how far behindUsually far
Where the data lives, and who can read itWorth knowing
What happens next
From your first message to something in daily use
We talk
Free, and without obligation. You describe the problem. I tell you whether I am the right person for it.
You get it in writing
What I understood, what I would build, in what order, what it costs and how long it takes.
We build
You follow it at your own address and approve it on a real system, not on screenshots.
It goes live
Released to production once you have approved it, then watched closely for the first period.
Nothing is agreed until the price is in writing
Before any money changes hands
What you get for free, and where that stops
The conversation, and an opinionThe first conversation costs nothing, and neither does an honest opinion. That includes the case where the answer is that you do not need me, or that something you already pay for would do the job.
The proposalFor a small piece of work, the written proposal is free. For a larger system, the analysis that produces a fixed price is real work and it is a paid step. If we go ahead, it counts towards the project.
Arrived here with more than one system and no map? See architecture and audits
- A written summary of what I understood, so you can check I understood it.
- A scope with an order of work, not a single number with no explanation.
- An honest view of what should not be built, which is usually the more valuable half.
- A named person you deal with throughout, and it is me.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What does the first conversation cost?
Nothing, and there is no obligation afterwards. Thirty to forty five minutes is usually enough for both of us to know whether it makes sense to continue.
What if you are not the right person for my problem?
Then I will say so in that first conversation, rather than after you have paid for something. Where I can, I will point you towards what would actually solve it, including tools you could buy instead of building anything.
Fixed price or by the hour?
Fixed price, after the scope is agreed, so the figure does not move while the work runs. Small changes and ongoing support are the exception, and those are agreed separately.
What happens before you get into my systems?
Nothing, until a confidentiality agreement is signed, so who looks inside is written down rather than assumed. If you do not have one, I can provide a simple one. Access is where projects fail. When it still does not come, I turn the project down rather than promise a result I cannot stand behind.
What if my project was started by someone else?
That is a normal way to arrive here. It starts with an audit rather than a quote, because a price given without reading the code is a guess. You get the findings in writing whatever we decide afterwards.
Can you work with my own developers?
Yes. If you have a technical team, decisions are made with them and stay inside what they can maintain afterwards. If you do not, I make the recommendation and explain it in plain terms.
What do you need from me to get started?
An hour of your attention, and access to the people who actually do the work today. Not a specification. The specification is something we produce together.
How soon do I get something concrete?
Hours rather than weeks. The first written thing, what I understood and what I would build, usually comes back the same day, and within a few days if your setup is complicated. What I will not do is put a date on the build itself before I have looked at what is there.
How do people usually find you?
By referral, almost always. An accountant, a manager, a founder, or someone met at an event who put us in touch. There is no advertising behind it, which is also why the first conversation is a conversation and not a pitch.
How quickly can you start?
It depends on what is already running. Tell me your timing in the first conversation and you will get an honest answer, including when the honest answer is that you should not wait for me.
Describe the problem. That is enough to start.
You will get an honest answer, in writing, before anything is agreed.