Approach
From a first message to something you use every day.
Five steps. You can stop after any of them, and after the second one you know the price.
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1
A conversation
Free · about 45 minutesYou describe the problem; I ask the awkward questions. By the end we both know whether this is worth building and whether I am the right person to build it. Sometimes the answer is a spreadsheet or an off-the-shelf tool, and I will say so — that is a cheaper hour for both of us than the alternative.
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2
Scope and a fixed price
About a weekI write down what is being built, what is explicitly not, and what it costs. One document, in plain language, no line item you have to ask me to translate. Large projects get cut into phases that each end in something usable rather than in a milestone invoice.
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3
Built in the open
The bulk of itWork goes to a staging site you can open whenever you like, and you get a short written update each week: what moved, what is next, anything that turned out differently than we thought. No demo day where a month of surprises arrives at once.
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4
Launch
A day or twoMigration of the real data, a rehearsal on staging with that data, and then the switch — at a moment that suits your week, not mine. Rolling back is a step in the plan and has been tried before it is needed.
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5
Afterwards
As long as it is usefulWarranty on what was agreed, then either a maintenance agreement or work as it comes up. Either way you keep the repository, the server access and a document explaining how the thing runs. Leaving has to be possible, or the rest of it was never really yours.
The questions I get asked
What does something like this cost?
A well-scoped application usually starts around €8,000 and a serious platform runs well past that. A rescue or a smaller integration is often a few days. You get a real number after the scoping step, before any commitment — I would rather lose the project at that point than halfway through it.
How long does it take?
Four to eight weeks for a first usable version of most applications, longer where money, compliance or a migration is involved. The first phase is deliberately sized to end in something you can put in front of a real user.
Do you take over an existing project?
Often, and it is some of the most useful work I do. It starts with an audit: what is here, what is risky, what would it take to make the next change safe. You get that in writing whether or not you continue with me.
Do you design as well, or do I need a designer?
I design the interface — this site is mine — and that is the right call for an application, where the design is mostly about making the work readable. For a brand identity or a marketing campaign you want a proper design studio, and I work alongside one happily.
Who owns the code?
You do, from the first commit, in your own repository. No per-seat licence on your own software and nothing that stops working if we part ways.
Do you work with WordPress?
Yes, where it fits — a content site or a straightforward WooCommerce shop is often best served by it, and I have maintained plenty. For an application with real business logic it is the wrong foundation, and I will tell you that before you have paid for it.
What languages do you work in?
Dutch and English, and I build applications in as many languages as your customers need — one of the projects here ships in Dutch, French and English throughout.
Have something that needs building?
Tell me what it is in a few lines. You get a real answer from me — whether I am the right fit, roughly what it would take, and what I would do first. No obligation and no sales sequence.
Taking on new work