What working together
actually looks like.
A walk-through from your first email to a helper on your computer. No surprises, no hidden steps, nothing asked of you that you would not expect.
Most builders do not describe their process in writing before you hire them. Then on day one you are surprised by a Zoom link, or a slab of paperwork, or a request for access to things you did not plan to share. None of that is here.
Below is what actually happens, week by week, if you and I work together. Read it top to bottom, then decide whether this is the kind of process you want.
The first email.
You email. I read it the same day. I reply within one working day with one of three things:
- A short set of questions about your business, if I need more to know whether I can help.
- An honest “you do not need me, try this instead” if the thing you want is simpler than a build.
- A suggested first call, if it looks like a good fit.
No automated response. No drip sequence. No calendar link in the first reply. If I send you to my calendar, it is because we already agreed to talk.
The first call, and a written proposal.
Half an hour. Video or audio, your choice. Nothing to prepare — but if you have ten minutes, send me the workflow description template. I use it to run the call.
During the call we cover:
- How your business runs today, in your words.
- The one task you would most like to hand over first.
- What I would build, in plain English, and why.
- A rough price and a rough timeline.
- What you would do in the first two weeks if we went ahead.
By the end of that week you have a written proposal from me. One page. Fixed price, fixed scope, timeline, what is included, what is not. If you want changes, you tell me. If you want to walk away, you walk away. Nothing has cost you anything yet except your time.
The build.
I go away and build the thing. During these two weeks:
- You will get a short update email from me around day three. What is working, what is not, any decision I need from you.
- Around day seven you will see a first working version, running on a test copy of your data if you have given me one. Not final. Ugly in places. But real.
- You tell me what is wrong. I adjust.
- By the end of week three you have the finished helper on your own computer, not a demo.
I do not disappear for three weeks and hand you a surprise. I do not schedule six meetings. I send short written updates. Read them when you have five minutes.
Handover.
A short final call if you want one, or a written walk-through if you do not. You get:
- The working helper, installed on your machine or browser.
- A one-page note in your own words on how to use it.
- All the code, in a place you own, that you can hand to another builder.
- An invoice for the agreed fixed price, nothing more.
I leave you alone. You use the helper for a month. If it works, you tell me. If something is off, you tell me.
What happens next is up to you.
Three honest options:
Nothing. You own the helper. You keep using it. You do not hear from me unless you write. This is what most clients do for the first few months.
A second build. Once you have used the first one for a few weeks, you usually know what to ask for next. We start again from the top of this document.
A small monthly retainer. Optional. For businesses that change often and want tweaks on tap. Low commitment, month to month, one month’s notice to end.
That is the whole thing.
No secret step. No moment where I spring a contract on you. No introductory discovery-audit-diagnosis fee before the real fee. The proposal, the build, the handover, and then I leave you alone unless you write.
If this is the process you want, the first step is an email.