Full Stack Engineering
I build web applications, SaaS platforms and startup MVPs — scoped at a fixed price, delivered in weekly increments, and written so another developer can pick them up later. 8+ years of experience, 200+ projects delivered.
Most failed software projects didn't fail in the code. They failed in the scope. We'll fix that part first.
30 minutes. You'll leave with a realistic scope, timeline and cost range.
The problem
Off-the-shelf software is the right answer most of the time. It stops being the right answer at a specific point — usually when your team has built a set of workarounds to make it fit, and those workarounds have become the actual process.
Signs you've reached that point
If you're pre-launch, the risk isn't building the wrong feature. It's building twelve features when three would have told you whether the idea works. Scope discipline is worth more than development speed at that stage.
Custom software is not always the right call. If an existing product covers 80% of what you need and the remaining 20% isn't costing you real money, buying beats building. I'll tell you on the call if that's your situation, and which product I'd look at.
Recognise your situation here? The scoping call shows whether building is the right call.
Book a Free Scoping Call →What I build
Five kinds of build. Most projects are one of these, occasionally two.
Internal systems built around how your business actually works: order management, job scheduling, inventory, client portals, approval workflows, reporting.
These replace the spreadsheet-plus-three-tools arrangement with one system that matches your process instead of forcing your process to match it.
Multi-tenant products with user accounts, subscription billing, role-based permissions, admin tooling and an API.
Built with the parts that are expensive to retrofit — tenancy, permissions, billing, audit trails — designed in from the start rather than bolted on at version two.
The smallest version of your product that can put a real answer in front of real users.
The work here is as much scoping as engineering: deciding what to leave out, and building the rest well enough that it isn't thrown away if the idea works.
REST and GraphQL APIs, third-party integrations, middleware connecting systems that were never designed to talk to each other, and data pipelines between them.
Taking over a build that stalled, a codebase whose original developer is gone, or a system that works but can't be safely changed any more.
Starts with an audit: what's salvageable, what has to be rewritten, and what the honest cost of each path is. Sometimes the answer is that rescuing costs more than rebuilding, and I'll say so.
Not sure which build type fits? That's what the scoping call is for.
Book a Free Scoping Call →Engagement models
Different projects need different arrangements. These are the four I offer.
| Model | Best for | How it's priced | Typical duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fixed-scope build | A defined product or system where the requirements are clear | Fixed price, milestone payments | 4–20 weeks |
| MVP sprint | Founders testing an idea with real users | Fixed price, fixed feature set | 4–8 weeks |
| Technical audit | Inherited code, a stalled project, or a system nobody can safely change | Fixed fee | 3–5 days |
| Ongoing partnership | Products that need continuous development after launch | Monthly retainer | Rolling, 30 days notice |
I quote fixed prices for defined scope because open-ended hourly billing puts the risk entirely on you. The trade-off is that scoping takes real effort up front, and genuine scope changes get quoted separately rather than absorbed quietly. That's the honest version of how fixed pricing works.
If you're unsure whether to rebuild or repair, start with the audit. It's a small, bounded commitment that produces a written recommendation — and it's a low-risk way to see how I work before committing to a build.
Process
Five stages. You see working software from week two, not at the end.
What you're trying to build, who uses it, and what it has to connect to. You leave with a realistic scope, a timeline range and a cost range — even if you take that to another developer.
I write the actual specification: user roles, core screens, data model, integrations, and what is explicitly out of scope for version one. This becomes the fixed-price proposal, and it's yours whether or not you proceed.
Two-week cycles, each ending in a demo of working software on a staging URL you can click through. You give feedback each cycle while changes are still cheap.
Testing across devices and browsers, load checks where relevant, security review, deployment setup and monitoring. Launch is planned, not a Friday-afternoon push.
Documentation, team training, repository access and a support window after launch. You can continue on a retainer or take it fully in-house.
You own the code, the repository, the infrastructure accounts and the documentation. If you want to move to another developer, everything needed to do that is already yours.
Proof
[Intro line — add once the case studies are confirmed]
[NUMBER: hours saved, users onboarded, processing volume, revenue enabled or cost removed]
[NUMBER: hours saved, users onboarded, processing volume, revenue enabled or cost removed]
"[Quote — ideally about the process rather than the product]"
Want to see what this looks like for your project? Start with a free scoping call.
Book a Free Scoping Call →Tech stack & architecture
The stack follows the project, not the other way around.
I default to Laravel or Node on the backend and React or Next.js on the front. Not because they're fashionable, but because they're widely known — which means you can hire for them, and you aren't dependent on one developer to maintain your own product.
If you already run a stack, I work in it rather than arguing for a rewrite.
AI belongs in an application when it removes real work — document handling, search, drafting, classification. It doesn't belong there because it's expected. I'll tell you which features in your brief genuinely benefit from it and which are better built conventionally.
FAQ
Most custom applications start from [PRICE], and MVPs from [PRICE]. The figure depends on how many user roles exist, how many systems it connects to, and how much of the logic is genuinely unique to your business. You get a fixed price after scoping, before any build begins.
An MVP typically takes 4 to 8 weeks, a custom business application 6 to 12 weeks, and a SaaS platform 10 to 20 weeks to first commercial release. Timelines are set during scoping and tracked in two-week sprints, so slippage is visible early rather than at the end.
Small adjustments inside an agreed scope are normal and absorbed. Genuinely new features get quoted as a change with their own price and timeline, and you decide whether to add them now or after launch. Nothing gets silently added or silently dropped.
You do, entirely. The repository, the infrastructure accounts, the documentation and the deployment setup are all yours from the start, not handed over at the end. You can take the project to another developer at any point without asking me for anything.
Yes, and it's a common request. I start with a fixed-fee audit of the existing code to establish what's salvageable and what isn't, then give you an honest recommendation. Sometimes that recommendation is to rebuild, and I'll explain why rather than quietly billing for a rescue that won't work.
That's the normal starting point. The scoping call and the specification stage exist precisely to turn an idea into something buildable. You don't need to arrive with wireframes or a feature list — you need to be able to explain the problem and who has it.
Yes. I build on widely-used frameworks specifically so you aren't dependent on one person, and every project ships with documentation and team training. You can keep me on a retainer or hand it to an in-house developer — both paths are supported by design.
Yes, though scope matters more there than anywhere else. If the budget is tight, the right move is usually a smaller MVP that tests the core assumption rather than a full build on a compressed timeline. I'll be direct on the call about whether your budget and scope actually match.
Book your scoping call
Book a free 30-minute scoping call. Bring an idea, a half-finished project, or a spreadsheet that's become a system. You'll leave with a realistic scope, timeline and cost range.
What you get from the call