How a project goes, start to finish
Nine stages, though small jobs skip a few. At each one you'll know what you're doing, what I'm doing, and what you'll have at the end of it.
- Repository transferred to your GitHub organisation
- Admin logins in your password manager
- Domain registrar account in your name
- Hosting account in your name
- Deploy instructions (README)
- 2 more, all ticked
The handover checklist
- Code repository transferred to your account
- Admin logins stored in your password manager
- Domain registrar account in your name
- Hosting account in your name
- Third-party accounts (email sending, payments, APIs) in your name
- Deploy instructions in a README
- A data export tested, so you know you can get your data out
After final payment you own the custom code I write for you. Third-party and open-source parts stay under their own licences.
- Repository transferred to your GitHub organisation
- Admin logins in your password manager
- Domain registrar account in your name
- Hosting account in your name
- Deploy instructions (README)
- Data export tested
- 30-day fix window ends Nov 14
| Stage | You | Me | You get |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Inquiry | Fill in the project form, or call. | Read it properly, start to finish. | A reply from a person, with a few times for a call. |
| 2 · Intro call | 20 minutes. Bring the spreadsheet, a screenshot, whatever shows the problem. | Ask questions, and tell you straight if it's not a fit or if a cheaper tool would do. | A straight answer on whether I'm the right person, and what the next step costs. The call is free. |
| 3 · Discovery sprint (bigger builds) | Walk me through a real week, give me access to what exists, and answer questions over 5–8 business days. | Map the workflow, sketch the screens, outline the data, check every integration for risks. | A written scope, screen sketches, a fixed build price and a timeline. $1,500, credited in full if the build starts within 60 days. The documents are yours either way. Small jobs (a landing page, a 5–10 page site, a single automation) skip this and get a written quote by email. |
| 4 · Proposal and booking | Read it, ask about anything odd, sign it. | Send the 40% booking invoice and put your build on the calendar. | A start date. |
| 5 · Build | Look at the staging link, reply to questions, send content when it's due. | Build it, and send a short written update every Friday. | A working version you can click around in, early. |
| 6 · Midpoint review | Use it for real for an hour or two and tell me what's wrong. | Fix what's in scope, quote anything that isn't. Send the 40% midpoint invoice. | The chance to catch problems while they're cheap. |
| 7 · Launch | Final check, then go. | Deploy, hand over the repo, logins and docs, and send the final 20% invoice. | The system, live, in your accounts. |
| 8 · 30 days of fixes | Use it and report anything that breaks. | Fix bugs in my code at no charge. | Bugs in my code fixed at no charge. |
| 9 · After that (optional) | Decide whether you want someone on call. | Look after it under a care plan, or by the hour. | Updates, backups, monitoring and a person to email. Or nothing, if you'd rather. That's fine too. |
Changing your mind mid-build
It happens, and it's allowed. Tell me what you'd like changed, and I'll reply in writing with what it does to the price and the timeline. Nothing changes until you've said yes. Small things sometimes cost nothing; I'll tell you when that's the case.
What slows projects down
Rarely the code. Usually it's waiting: for feedback, for content, for someone to find the admin login to the old hosting account. Timelines are estimates, and they depend on content, feedback and access as much as on me. If I'm the one running late, you'll hear it from me first.