Lets Work Together
As per the title page, I'm here to help you with a personal approach to your problem.
I'll go a bit further in depth about what makes me (and my workflows) stand out. Lets start with an inspiring quote:
Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability. - EW Dijkstra
Guarantees: I charge a lot, and I take advances. However, if I ever break the guarantees I have given you - you'll receive your money back, and I'll work pro-bono to hand over the existing progress to someone else of your choosing.
Beginning
I'll generally start most collaborations with a requirements gathering call. This is where we'll get to meet each other, see what you're looking for, and determine whether we're a match. I'm looking for your goals and motivations, your why. I'll respect your preferences on the how, but it's my priority to show you what hows are there, and which one I'd recommend for your business.
We might arrange a research deal for a few hundred to a thousand USD, where I'd deliver you all the project documentation to do with as you wish. All my documentation is done for wide usage and readability. I'll not swamp you with complex diagrams at the business level.
Guarantees: I will never use AI for communicating with you. I'll never have other interests than your own, without clear disclosure. All designs are purely your property.
Middle
My work is structured to be beyond reproach. There are a few methods I utilize to make that happen. You'll always know as much as I do through a combination of documentation, regular updates, and demo-able milestones. Every week you'll know what we've done, what we're doing, and what we'll be doing in the next.
We all know software is full of problems and issues, deliverables change, products pivot, etc. I cannot always
promise we'll hit every timeline and avoid all delays.
But I can promise the following:
- I promise you that I'll give it the full effort, no missing features and "fake" deliveries
- I promise you that I'll be honest with you, no sugarcoating or avoiding hard questions
- I promise you that I'll be responsive to you, you'll know how to reach me and will never sit in the dark
These apply to any people I bring onto the project, as well.
Guarantees: I am ready to financially guarantee these promises are upheld. Your project will not sit idle, you will be updated on any and all issues, and I'll keep communication channels open and attended.
End
I am not selling an endless "service" based workflow, where you'll need to keep paying me forever to just keep your service working. Products and software keep growing and evolving, but all work should have a point at which it can be called finished.
We'll work together on drafting and maintaining acceptance criteria. A simple set of steps, instructions to reproduce all the expected functionality. Automated (and semi-automated) tests will be in place to assert everything behaves as expected, on your real, living, software. You will never hear the excuse of "it works on my machine" used.
All software I produce comes with documentation, instructions, and a repeatable configuration written down. Organizationally, there will never be a situation in which I'm the only person holding the keys. And when it comes time to hand over those keys, the process will be done with confidence that the services are in good health.
Guarantees: I'll never be the only person with the keys to your project. A handover plan is always going to be available.
After?
I'll always include a period of time where I'll be available for questions after handing over the project. With the expectation being that the inheriting team shouldn't need me outside of emergencies.
I will always be available for questions and followup work. I build software to last, and I do not fear the cycles of technology. Depending on our arrangements, I could be checking in regularly.
Finally, there's a retainer agreement workflow I can provide. We can discuss that on fulfilment of any work, or as a self-standing offering. I'll gladly work with the team you've got to maintain our product, or even maintain it for you, if we can find common terms.
Guarantees: I'll be open for future cooperation, I won't leave you "holding the bag" if you need future assistance.