I build the steps your business still does by hand every week.

I look at what happens several times a week in your business and rebuild those steps so they run without you.

What I build.

It almost always starts with a process that runs by hand every week. I build what hangs off it too, which is why this list doesn’t stop at automation.

Processes: The usual case. A task that repeats every week and follows fixed rules runs without you afterward: orders from the inbox into your inventory system, the twelve almost identical invoices at the end of the month, the appointment someone keeps in the calendar and again on the whiteboard.
Web applications: When the process is missing the piece everything else hangs on. A member portal instead of a spreadsheet and a WhatsApp group. An order overview where your customer checks status and invoice for themselves instead of calling. A menu behind a QR code, changed in thirty seconds, no reprint. A hiring portal where applications get sorted and commented on, instead of 40 emails sitting in the inbox.
Websites: I still build these, on their own too. Usually with a CMS behind them: write posts, change text, swap images, without asking a developer every time. And if a website is all you need, with no process behind it, that’s an ordinary job, not a special case.
Small programs: Sometimes the answer isn’t an application but a tool that does one single thing: convert a file, prepare an export, reconcile two lists. If that solves it, I build that and nothing more.

With what’s already there, for example:

DATEV
Gmail
Google Sheets
WhatsApp
Nextcloud
Outlook
Excel

Where AI helps in a process, and where it doesn’t

An example: the project for Pete Smith

Do you look after businesses yourself? For service providers

Where the solution runs.

The finished process runs on an environment from SW labs, set up, maintained and kept current. You don’t have to deal with it. If you have a server of your own or would rather rent one, it runs there just as well. What applies in your case is settled before we build, and it’s in the proposal.

What a process costs, and what comes on top each month

The four steps, from the first call to operation

When it doesn’t pay off.

Not every process is a fit, and not every business needs me for it. Five cases where I’ll talk you out of it in the first call. Then you’ve spent 45 minutes and not placed a job.

Too rare: A process that comes up twice a year is done faster by hand than with a program that needs maintaining. It isn’t the length that counts but how often times how long. Five minutes a day is twenty hours a year. Three hours a quarter is twelve.
Different every time: If someone has to look and decide every time, there’s nothing to automate. What’s left is the groundwork: gathering everything so the decision takes a minute instead of ten. That alone is often half the gain.
Still on paper: No program can read what’s on a notepad at the counter. Then another project comes first, with its own work and its own price. Annoying, but you’d rather hear it now than in week three.
Nothing gets out: Some programs hand over their data willingly. Older ones stonewall. Whether yours has a way out is something I check before I name a price. Days hang on it, sometimes weeks.
Someone’s already on it: If you already work with an IT provider, the automation sensibly belongs with them. Whoever already looks after your programs can get to them faster than I can. Ask them first.

What businesses want to know up front.

Do I have to switch my programs for this?

Usually not. I build around what you already run. If a program can’t be reached at all, I say so. Switching is then your call, not mine.

Where is my data stored?

Usually on an environment run by SW labs. I set it up, keep it current and look after it so you don’t have to. If you have your own server or would rather rent one, it runs there just as well. What applies in your case is settled before we build, and it’s in the proposal.

You’re one person. What happens if you’re out?

That question has to come up, and it’s a fair one. What I build is made of components you’ll find everywhere, it’s written down and it can be moved somewhere else. Another developer can pick it up without starting over. I run it, and if you want to take it over yourself, I hand everything over and I’m out after that. You’re not tied to SW labs to keep it running. That’s on purpose.

Do you also work outside the region?

Yes. I’m based in Aschaffenburg. That’s not a requirement.

Can I recommend you to someone?

Please do. The easiest way is to pass on this site or my email address. There’s no referral bonus, but you’ll have my thanks.

Getting started is simple.

I listen, and I tell you whether anything can be done about it. Sometimes the answer is no. Then you know after 45 minutes, not after the job.

Book a 45-minute call