What we learned, written down.
Notes from the work: what broke, what it cost, and what we would do differently. No thought leadership, no reposted news.
Fixing an app without waiting for store review: what can change today, and what cannot
A mistake reached your customers' phones this morning. What can be fixed on the server straight away, what the App Store and Google Play allow as an over-the-air update, what still needs a new release, and how to make that release reach people quickly and safely.
Letting AI read invoices, forms and e-mails so nobody retypes them
AI can now read supplier invoices, forms and e-mails well enough to save hours of retyping. How to set it up so the system checks every number, a person sees only what needs attention, and nothing confidently wrong reaches your books.
Software subscriptions that go up every year: when your own system is cheaper, and when it is not
Every renewal costs a little more, and the idea of having your own system built starts to sound attractive. Five common beliefs about subscriptions versus your own software, what is actually true about each, and how to compare the two honestly with your own figures.
Your staff already paste company data into ChatGPT: what to do about it
Banning ChatGPT feels responsible and moves the problem where you cannot see it. What actually works for a small business: ask first, pay for one business account, a one-page rule, and the habit of taking names out before pasting.
Sign-up, booking and enquiry forms people actually finish
Most new customers reach a business through a form, and many give up halfway without anyone noticing. The same booking and enquiry form, side by side: how it is usually built, and how it looks when people actually finish it.
Updating the software inside devices that are already with your customers
If a fault turned up in your device's software tomorrow, how would you fix the units already with customers? The questions to answer before the first device ships, and what to do if they were not.
Your developer stopped answering: getting back your domain, hosting and code
When the person who built your site or app goes quiet, a business can be left without the keys to its own system. The order to work through it: find out what you own, secure the domain and e-mail, then hosting, code and every other account, without breaking anything on the way.
The internal tool that replaces the spreadsheet everyone is afraid to touch
The story of a planning workbook that quietly became the system a business runs on, how to tell when a spreadsheet has crossed that line, what a small internal tool should take over first, and when a tidier spreadsheet is the honest answer.
Showing what you make in 3D or VR: when it wins the work and when it is a gimmick
The mistake I see most often with 3D and VR is starting from the headset instead of the question a buyer cannot answer. Where 3D genuinely helps people decide, where it is a gimmick, and what I would build first.
Making two systems talk to each other: what an integration really involves
Six things people believe about connecting two business systems, and what is actually true: APIs, upkeep, data that means different things, silent failures, ready-made connectors, real time, and which system owns the truth.
An AI assistant that answers your customers: what it should do, and what it must never do
An AI assistant can answer your customers at midnight. It can also promise a refund you do not offer or confirm a booking that does not exist. The same assistant done badly and done well, side by side: what it says it is, what it knows, money, handover, bookings, personal details and tricks.
Knowing your system is down before your customers tell you
A booking page that fails on Saturday and is noticed on Monday. Why "the site is up" is not the same as "it is working", and the small set of checks that tell you, not your customers, when something stops.
When a desktop program still beats a web app
Most business software belongs in a browser, but not all of it. The questions that decide when a program people install is still the better tool: working offline, talking to equipment, large files, other programs on the machine, all-day use, and where the data may live.
Which manual work to automate first, and which to leave alone
The most common automation mistake is choosing the task that annoys people most instead of the one that costs most. Four questions that pick a good first candidate, how to count before you choose, what to leave with a person, and what an automation keeps costing after it is built.
What you should receive when a software project is handed over
A software project often ends with “everything is on the server”. What a proper handover contains: accounts in your name, the code and how to release it, app signing keys, secrets, your data, scheduled jobs, documentation and the known problems, and how to check it without being technical.
When a customer's AI assistant books with you: myths and what is actually true
AI assistants are starting to act for customers, and in October 2026 Meta and Sierra announced an open standard for how they should deal with businesses. Five common myths about it, what is actually true, and what a clinic, a school or a service company should do now.
Push notifications people don't switch off
Once someone switches an app's notifications off, they rarely switch them back on. The usual way of doing push notifications next to a better one: when to ask, what to say, when and how often to send, where the tap leads, and who may press send.
Tracking tools and equipment with Bluetooth tags: what a small company needs to decide
The mistake I see most often with equipment tracking is starting with the tag. What to decide first: which question you need answered, what listens for the tags, battery and range in real conditions, where the data goes, and when a tag is the wrong answer.
A training simulation instead of a manual: when a game is the right tool for a business
Few people learn a difficult task from a manual. When a training simulation, a 3D model or virtual reality is worth building, when it is not, and how to keep the first version small enough to be used.
One customer record instead of five spreadsheets: when a business needs its own CRM
Five things business owners believe about customer systems, what is actually true in each, the signs you have outgrown your spreadsheets, and how to decide between a ready-made tool, a tidy-up and a small system built for you.
An old PHP site that still makes money: how to move it forward without stopping it
The site works, it takes orders every day, and its PHP version is running out of support. How to move an old PHP site onto a supported version and improve it piece by piece, without a rewrite and without switching it off.
A backup you have never restored is a hope, not a backup
Backups fail quietly and are discovered on the worst possible day. What to back up besides the database, how often and where to keep it, the two business numbers that decide it, and how to test a restore so you know it works before you need it.
Testing the paths that earn money before your busiest week
The faults that hurt most in a busy week were there all along; the peak only makes them visible. What to test before your busiest week and how far ahead: rehearsing the money paths, failed payments, load, slow couriers, stock, e-mails, watching the right numbers, a change freeze, and a plan for when something breaks anyway.
What a design phase should give you before any code is written
A design phase is the cheapest place to be wrong. What you should have in your hands before the build starts: the tasks, every screen in its real states, components instead of pages, the real words, a prototype you have tried, and a handover anyone can build from.
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