A Letter; For You
Some promises are required to be set in stone, or in an online newsletter...
So today’s digest is a bit different. It is not a regular one, but perhaps it may teach you a thing or two about doing business.
Because for the first time ever, I am sharing a bit of BTS behind something I am working on. A business, I can call my own.
It’s long ways from launch, but I wanted to work on the vision I stand on.
So I did it the best way I know, by writing a letter. To someone who might be interested.
Someone looking for good software development.
Someone looking for their issues solved, and voice heard.
As and if you read this, I would love to see your feedback, or your appreciation - as this is close to my heart, and something I have been working on for many years. I am on a mission - to say the least.
So without further ado,
Hey friend (ok maybe not yet),
Let’s get rid of the fancy design, complex animations, and a loaded landing page - let’s have a heart to heart - allow me to have 5 minutes of yours.
My name is Saqib, I am someone who has delivered over a hundred projects in the software development industry.
I have delivered software :-
to small solo founders, to large enterprises
with 2 man teams, with teams of 20 people
under small dev shops, under large boutique agencies
in every main industry, on every popular tech stack
And sometimes 50,000 USD was enough to get results
And at times a million USD spend won’t move the needle
So I set out to maximize impact, cut out the BS.
See, the thing is, software delivery has become too popular, and with popularity comes bad practices. The industry is full of it. And I wanted to do delivery in a way thats better.
Over my experience, and experience of those working with me - I have identified the key issues that require attention.
Issues that if you’ve worked with outsourced dev, you must have faced. In order to nudge this industry back into the right direction, we need to talk about them.
Here’s what the industry currently does -
They claim they do everything, but in reality, they don’t. Only hiring the required skill set when your money is already through the door. Most agencies (especially big ones) these days, work with extended white label agencies.
They rush to lock in the scope to get the project kickoff payment, only to send obtuse change requests your way when the slightest creep happens. Change requests run their bottom line.
They are in a rush to close your project, because the expensive support contract is what generates ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) for them. A support contract that only supports your dev, not your business.
They build your app on weak foundations, selling the promise of an MVP in 30 days, when you will be stuck fixing it for 365+ days. No code/low code is not the way of scalable tech, it only validates your idea - not your business.
They lock you into their proprietary frameworks, and tech, and hosting. Using smoke and mirrors to not actually let you own anything. When the day comes, you decide to move away, you are left without any options.
They waste your time, with processes that don’t make sense, meetings that are too long, documentation that is too hard to understand, and approvals that are forced down on you - adding to the ‘quality of the experience’ in their opinion.
They take on more than they can chew, you are the hot new client today and yesterday’s news tomorrow. Because what was assigned to you, is now assigned to someone else. Leaving you in a place of disarray.
And lastly
They just care about building the tech, not running your business. Most dev shops won’t have the necessary experience to help you build ‘and launch’. They lack any and all services to support you as a business partner, they are just your outsourced dev.
So what am I gonna do about all this?
Well I want to fix all this, and it will take time, but work with me.
I’ve run discovery sessions all my career, so I know how much scope is necessary to lock in vs keep open - I want to get you started as soon as possible ‘with room for adjustment’ later on. I don’t want to claim to do every tech stack in the world, I only want to focus on the ones that build the solution - fastest for you, scalable for future. I don’t want to rush closure on your project, I want to guide you as to why we need to be where we need to be.
Because at the end of the day, I don’t just want to offer dev to you, I want to offer a business partnership to you - built on trust, and transparency.
Heck we are even figuring out a way to show everyone how many clients we take on - because we don’t want you to be just another number on a board.
So am I claiming all agencies are bad? Heck no!
Bad clients have their fair share in each of the issues I have lined above.
But what I am claiming is transparency. I want to guide you to a better future of outsourced software development. Built on strong foundations.
Take a chance on us - because we want to set standards, and stand for them.
P.S My inbox is open to all, reach out to me here.
With or without my help – I wish you the best.
Saqib Tahir