I love doing consultancy work, because it’s an opportunity for me to solve new problems and widen my knowledge of the no-code ecosystem, which is ever-evolving and always challenging.
A few words about no-code
As part of my day-to-day job, I regularly build new tools (websites, SaaS, etc.).
Often, we aren’t sure whether we’ll keep those tools, but we know we need to build them fast, and that’s where no-code tools really shine.
No-code can be awesome, but it can be difficult to get right, too.
When you switch from code to no-code, and vice-versa, you’re not necessarily making things simpler, or better. You simply change tradeoffs. You aim for faster time to market, often in exchange for the scalability of the product.
Using no-code in a production environment is not less difficult than using code, it’s all about tradeoffs and priorities.
Even if you build all your product with no-code tools, you’ll still need a competent engineer to oversee things. Sure, things can quickly get done with no particular skills at all, but it usually doesn’t work well on the long run.
No-code makes it easier to get started, even if you don’t know anything about servers, databases, relationships, data types and so forth. But all those things still matter in the long run.
Interested about no-code? Read The 5 no-code most typical mistakes and how to avoid them
Motivations as a consultant and advisor
I love coding, and I love no-coding, too. In fact, I love building things while solving problems, while code and no-code tools only are a mean towards that end.
Coding gives a lot of freedom, something too much even. While no-code restrains us by the capabilities of the tools at our disposal, sometimes for the best!
Although, with less capabilities comes less choices to make, and it forces us to make things simpler and focus on the most important things, it’s not all bad.
Before using no-code, our product team was spending a lot more time on the design, especially on the user flows, colors, components, etc. Today, we don’t have a UX/UI designer anymore, and we don’t need one. We are being so limited by our no-code tools that a designer would feel useless, considering how little they can change within that limited system.
Is that a bad thing? Not always.
As I love solving issues, no-code brings me a way of solving issues much faster than it used to take. I love working with makers and lead them to better business decision using my deep understanding of no-code tools, and their hidden and ever-changing limitations.
How can I help you?
It usually starts with a quick introductory call to get to know each other and understand what kind of help is most adequate for your project.
Here is a non-exhaustive list of things I can help on:
Strategy and counseling
- Analyse any tool of your choosing to advise on whether they match your functional needs (”must haves”)
- Obviously, I’ll be most efficient with tools I am familiar with, but I can also quickly analyse other no-code tools
- Advise on how I would do things if I were in your shoes, and what limitations and workarounds need to be anticipated
- Act as a co-CTO for your company, this is a great option if you don’t have a dedicated CTO or other highly competent tech advisor on your side, as it is a must-have for reassuring investors when raising funds.
- This really depends on what you need and every case is very different.
Airtable
- Database design, applied to the UI/UX (Noloco, Stacker, etc.)
- Write custom formulas
- Go beyond the 25 automations limit (by splitting synchronous and asynchronous automations into multiple bases)
- Guidance about how/when to use Sync tables
- Configuring automated backups
- Building simple automations (Airtable, Zapier, Integromat)
- Building advanced automations (custom code, using Vercel/Next.js/Serverless)
I also love open-source, make sure to check out my curated list of Airtable formulas!
Stacker
- Provide a SDK within Stacker to access all the current user’s properties, to re-use them with any 3rd parties and other custom script quickly and easily
- Chat support with CRM, enhanced with user’s data, using Chatwoot (OSS, free plan)
- Analytics, enhanced with user’s data, using PostHog (OSS, free plan)
- Advanced analytics by tracking exactly what you want
- Display the avatar of the current user on the top-right corner
- Improving the UI/UX, with custom CSS and/or custom JS
- Translate the login/register pages, and action buttons
- Automate and reuse your custom JS script by providing a custom pipeline, using GitHub Actions and AWS
- Also helps avoid asking the Stacker support team to update your script, as everything gets updated automatically
- Configuring your custom domain
Video featuring a few things I can do on your Stacker app
Noloco
- Provide a SDK within Noloco to access all the current user’s properties, to re-use them with any 3rd parties and other custom script quickly and easily
- Chat support with CRM, enhanced with user’s data, using Chatwoot (OSS, free plan)
- Analytics, enhanced with user’s data, using PostHog (OSS, free plan)
- Advanced analytics by tracking exactly what you want
- Automate and reuse your custom JS script by providing a custom pipeline, using GitHub Actions and AWS
Pricing
I have a very flexible and simple pricing, as I charge by the hour. Typically, I estimate the time necessary for a mission and we define the maximal budget for each. If there is time left, it stays on your tab and you can use it later on.
I provide a platform where you can follow all missions that were realized and consult invoices.
I systematically write a follow-up after a mission, which can be used to give context of what was achieved to anyone else in your team, or to remind you (and me!) of what was done.
Security
All passwords, tokens and other sensitive information are systematically stored in a password manager.