Smylyx  /  How we work

Understand deeply.
Build the smallest thing.

A deliberately short path from first conversation to working software — with the thinking done before the budget is spent, not after.

The engagement

Five steps.

01

Conversation

Free · 30–45 minutes

We talk about the problem before anyone talks about a solution. You will get an honest read on whether this is something we can help with — and if it is not, a straight pointer towards what would.

02

Written proposal

Within 3 working days

A short document setting out what we understand the problem to be, what we would do, what you receive, what it costs, and what is explicitly out of scope. Fixed fee wherever the work can responsibly be fixed.

03

Discovery

Typically 1–2 weeks

Interviews, systems review and evidence gathering. This is where assumptions get tested. If discovery changes the answer, we say so and re-plan before spending your budget on the wrong thing.

04

Delivery

Scoped per engagement

Work happens in short cycles with something reviewable at the end of each one. You always know what has been done, what is next, and where the budget stands. No status theatre.

05

Handover

Built into every engagement

Documentation, source, credentials and a walkthrough — written so your team, or your next supplier, can pick it up without us. Independence is the deliverable, not a retention risk.

Principles

What you can rely on.

Every engagement is led and delivered by the founder. There is no account manager between you and the person doing the work, and no delivery team you have not met.

Scope and price are agreed in writing before anything starts, together with an explicit list of what is not included — because that is the list that prevents arguments in month three.

You own what we produce. Source code, documentation and credentials are handed over as a matter of course, written so that your team or your next supplier can pick the work up without us.

Boundaries

What we won’t do.

  • Take a commission or kickback from any vendor we recommend.
  • Staff an engagement with people you have not met.
  • Bill for a discovery phase that tells you what you already knew.
  • Recommend a custom build where a mature product would do.
  • Hold your source code, data or credentials hostage.

Commercials

Clear pricing, in plain terms.

Fixed fee by default

Wherever the work can responsibly be fixed, it is — which puts the risk of a bad estimate on us rather than on you. The number in the proposal is the number on the invoice.

Day rate where it genuinely fits

Ongoing advisory work, and work whose shape truly cannot be known up front, is billed against an agreed day rate with a capped monthly ceiling so there are no surprises.

Free consultation
30–45 minutes
Proposal turnaround
3 working days
Typical discovery
1–2 weeks
Invoice terms
14 days
Vendor commissions
None, ever
IP on full payment
Yours

Ready when you are

Tell us about your project and we’ll set up a free consultation.