Most small-business websites stop working the moment the developer disappears.
I build the kind that don't — custom websites and practical automation for small businesses.
Email sandeep@sandeepgill.devYou've probably been here before. The site went up, it looked fine for a few months, then it quietly broke. The person who built it stopped returning emails. You can't update it without paying someone. The contact form silently stopped delivering, and you only found out when a customer called the number on your business card instead.
Most small-business websites fail because no one owns them after launch.
Case study — Pointer Mountain Bird Dogs
Started as a brochure site. Grew into the system that runs the business.
What it does for the owner
- Updates in minutes, not days. The owner posts new puppies, photos, listings, and announcements without touching code or paying a developer.
- Inquiries actually arrive. The contact form is hardened against spam and abuse, with delivery confirmation. No more "did anyone get my message?"
- Built directly, not on a platform. No Squarespace lock-in, no monthly fee that creeps up every year, no template that ten thousand other kennels are also using.
- Documents and FAQ in one place. Health guarantees, transport details, training guides — visitors find them without emailing.
Reliability you don't have to manage
The infrastructure underneath is what most freelancers don't bother with. Worth knowing what's there:
- Every change is tested before it goes live. Seventy-eight automated checks run on every deploy — security, configuration, common breakage. The site doesn't go down because someone fat-fingered an update.
- Backups that actually work. Nightly backups to off-site storage, automatically. If something breaks, your data can be restored — not lost, not held hostage by a hosting company.
- Restore drills, not just backups. Periodically I prove the backups can actually be restored to a fresh server. Backups that exist but can't be restored are worse than no backups, because they're a lie.
- One-click deploys with safety rails. Pre-flight checks, automatic database snapshot, post-deploy health verification. Updates ship in minutes — without holding my breath.
- Hardened against the abuse small sites attract. File-upload validation, rate limiting, security headers. None of which the owner has to think about.
What I build
Most projects fall into one of these:
Websites
The foundation your business runs on.
- A fast, professional site that makes your case clearly. Brochure tier — small, focused, gets out of the way.
- The same site, but you update it yourself. CMS-backed — admin panel for content edits in minutes, no developer needed.
- The system your business actually runs on. Full-stack web app — logins, payments, scheduling, inventory, whatever it takes.
- Someone who keeps it running. Maintenance retainer — small improvements, fast answers, no ghosting after launch.
Automation & AI tools
What handles the manual work, so you don't.
- Answer common questions and capture leads automatically. Site chatbot — handles FAQ, hands off to you when it can't.
- Inbox triage that actually drafts replies. Flags what's urgent, surfaces what needs you, ignores the rest.
- Searchable answers from your own documents. Document Q&A — for your team, or for your customers.
- Multi-step workflows that use your real tools. Bespoke agentic automation — calendar, CRM, inventory — not just "ask ChatGPT."
No public pricing. Every project is quoted directly after a conversation about what you actually need. Some are a few thousand dollars; some are larger. Most are smaller than people expect.
About
I'm Sandeep. For over 20 years, I've built and run systems that had to work every day — the kind people depend on without thinking about it.
Now I bring that same level of ownership to the software I build for small businesses.
No agency layer, no junior handoff, no salesperson promising things they don't understand.
I build everything myself. The person you email is the person designing and writing the system — which means fewer handoffs, fewer misunderstandings, and software that actually fits how your business runs. It's also why I take on a small number of projects at a time.
I use AI where it's useful — answering customer questions, handling routine work, surfacing what needs attention. Not as a feature to sell, but as a way to save you time or avoid missed opportunities. Where it helps, it's built in. Where it doesn't, it stays out.
Get in touch
Email me with three things: what you have today (a website, or no website), what's frustrating you about it, and what you want to improve. I read every one. Most replies go out the same day.
sandeep@sandeepgill.devOr find me on LinkedIn.