Non Compete Clauses in Consulting Contracts: What I Will and Will Not Sign
Nearly every consulting contract I am sent now has a non compete clause buried somewhere in the small print. Here is what a reasonable one looks like, and why I am happy to walk away from a badly drafted one.
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Model Driven Apps vs Canvas Apps: Which One Do You Actually Need
Almost every Power Platform project I get called into has already picked the wrong app type before I turn up. Here is the question that actually decides it, and the mistake that costs teams months of rework.
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Idempotency Keys: A Practical Guide for Small SaaS Teams
Duplicate charges and double bookings usually trace back to one missing thing. Here is how idempotency keys actually work, where small teams get caught out, and how I build them in now rather than after the support tickets start.
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Motorhome Finance Explained: PCP vs Hire Purchase vs Cash
Every dealer will happily sort you a finance deal before you have even finished the test drive. Here is how PCP, hire purchase and cash actually compare, where PCP catches people out, and what I would choose today.
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Business Rates Revaluation 2026: What Small Businesses Need to Know
The 2026 revaluation is landing on small businesses with physical premises, and the relief system has not kept up. Here is what changed, why the appeals process fails the people it should help, and what I did instead.
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Scope Creep: How to Stop It Wrecking Your Freelance Projects
A fixed price project agreed in good faith can quietly turn into twice the work for the same fee. Here is how scope creep actually happens, and the habits that stop it eating your margin.
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API Versioning: A Practical Guide for Small SaaS Teams
Breaking your API every time you change something is not a strategy. Here is how I actually handle API versioning for small SaaS teams, without inventing a problem you do not have yet.
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Debugging Dynamics 365 Plugins: The Tools That Actually Save You Time
Most developers debug plugins by guessing and redeploying. Here is the toolkit I actually reach for, and the order that stops it wasting a whole day.
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Motorhome Security: How to Stop Yours Being Stolen
Motorhome theft in the UK is organised and growing. Here is what actually stops yours being stolen, based on what I use on my own van.
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Motorhome Payload Explained: Why Your Van Might Already Be Overweight
MTPLM, MIRO and user payload catch out most new owners. Here is how it all actually works, and why so many motorhomes are overweight before the owner has even packed a bag.
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Buying a Motorhome Privately or From a Dealer: What Actually Matters
I have bought a motorhome both ways now. Here is the honest breakdown of what you gain, what you risk, and the checks that matter whichever route you choose.
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Motorhome Weight Limits Explained: MAM, Payload and Why It Matters
Motorhome weight limits catch out more owners than any other rule on the road. Here is what MAM and payload actually mean, and how to stay legal.
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UK Late Payment Rules 2026: What They Actually Mean for Small Suppliers
New UK late payment rules promise a 60 day cap and mandatory interest for 2026. Here is what they actually mean for small tech suppliers, and why I am not celebrating just yet.
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Dynamics 365 Business Process Flows: When to Use Them (And When Not To)
Business process flows can guide users or slow them down, depending on how they are built. Here is how I decide when one actually helps, and when it just becomes another bar users learn to ignore.
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When to Fire a Client: A Small Business Owner's Honest Guide
Firing a client feels like failure, but keeping the wrong one costs more than the revenue is worth. Here is how I actually decide, and how to do it properly.
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Caching: A Practical Guide for Small SaaS Teams
Caching can make your SaaS product feel instant, or quietly serve the wrong data to the wrong customer. Here is how I actually approach it for small teams.
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Umbrella Company Tax Rules 2026: What Small Tech Businesses Need to Know
Since April 2026 the tax bill for umbrella company mistakes sits with the agency or the client, not the umbrella. Here is what that actually means for small tech businesses.
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Motorhome Breakdown Cover: What You Actually Need
Motorhome breakdown cover is not optional, but most policies are wrong for the vehicle you actually own. Here is what to check before you renew.
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Cofounder Equity Split: How to Actually Divide Startup Equity
A fair cofounder equity split is not fifty fifty by default. Here is the framework I actually use to divide startup equity without wrecking the friendship.
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Webhooks: A Practical Guide for Small SaaS Teams
Webhooks look simple until they break in production. Here is how I actually design them, from signing payloads to handling retries and replays.
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The Real Cost of a UK Skilled Worker Visa for a Small Tech Business
Sponsoring a developer's visa sounds simple until you see the bill. Here is what it actually costs a small UK tech business, and why it prices us out.
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Dynamics 365 Power BI Integration: A Practical Guide
Native Dynamics 365 reports fall apart fast. Here is how I actually set up Power BI integration so reporting does not become its own project.
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Winter Motorhome Touring in the UK: What Actually Works
Motorhome touring does not have to stop when summer ends. What actually works for winter touring in the UK, from condensation to campsites that stay open.
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How to Prioritise Features When You Are Bootstrapping a SaaS Product
Every bootstrapped SaaS founder has a backlog longer than their runway. Here is the framework I actually use across four businesses to decide what gets built next.
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The Growth and Skills Levy: What It Means for Small Tech Businesses
The Growth and Skills Levy is meant to fix training funding for small business. Here is why it still will not help most small tech firms hire or upskill.
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SaaS Authentication: Should You Build It or Buy It In?
Should you build your own authentication or buy in Auth0, Clerk or Azure AD B2C? Here is how I actually decide for the SaaS products I build.
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Data (Use and Access) Act: What UK SaaS Founders Actually Need to Know
The Data (Use and Access) Act changes UK data law for the first time since GDPR. Here is what small SaaS founders actually need to change.
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Dynamics 365 Environment Strategy: How Many Sandboxes Do You Actually Need
Most Dynamics 365 projects get their environment strategy wrong before a user logs in. Here is the sandbox setup I actually use as a technical architect.
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Motorhome Low Emission Zones in Europe: The Stickers You Actually Need
Crit'Air, Umweltplakette, ULEZ. Here is what every motorhome owner actually needs to know about low emission zones before driving in Europe.
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Founder Salary: How Much to Actually Pay Yourself in a Bootstrapped Business
How much should you pay yourself running a bootstrapped business? Here is the founder salary approach I actually use across four self funded companies.
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Database Migrations Without Downtime: A Practical Guide
Database migrations without downtime are not about clever tooling. Here is the expand and contract process I actually use to ship schema changes safely.
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Dynamics 365 Testing Strategy: How to Test Customisations Properly
Most Dynamics 365 teams call something tested if it worked once for the person who built it. Here is a testing approach that actually catches problems before your users do.
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Motorhome Habitation Checks: What They Actually Cover and Why You Need One
A motorhome habitation check is not the same as an MOT and skipping one can cost you a lot more than the fee. Here is what it actually covers, and why I book one every year without fail.
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Monitoring and Alerting for Small SaaS Teams: What Actually Matters
Most small SaaS teams either ignore monitoring until something breaks or drown in alerts nobody reads. Here is the setup that actually works.
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How to Build an MVP in 28 Days
Most founders spend six months building an MVP that should take four weeks. Here is the process I actually use to go from idea to launched product.
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The Real Cost of the Employer National Insurance Rise for Small Tech Businesses
Employer National Insurance went up in April 2025 and the threshold dropped too. Here is what that actually costs a small UK software business per hire.
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Dynamics 365 Performance Problems: The Real Causes and How to Fix Them
Dynamics 365 running slow is rarely a Microsoft problem. Here are the real causes of poor Dataverse performance and how to actually fix them.
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Cash Flow Management for Bootstrapped SaaS Founders
Cash flow, not revenue, is what kills bootstrapped SaaS businesses. Here is how I actually manage it across four self funded companies.
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How to Choose a Database for Your SaaS Startup
Picking a database causes more founder paralysis than it should. Here is the framework I actually use, after shipping four SaaS products.
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Motorhome Insurance in the UK: What You Actually Need to Cover
Motorhome insurance in the UK is full of gaps most owners never spot until it is too late. Here is what I actually cover and why, after two vans and one proper claim.
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R&D Tax Credits for Software Companies: What HMRC's Crackdown Actually Means
HMRC's crackdown on R&D tax credit fraud is catching genuine software businesses in the net. Here is what actually qualifies and how to claim without trouble.
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Feature Flags for Small Dev Teams: A Practical Guide
Feature flags let small dev teams ship without fear, but most guides are written for companies with a platform team. Here is how I actually use them.
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Power Automate vs Plugins in Dynamics 365: How to Actually Choose
Should that Dynamics 365 automation be a plugin or a Power Automate flow? Here is the decision framework I actually use as a technical architect.
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Why UK Government IT Procurement Locks Out Small Tech Suppliers
UK government IT procurement is meant to help small suppliers win public sector work. In practice it locks them out. Here is why, with real examples.
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How to Compete With VC-Funded Startups When You Are Bootstrapped
Competing with VC funded startups as a bootstrapped founder feels impossible until you stop trying to win their game. Here is what actually works.
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Is a Motorhome a Good Investment? The Honest Answer
Is a motorhome a good investment? As someone who has owned two, here is the honest answer on depreciation, running costs and when it actually makes sense.
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Dynamics 365 Service Protection Limits: Why Your Integration Keeps Getting Throttled
Getting 429 errors from Dataverse? Here is what Dynamics 365 service protection limits actually are and how to design integrations that do not hit them.
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API Rate Limiting: A Practical Guide for Small SaaS Teams
Most small SaaS teams get API rate limiting wrong by either ignoring it or over engineering it. Here is the practical approach I actually use.
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Companies House ID Verification: What Every Director Needs to Know
Companies House ID verification for directors is now rolling out under the Economic Crime Act. Here is what it actually involves and who needs to act first.
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Do You Need a C1 Licence to Drive a Motorhome in the UK?
Confused about motorhome licence rules in the UK? Here is what your car licence covers, when you need a C1, and the mistake that catches new owners out.
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When to Sell Your SaaS Business (And When to Keep Building)
Should you sell your SaaS business or keep building? Here is the honest framework I use, built from bootstrapping four businesses over 17 years.
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Dynamics 365 ALM: A Practical Guide to Solution Management
Most Dynamics 365 projects fall apart in the gap between environments, not the design. Here is how to manage ALM and solutions without a DevOps team.
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CI/CD Pipelines for Small Teams: What Actually Matters
Most small teams either skip CI/CD entirely or build a pipeline meant for a hundred engineers. Here is what actually matters when it is just you and a few others.
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Employment Rights Act 2025: What It Actually Means for Small Business Hiring
The unfair dismissal qualifying period drops to six months from January 2027. Here is what it actually means if you hire people.
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Motorhome Solar Power: What Actually Works Off Grid
Everyone will sell you a solar panel and tell you it solves everything. It does not. Here is what actually keeps a motorhome powered away from hookup.
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Founder Burnout: The Warning Signs I Ignored for Too Long
Founder burnout creeps up quietly. Here are the warning signs I ignored while bootstrapping several businesses, and what actually helped.
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How to Choose a Dynamics 365 Implementation Partner
The platform is rarely the reason a Dynamics 365 project fails. The partner delivering it usually is. Here is what to actually check before you sign.
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Multi-Tenant SaaS Architecture: Lessons From Building CampSuite
I have run CampSuite as a multi-tenant product for years. Here is what the architecture decisions actually cost me, and what I would do differently starting again.
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Making Tax Digital for Income Tax: What It Actually Means for Small Business Owners
Making Tax Digital for Income Tax went live this April for sole traders and landlords earning over £50,000. Here is what the quarterly reporting burden actually costs in practice, and what to do about it.
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Starlink for Motorhomes: Is It Worth It for Remote Working?
A decent 4G signal used to be the difference between a working day and a wasted one. Here is my honest experience running Starlink from a Swift Kontiki while working full time on the road.
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Disaster Recovery for Small SaaS Businesses: What You Actually Need
Most small SaaS businesses have a backup. Very few have a disaster recovery plan. Here is the difference, and a practical plan you can actually build in a week.
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Dynamics 365 Security Roles: A Practical Guide to Getting Them Right
Security roles are the bit of a D365 project everyone leaves until the last fortnight. Here is how to design them properly the first time.
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How Developers Get Consulting Clients (Without Becoming a Salesperson)
After 17 years as a developer and consultant, here is what actually fills the pipeline. No cold emailing, no awkward pitches, just approaches that work.
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Why UK Entrepreneurs Keep Heading to America (And What Westminster Will Not Admit)
The exodus of British talent to the US is not a mystery. The reasons are hiding in plain sight and the people who could fix it are not listening.
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Should Developers Specialise or Stay a Generalist? 17 Years of Lessons
Being a generalist feels safe. After 17 years I can tell you it is not. Here is why specialising was the best business decision I ever made.
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Wild Camping in a Motorhome: What the Rules Actually Are in the UK and Europe
The rules around wild camping in a motorhome are more complicated than they look. Here is what the law actually says in the UK and across Europe, and what works in practice.
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Why I Still Build in .NET After 17 Years (And Have No Plans to Change)
Every few years I ask myself whether it is time to move on from .NET. Every time I arrive at the same answer. Here is why I am not switching anytime soon.
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Dynamics 365 Copilot: An Honest Review After Real Project Experience
Microsoft's AI assistant for D365 looks brilliant in demos. Here is what it actually does on real projects and whether the licensing cost is worth it.
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How to Price Your Consulting Services as a Freelance Developer
Most freelance developers price themselves wrong and leave significant money on the table for years. Here is what I learned the hard way.
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Dynamics 365 Licensing Explained: Stop Paying for What You Do Not Need
I have sat through more licensing conversations than is healthy. Here is what you actually need to know before you sign anything.
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What a Non-Executive Director Actually Does (And Why I Now Have Two)
People picture a NED as someone collecting a fee for turning up twice a year. The reality is quite different, and the role is one of the more underrated ways to apply experience at a board level.
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IR35 Has Been a Disaster for UK Tech and Nobody in Government Cares
Five years since the private sector rollout and the damage is everywhere. Fewer contractors, higher costs, slower projects, and a brain drain that shows no signs of stopping.
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Best Motorhome Accessories That Are Actually Worth the Money
Walk into any motorhome accessories shop and your wallet starts weeping. Here is what actually earns its place on board after years of trial and error.
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Why Your Dynamics 365 Users Hate the System and How to Fix It
You spent six figures on a CRM implementation. Your sales team is still using spreadsheets. Sound familiar?
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What Nobody Tells You About Selling Software as a Technical Founder
The first thing you learn when you try to sell software you built yourself is that nobody cares about the code.
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How to Secure Your SaaS Application Without a Security Team
You do not need a CISO or a penetration testing budget. But you do need to stop pretending security is somebody else's problem.
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The Myth of Passive Income: What Running a SaaS Actually Looks Like
Everyone talks about SaaS as passive income. It is not. Here is what nobody tells you about what happens after you launch.
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Cheap Motorhome Overnight Stops in the UK: Your Complete Guide
Fed up paying top prices at big campsite chains every night? Here is every affordable option I have found after years on the road.
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Dynamics 365 vs Salesforce: An Honest Comparison from Someone Who Has Used Both
Most comparison articles are written by partners selling one platform or the other. Here is what it actually looks like when you have built real systems on both.
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Why Most Software Rewrites Fail and What to Do Instead
The rewrite always sounds like the right answer. It almost never is. Here is what actually works for modernising legacy systems without torching the business.
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How to Market a SaaS Product When You Have Zero Budget
The honest guide to getting users when you cannot afford ads, a marketing team, or any of the things startup Twitter tells you that you need.
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Why the UK Cannot Produce Enough Software Developers
The government wants the UK to be a global tech hub. The education system, the apprenticeship levy and immigration policy are all working against that goal.
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No Code Tools Will Not Replace Developers Any Time Soon
No code and low code platforms are brilliant for certain things. But the idea that they will make software developers redundant is nonsense, and here is why.
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How to Survive a Dynamics 365 Go Live Without Losing Your Mind
Every Dynamics 365 go live feels like defusing a bomb while someone reads you the instructions over a bad phone line. Here is how to make it less painful.
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How to Build a SaaS Product While Working a Full Time Job
Everyone has a side project idea. Very few people ship one. Here is what actually works when you are building a product around a day job.
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How to Keep SaaS Customers Without a Customer Success Team
Churn will kill a bootstrapped SaaS faster than a bad product ever will. Here is how to retain customers when it is just you and a support inbox.
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Upgrading Your Motorhome: When It Is Time to Move Up and What to Look For
I went from an Elddis Autoquest 196 to a Swift KonTiki 774 and the difference was night and day. Here is what I learned about knowing when to upgrade and what actually matters when you do.
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How to Run Multiple Businesses Without Everything Falling Apart
I run three businesses and do consulting work on the side. People keep asking how. The honest answer is that most of it comes down to saying no to almost everything.
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AI Coding Tools: Are They Actually Making Developers More Productive?
After over 25 years of writing code the old fashioned way, I have spent the last year working with AI coding assistants on real projects. Here is what actually happened to my productivity.
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Dynamics 365 Data Migration: What Actually Goes Wrong and How to Avoid It
Data migration is where Dynamics 365 implementations go to die. Here is what I have learned from doing it dozens of times.
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Why Microservices Are Wrong for Most Small SaaS Products
You do not need twelve services, a message queue and a service mesh to serve 500 customers. You need a monolith and a good deployment pipeline.
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Why Every Developer Should Start a Business at Least Once
You already know how to build things. The bit nobody teaches you is how to build things that people will actually pay for. That gap is worth closing.
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How Much Does Motorhome Travel Actually Cost
Everyone talks about the freedom. Nobody talks about the diesel bill, the pitch fees and the mysterious rattling noise that turns into a four figure repair.
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Why UK Tax Policy Punishes People Who Start Businesses
The UK government loves talking about supporting entrepreneurs. The tax system tells a completely different story.
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How to Get Your First 100 Customers Without a Marketing Budget
You do not need a marketing budget to get your first paying customers. You need a thick skin, a decent product and the willingness to do things that do not scale.
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Dynamics 365 Customisation: When to Configure and When to Write Code
The line between configuration and custom code in Dynamics 365 is where most implementations either succeed or quietly start falling apart.
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Technical Debt Is Not the Enemy: A Practical Guide for Small Teams
Every codebase has compromises. The question is not how to eliminate technical debt but how to stop it managing you.
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UK AI Regulation Is Being Written for Big Tech, Not Small Business
The people writing the rules have never shipped a product in their lives. The people who will suffer the consequences ship products every day.
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How to Validate a Business Idea Before You Build Anything
Most startups fail because the founder fell in love with a solution before checking whether anyone actually had the problem. Here is how to avoid that.
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How to Keep Your Azure Bill Under Control
After rescuing a dozen Azure bills that quietly got away from their owners, here are the mistakes that blow them up and the habits that keep them sane.
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Dynamics 365 Integration Patterns That Actually Work in Production
After years of plugging Dynamics 365 into everything from accounting systems to warehouse kit, here are the integration patterns I keep coming back to and the ones I now refuse to touch.
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How to Plan Your First European Motorhome Trip
Everything you need to know before driving your motorhome across the Channel for the first time. Ferries, routes, wild camping, tolls and the stuff nobody tells you until you are already there.
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How to Price Your SaaS Product When You Are Bootstrapped
Real pricing lessons from building four SaaS businesses without investors telling me what to charge. Spoiler: you are probably charging too little.
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The Real Cost of a Dynamics 365 Implementation
The honest numbers on a Dynamics 365 implementation. Why budgets blow out, what licences actually cost, and how to keep the whole thing under control.
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How to Choose a Tech Stack for Your SaaS Product
I have built four SaaS products on four slightly different stacks. Here is what I wish someone had told me before the first one, and what I still get wrong occasionally.
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The Best UK Motorhome Destinations (From Someone Who Has Actually Been)
Not a sponsored listicle. Not written by someone who Googled it. Actual places I have driven to, stayed at and would go back to.
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Five Things I Learned Bootstrapping Five Businesses
No VC money. No safety net. Just real problems, real stakes and a lot of lessons learned the hard way.
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Build vs Buy: A Practical Guide for Business Owners
After twenty five years of building software and advising businesses, here is how I think about the build vs buy decision. Spoiler: the answer is almost always more nuanced than you think.
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The Seven Biggest Dynamics 365 Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
I have worked on Dynamics 365 implementations for utilities, financial services, housing and government. These are the mistakes I see again and again.
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What a Fractional CTO Actually Does (And Why Your Business Might Need One)
It is one of those job titles that sounds impressive but nobody quite understands. Let me clear that up.
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Hiring Your First Developer: What Non Technical Founders Get Wrong
You have a great idea and you need someone to build it. Here is how to find the right developer without getting burned, from someone who has been on both sides of the conversation.
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Working From a Motorhome: The Honest Truth
It sounds like living the dream. Sometimes it is. Sometimes you are sitting in a car park with no signal trying to join a Teams call.
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Why Small Businesses Should Care About Microsoft Power Platform
Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI. You have probably heard the names but have no idea what they actually do. Let me explain in plain English.
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The Only SaaS Metrics That Matter When You Are Bootstrapped
Forget the vanity metrics. When it is your own money on the line, here are the numbers that actually tell you if your SaaS business is working.
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Why UK Small Business Policy Keeps Failing Entrepreneurs
I have started businesses under three different governments now. The rhetoric changes but the problems stay the same. Here is what they keep getting wrong and what would actually help.
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