For small businesses and startups

Stop wasting time on manual work

Spreadsheets, copy-paste, admin tasks eating your day.

I build simple custom tools that replace the manual processes slowing you down.

Tell me what's slowing you down

8+ years building tools

Short, focused projects

Built for growing teams

Sound familiar?

You're running your business from spreadsheets held together with hope

You know something should be automated, but don't know where to start

You've looked at tools like Zapier but it felt like another job to learn

You're doing work a system should be doing

Your team wastes hours on admin instead of actual work

If any of that resonates, you're in the right place.

What I build for teams like yours

Specific tools that solve real problems. Not vague "solutions".

Internal dashboards

Replace spreadsheet chaos with a clean interface your team will actually use.

Workflow automations

New lead comes in, CRM updates, task gets created, Slack gets notified. Automatically.

Admin tools

Custom tools for the specific way your business works. Not another SaaS subscription.

System integrations

Connect the tools you already have so they talk to each other.

Simple apps

Web or mobile apps for processes that don't fit in off-the-shelf software.

AI where it helps

Summarising, drafting, sorting — with human review built in. Practical, not experimental.

How I work

Clear scope upfront

We agree exactly what gets built before any work starts. No surprises.

Short, focused projects

Weeks, not months. No 6-month contracts with endless change requests.

You see it working quickly

Working software within the first week or two. Not months of waiting.

Built to be changed

Clean code that can be maintained and improved based on real usage.

Wondering how this compares?

"Why not just use Zapier myself?"I handle the setup, edge cases, and maintenance so you don't have to.

"Why not hire a developer?"I scope small, ship fast, and stay available. Not a 3-month contract then gone.

"Why not a bigger agency?"You talk to me directly. No account managers, no handoffs, no Chinese whispers.

Problems I've solved

Real projects, real outcomes.

Construction QA Platform

Before:

Paper checklists, photos in email, reports compiled manually

After:

Digital inspections, automatic report generation, 75% less admin time

50+ team members use it daily across multiple sites

Full case study

Magazine Mobile App

Before:

Print-only publications, no digital presence

After:

iOS and Android apps with offline reading, push notifications

9 B2B magazines now reach readers anywhere

Full case study

Publishing Automation

Before:

Manual PDF processing, social posts written by hand

After:

Automated extraction, AI-assisted content generation

Hours of weekly work reduced to minutes

Full case study

See more projects

What clients say

"The website looks fantastic and really showcases the quality of our work. We've had multiple clients specifically mention they chose us over competitors because of how professional our website is. It's been a genuine game-changer for our business."

Lee Streather

Owner, Streather's Carpentry

"Blain delivered a complex, enterprise-grade platform that transformed our paper-based processes. The QA system has reduced report generation time by 75% and is used daily by over 50 team members across multiple construction sites."

David Burke

Project Lead, Facade365

"The Industry Insights app has been a game-changer for our business. We went from being a print-first publisher to having a modern mobile presence that our readers love. Blain delivered a beautiful app on time and on budget."

Ian Hayward

Managing Director, BAIT Publishing Network

Let's figure out if I can help

Tell me what's slowing you down. No sales pitch, just a conversation.

Or email directly: blain@ellisappdev.co.uk