Google Ads and digital marketing
I began by helping businesses get found online, learning how search, advertising and website content work together to bring the right people to a business.
About me
I'm Rob, an enthusiastic and high-energy software engineer and website creator
I have spent nine years in the websites industry, moving from Google Ads and digital marketing into client management and web development. Today I'm a software engineer and run my own small website business on the side.
This combination of commercial and technical experience means I understand both sides of a website project: what a small business really needs and what is really involved in building it.
A bit about me
Nine years and counting in the websites industry
After nearly 10 years in the hospitality industry, I switched careers to the web world. Since then, I have worked across advertising, digital marketing, sales, client relationships and development, and every stage changed how I think a good website service should work.
So why do I have a small-business while at the same time working as a software engineer? I started building my business before I became a software engineer. A friend suggested I go on a coding course, to help with my business. It turned out I loved the coding element so much and after successfully completing the course, and building my own website from scratch and then completing an internship, I was offered a full time role and ended up with both my business and the job. I haven't given up the business because I love it and saving small businesses money and helping them get a website that works for them is very rewarding. I also love the variety of my work, and the fact that I can be a software engineer and a business owner at the same time.
Account management
I moved into account management, sitting between clients and the people designing, marketing and developing their websites. It taught me how to turn a business problem into a practical website brief.
Senior client management
As a senior client manager at a large web agency, I carried sales targets and saw the commercial pressure behind agency recommendations. I also saw how easily a small business could be sold more than it needed when targets and overheads came before the client.
Web development
I wanted to understand and build the work itself, not only discuss or sell it. Moving into web development gave me the technical skills to create websites, solve problems and explain what is actually involved.
My own small web business
I now run my own small website business alongside my work as a web engineer. I build straightforward, affordable websites and deal directly with every client, without layers of sales people or account managers.
Building Zinvoice
I also designed and built my own invoicing software. Zinvoice grew from the same idea as my website work: useful software can be capable and professional without becoming expensive, bloated or intimidating.
What that experience changed
I wanted to offer the service I thought small businesses deserved
Working inside a large agency showed me the value of skilled teams, but it also showed me what happens when sales targets and overheads are passed to small businesses. My own business is deliberately small, so I can offer a service that is both affordable and accessible.
No technical jargon
I explain the options without hiding a simple job behind technical language to try and justify higher prices.
Appropriate recommendations
I recommend what fits the business now, not the largest project I could possibly sell.
Direct responsibility
You speak to the person planning and building the work, and you keep control of your website.
Building beyond websites
I built my own invoicing software, too
Zinvoice is simple online invoicing software for freelancers, sole traders and small UK businesses doing their own admin. I built it to make creating invoices and keeping track of payments feel clear, without forcing people into an enormous accounting platform.
I still use it for my own freelance work. It is also proof that I can take an idea from a real everyday problem through design, development and into a working product.
Away from the laptop
The other things that make me, me
Work matters to me, but it is not the whole story. I am happiest spending time with people I care about, getting outside or attempting to learn something I am not yet very good at.
Family and friends
The most important part of life away from work is spending proper time with my family and friends. I have a very close relationship with all my family and I am lucky to have a great group of friends who I can rely on and have fun with.
Travelling & Exploring
Recent events have made me appreciate the importance of living in the present and not taking things for granted. I enjoy discovering somewhere new, whether it is a city, a country or a quiet corner of the countryside and my digital work allows me to do this more.
Surfing (or trying to)
I love being in the sea and I really enjoy surfing; it's not even about catching the perfect wave, it just about being on the water and away from it all..Everything slows down in the sea.
Long-distance hiking
My one-day personal best is 43 miles with my full kit! I do enjoy a long-distance walk especially multi-day walks living out of a backpack...it is one of my favourite ways to switch off and explore somewhere properly.
Trail running
I enjoy running off-road, especially when a route includes hills, mud, water. I often partake in events put on by Channel Events where the trail is can be technical and challenging, but the scenery is always worth it.
Learning the piano
I am trying to learn the piano. Like the surfing, it is very much a work in progress, but I enjoy having something completely different to practise.
New software ideas
I am nearly always thinking up another piece of software that could make something simpler or more affordable for ordinary people and small businesses.
Community theatre
Committee work, production support and the occasional role on stage
I am a committee member of my local theatre group, where I help with grant-seeking work and the practical jobs that keep a community production moving.
During shows, I run projection and slides from the wings as part of the production team. Every so often I step out from behind the scenes and perform too, which is terrifying, brilliant and usually a lot of fun.
Enough about me. Tell me about your idea.
Whether you need a straightforward website, help with an existing one or have a practical software idea, I am always happy to have an honest conversation about it.
Start a conversation