most people start with “I need your help”. that’s plenty.
I help small organisations, and the people who run them, work out what they need and make it happen.
I sort out how information moves through small organisations.
Where it starts, which tools it passes through, where it gets typed in twice or lost, and what it could tell you if it were in better shape. Then I sort it out, whether that means moving you to something better, joining things up or building the piece that’s missing. Tell me about it, and what’s driving you mad.
m@martinhills.comany of these?
Sound familiar?
- You’re moving to a new system (accounts, bookings, customer records) and dreading getting the data across.
- Everything runs off one spreadsheet, and only one person really understands it.
- You type the same customer details into two or three different places.
- Working out how you’re doing means a day of pulling numbers out of three places, and you’re never quite sure they’re right.
- You’ve got an idea for a tool, an app or a portal for your customers, and no idea where to start.
- You’ve tried AI and it keeps getting things wrong, because what’s underneath is a bit of a mess.
I’ve spent nearly thirty years designing and building software and systems, mostly from the inside of a small software business, and done hundreds of data migrations along the way. Following the information through a business, seeing where it gets stuck, and then making it flow properly is the part of the job I’ve always enjoyed most.
it starts with a look
What I do
It usually starts with a proper look at your information and every tool it passes through, and a picture of how it should all fit together. Then it’s a mix of three things.
Moving and cleaning your data
When you change systems, or just need to trust your records again, I get everything out of the old system and the spreadsheets, tidy it up, move it across and check it properly. I’ve done hundreds of these.
Joining things up
So information flows between your accounts, your bookings, your email and your spreadsheets on its own, and nothing gets typed in twice.
Building what’s missing
A simple tool, some screens or a portal for your customers, where nothing off the shelf fits.
And once it’s all flowing properly, a simple view of the handful of numbers that matter to you, ones you can actually believe.
same steps every time
Listen, see, decide, do, learn.
- listen
- You tell me what’s going on and what’s getting in the way. I mostly listen.
- see
- I look at the actual data and how things really get done, which is often a bit different from how everyone thinks they get done.
- decide
- I give you the options and what I’d do. It’s your call.
- do
- I design it and build it, and show you how it all works.
- learn
- We check it’s actually made things easier, and tweak it if it hasn’t.
right people, right values
Who I work with
Small businesses, small charities, and the person doing it all themselves.
Usually somewhere with between one and twenty people, where nobody’s job is really “the systems”, so it ends up being everybody’s (or the owner’s, at ten o’clock at night). You know it could work better. You just haven’t had the time, or the right person, to sort it out.
Who it isn’t for
If you want someone to nod along and keep the machine running, that’s not me. And if you need a big team or someone on call round the clock, I’m probably not the right fit either. It’s just me, and I’d rather be honest about that up front.
and things of my own
myriadof.one
Alongside working with people, I make software of my own. It goes out under the name myriad of one.
Software for worlds I know from the inside. This winter, I’m listening.
Want to be part of it?by day, and alongside
By day I help run Harlequin Software, a small family business that works with charities and the NHS. I’ve been there nearly thirty years and done a bit of everything: hundreds of data migrations, designing products and systems, writing code, and plenty of the jobs nobody else wanted.
Deep down I’m a systems and product person, and that’s what I bring to the few organisations I work with alongside it.
More about meno form, no pitch
Want to talk?
Drop me an email and tell me a bit about what’s going on. We’ll have a chat and see if I can help. The first conversation is free.
m@martinhills.com