Clients Got Lucky With Us (With Me). A One-Act PlayЗаказчикам повезло с нами (мной). Пьеса в одном действии
The client decided the website should be built with other contractors. I get it. Even with our (or my) stronger skills in AI tools and site-building, a dedicated web designer will often be better. They can use AI too, and so on.
BUT! THE PROBLEM ISN’T HARD SKILLS. 🙂
It never is.
The point is simple:
We need to ship an MVP website for the client. Not polish perfection. Build a minimum viable minimum, then improve it as we go.
They found a contractor the client liked. But I didn’t like him — because of the wildly unjustified upsell attempts.
I’ll almost retell our chat, but as a Chekhov-style one-act play.
A room. Late evening. A soft lamp spills light over scattered books and half-finished tea. A laptop is open on the table. In the corner, a chat window flickers.
CONTRACTOR
(sits down, pulls out a tablet, solemn importance on his face)
You absolutely understand the advantages of WordPress…
Flexibility, funnels, plugins, custom blocks — wonderful!
But if… if SEO is the cornerstone… if you need flexibility down to the last byte…
Why not go custom? Laravel. Next.js. Crystal-clean architecture.
Total control over structure and microdata. No extra template code…
(he produces a sheet of paper)
Four reasons to go custom:
- Control.
- Lightweight.
- Flexibility.
- Security.
One downside: expensive. But it pays off. Over time.
ME
(stands, walks to the window)
You’re a good person, right?
Smart. Educated. You see a website as a castle — with walls, arches, catacombs, and a password for the dungeon.
But I don’t need a castle.
I need… a shed.
Something you can walk into, hang a lantern, rebuild the roof in spring.
So our <ClientName> can take the site with them in July and calmly find another contractor of the same kind.
Instead of sitting in the dark, trying to remember your framework.
CONTRACTOR
(offended)
But you’ll hit the WordPress ceiling. That’s the limit.
ME
(smiling)
We still have to live long enough to reach that ceiling. Right now we have an MVP. A minimum viable product. Not a masterpiece.
If we ever hit a ceiling — then we’ll call the builders. Or we’ll climb up ourselves.
(pause. sits back down. wipes his glasses)
Yes, WordPress has pain points. Tilda does too. On Tilda, if you want a real blog, you end up writing every page by hand like a monk copying chronicles.
And SEO there? Bare bones.
Here we’ve got manuals, a community, plugins.
And if there’s a hole?
Frameworks can have holes too. The only question is: who fixes it? You?
Or the person who inherits your business when you get tired of it?
CONTRACTOR
(thinks, fingers the edge of his sleeve)
So, in your view…
ME
(cuts him off with a gesture)
In my view, the client doesn’t need a platform.
The client needs freedom.
Not us holding their hand forever — but the ability to leave one day, without losing the site.
- Breadth of customisation — yes.
- Independence from a contractor — yes.
- SEO that makes sense within their strategy and ethics — yes.
- And if the site reaches its limit…
That means <ClientName> is already at a point where they can break through it.
(The client has been silently watching the whole time.)