Here We Go

Why Black Mammoth

I have been working as a contractor for the past 6+ years. In that time, I have built close to a hundred websites. Everything from custom WordPress sites, to static HTML sites before that was even a popular thing (remember using plain HTML to build stuff?).

In that time I kept running into the same barriers both on my side and on my clients side. I kept hearing the same problems over and over again.

"We worked with a contractor before you, but then they ghosted us."

This has happened with at last 1/3 of the projects I came into. I get it. Sometimes it seems like its easier to ignore your client then face the problems you are running into and end the relationship.

Unfortunately this only hurts you and the client, and does not solve any problems. If you don't want to work on the project, or genuinely need a break - just communicate this with your client. They might be upset but I can guarantee you it will be less frustrating then you just ghosting them.

"We tried working with an agency, but it was so expensive and it took them two months to get us in the pipeline."

This is not a knock against agencies. I have worked on a larger team as well. They have a reason they do things. They are built to be slower moving because thats typically the pace their clients move at. They also have a massive amount of overhead and risk they handle.

Unfortunately - when paired with series B,C,D startups (my ideal clients 😉) this slow iteration speed just does not work with them.

These teams need a landing page this week, not this month. They need to update a bug they found where something isnt rendering correctly on a certain browser cough safari cough.

Get Ready for Two Months of Nail Biting Before Cashflow

On my end, each time I take on a new client, it typically takes 1-2 months before cashflow starts coming in. As in, I sink in two months of dev work before I see any payment.

This is extremely stressful as I have had clients not pay me multiple times. I still have clients who owe me almost $10k for a project. The more I can collect payment up front, the less risk I take on and the more likely a client is to use my service.

Introducing Black Mammoth

The idea behind Black Mammoth is to provide a subscription web development service focused solely on building Gatsby or Next sites paired with Sanity CMS. I love the flexibility of both Gatsby and Next, and Sanity provides endless customization options.

This stack also works really well for the companies I have worked with where I loved the work I did. They need fast sites, that can handle traffic spikes easily. They need to be able to build their own landing pages in minutes. They need a central source for all content and the ability to distribute it anywhere.

Gatsby, Next and Sanity fit all of those needs.

Vision

My goal for this company is to book three clients this year. The end goal would probably be to book no more than 10 clients total. By intentionally staying small and slowly building a team as needed - I can continue to meet my customers goals and deliver on the fast, high quality work that I am getting to be known for.

If you happen to know a team that could benefit from my service, please - introduce them to this site and to me. I would greatly appreciate it.

Thats all for now. I will be launching this site this week, and im looking forward to an incredible journey.