Small business deserves better.

I build technology solutions for small businesses — websites, apps, and the automation tools that take the busywork off your plate. So you can get back to real work.

Get in touch

The Homes for Ensenada home page, built by Build Beautiful
Recent work: homesforensenada.org

What I do

Websites

A site that loads fast, works on a phone, and says clearly what you do. You own it outright — no monthly subscription to a builder, no getting locked out of your own domain.

Automation and reporting

The repetitive parts handled — reminders, follow-ups, intake that lands already sorted. And your bank, invoices and spreadsheets pulled into one place, so you can finally see what is actually making money.

Apps and internal tools

When the software you use does not fit how you actually work — or when there is a spreadsheet holding the whole operation together — I build the thing that replaces it.

Work

Homes for Ensenada, 2026  /  Website

A missions site that had to earn a $2,000 commitment

A volunteer team was paying a monthly subscription for four pages on a template builder. I rebuilt it as a fast static site they own outright, and rewrote it around the thing that actually recruits people: the story of one family that kept going back.

  • Monthly hosting cost went to zero
  • Six years of trips, 120 photos and two written stories
  • Registration, giving and contact all working in one place

SmartSaveAI, 2025  /  App

Stop overpaying for groceries

An app that compares what is in your basket against local prices and tells you where to buy it. I took it from a rough idea to a working product on the web and on phones, then pitched it at the Boulder New Venture Challenge.

  • Idea to shipped app, built solo
  • Installable on a phone, works offline
  • Pitched to a panel of investors and operators

How it works

  1. We talk

    Half an hour, no charge. I want to understand what you do and where it is breaking down. If I am not the right person, I will say so.

  2. You get a fixed price

    A written scope and a number, before any work starts. No hourly meter, no surprises at the end.

  3. I build it

    You see progress as it happens rather than waiting weeks for a reveal. Changes along the way are expected, not billed as extras.

  4. You own it

    Code, domain, accounts, all in your name. I am around afterwards if you want me, not because you are stuck.

Who you would be working with

I spent fifteen years leading product at Microsoft, Disney and Comcast — figuring out what to build, for whom, and why, before anyone wrote code. Build Beautiful is that experience pointed at businesses small enough to talk to the owner directly.

I live in Wayne with my wife and four kids. I answer my own email and I do the work myself. If we work together, you are not getting handed to an account manager.

John Koehnen

Tell me what you are trying to get done

Describe the problem in your own words. I will reply within a day, and if it is not something I should take on, I will point you somewhere better.