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

Runway, daily cash-flow forecasting for small businesses
Recent work: Runway

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

Runway, 2026  /  App

Know exactly what your cash looks like next Tuesday

Most small businesses find out they are short the week it happens. Runway forecasts daily cash flow account by account, so the cliff is visible months before you reach it. Built from scratch — product, interface and engineering.

  • Daily forecasting, not monthly averages
  • Account by account, so you see where the money actually sits
  • Sign in with an emailed link — no password to lose

Homes for Ensenada, 2026  /  Website

A site they own, instead of one they rent

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 three written stories
  • Registration, giving and contact all working in one place

SmartSave, 2025  /  App

Stop overpaying for groceries

An app that plans meals, builds shopping lists, and compares what is in your basket against local prices so you know where to buy it.

  • Idea to shipped app, built solo
  • Installable on a phone, works offline
  • Featured at CU Boulder's 2026 Innovation Challenge

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 eighteen 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.

More about my background at johnkoehnen.com.

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.