Zack Lovisa Software developer Start an estimate

Estimate

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

You probably need less website than you were sold.

I spent two years at GoDaddy and two at Wix watching people pay for more than they needed. Now I build small business sites starting at $600.

Also web applications, desktop software, and games.


Evidence

Selected work

Things I have actually built

Client software and my own projects, described in enough detail that you can judge the reasoning before you ever contact me.

  • Down Right Tech

    A one page site rebuilt into a real multi page site for a Marion, Iowa technology and antenna business, where every page has a job and a search target.

    • Wix Studio
    • Technical SEO
    • Responsive layout

    Client work Website

  • Sally's on Broadway

    A Springville, Iowa restaurant paying hundreds a month for a site with no itemized menu and a broken phone layout, which is where nearly all of her customers were looking.

    • WordPress
    • Divi
    • Technical SEO
    • Mobile layout

    Client work Website

  • Drift

    One system replacing the spread of apps and Google Calendar that Down Right Tech ran their business on. Work orders, quotes, scheduling, and reports in a single place.

    • React
    • Vite
    • Tailwind
    • Base44

    Client work Web App

All case studies The 3D scene Take a website apart


Line items

4 services

What I build

Four disciplines. Each page states the real range, the typical timeline, and the cases where you should hire someone else.

Website Development

Built by someone who worked inside the platforms.

Small business websites and landing pages, from a single page upward. I spent two years at GoDaddy and two at Wix, so I know what those platforms do well and when you do not need me at all.

From $600 2 to 4 weeks

Web App Development

Software that runs the business.

Dashboards, portals, and internal tools that replace the spreadsheet nobody trusts. Built to be handed over, not held hostage.

From $8,000 6 to 16 weeks

Desktop and Mobile Apps

Small, fast, and yours.

Desktop applications that install and run without an account, a subscription, or a connection. Recently a local-first Windows calendar in about 10 MB.

From $12,000 8 to 20 weeks

Game Development

Playable early. Scoped to finish.

Browser and PC games, playable prototypes, and interactive builds. Four of my own are on the Work page, including 3D multiplayer in Godot.

From $10,000 8 to 30 weeks

Already have a site

4 services

Already have a site? Start here.

An hour of advice, a written audit, a move onto a platform that suits you better, or someone to call when it breaks. Most of my work starts with a site that already exists.

Wix Help and Consulting

Two years inside Wix. Ask anything.

An hour with someone who worked at Wix and at GoDaddy, on your screen, answering the questions support is not allowed to. Bring the site, the bill, or the sales call you are not sure about.

$95 an hour Usually booked within a week

Website Care

Someone who answers when it breaks.

A monthly plan for a site that is already live: edits, updates, backups, and someone who picks up when something goes wrong. Cancel any month, and everything stays in your name either way.

$95 a month Starts the week you sign up

Website Audit

What your site is costing you.

A written review of the site you already have: what is slow, what is invisible to search, what breaks on a phone, and which lines on your monthly bill are not earning their place. Credited in full if you hire me to fix it.

$300 Report within 5 business days

Website Migration

Off their platform, onto yours.

Moving a site off a platform that is holding it hostage, or onto one that fits better. Pages, search rankings, email, and the domain, with redirects so the traffic you already earned comes with you.

From $600 1 to 3 weeks

From the inside

Four years at GoDaddy and Wix

What four years on the support side taught me

01

The renewal is the real price

An introductory rate is not a price, it is a hook. The plan sold at one number renews at another, and the multi-year deal that looked like a saving gets billed before the term is up. I took that phone call more times than I can count. Ask what it renews at before you sign, not after.

02

Most of a monthly bill is apps nobody opens

Sites accumulate. A booking app, a chat widget, a popup builder, a form upgrade, each a few dollars a month, each added by somebody solving one afternoon's problem. Nobody goes back and removes them. Reading a bill line by line is the fastest money I can save anyone.

03

The account should be in your name

Code kept on the developer's account, hosting resold at a markup, the domain quietly registered to them. None of it is illegal. It exists so that leaving hurts. You should be able to end this on a Tuesday and have everything on Wednesday.

Read the longer versions

Sequence

5 steps

How a project runs

Every stage names what you do, what I do, and the point where you can walk away with everything paid for so far.

  1. 01

    Free Consultation

    Forty minutes spent understanding the problem instead of selling a solution.

    • Duration 40 minutes
    • What you own A written summary of what we discussed, whether or not you go ahead.
  2. 02

    Written Scope

    A document naming exactly what gets built, what does not, and the fixed price.

    • Duration 2 to 5 days
    • What you own The scope document itself, free. The estimate, the exclusions, and the plan are yours to take anywhere.
  3. 03

    Visible Build

    Working software you can open every week. No black box, no reveal at the end.

    • Duration Most of the timeline
    • What you own Everything built and paid for so far at any milestone, source code included.
  4. 04

    Launch And Handover

    It goes live and you receive every key.

    • Duration 1 to 2 weeks
    • What you own The whole thing. Domain, hosting, source, and every account, all registered to you.
  5. 05

    Optional Support

    Ongoing work by the month. Never automatic, never locked in.

    • Duration Monthly, or not at all
    • What you own All of it, still. Cancel any month and nothing is held back.

Read the full process

Notes

Writing

Straight answers, written down

The questions people are too polite to ask on a first call, answered at length so you can check my reasoning before you contact me.

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All writing