I drew buildings. Now I draw software.

The short answer

I build small software quickly. Free tools for anyone who needs them, browser games because they are fun to make, and custom business software for people who pay me to solve a specific problem. One person, no agency, no account manager between you and the person writing the code.

How I got here

I trained and worked in architecture and real estate. For years my job was to take something a client could only describe in words and turn it into a drawing precise enough that a contractor could build from it. I worked on real structures that people use, including structural work on an entry building at a Surat Metro Rail station under GMRC and DDC.

That work teaches you three things. Measure before you cut. A drawing nobody can build from is decoration. And the client almost never asks for what they actually need, so your first job is to work out the difference.

Software turned out to be the same discipline with a much shorter feedback loop. In architecture you wait two years to find out whether a decision was right. In software you find out on Tuesday. I found that I preferred Tuesday, and I have been building ever since.

Why the free tools exist

While building software for small businesses I kept needing the same numbers. What is the GST on this. What does that EMI work out to. What is this person's tax under the new regime. Every site I found wanted my email address, or my phone number, or wanted me to watch an advert before it would tell me an answer a formula produces in one line.

So I built my own and left them open to everyone. Twenty of them now. No sign up, no limit, and the calculation runs in your browser so whatever you type never reaches a server. Each one explains the formula behind it, because a number you cannot check is not worth much.

Why there is an arcade

Small games are the fastest way to learn whether an interface feels right. A business dashboard can be mediocre and people will still use it because their job requires it. A game gets about three seconds before someone closes the tab. Building under that pressure makes you better at the paid work. Also they are fun, which I think is a sufficient reason on its own.

What I build for clients

Custom web tools, Android apps and websites for businesses that have outgrown the spreadsheet. Invoicing, inventory, bookings, dashboards, whatever the actual bottleneck is. The pattern is nearly always the same: something that worked at ten customers is quietly falling apart at two hundred, and nobody has had time to stop and fix it.

I work differently from most agencies in three ways. I build around your workflow instead of forcing you into a template. I ship in weeks rather than quarters. And I hand you the code, so you are not renting your own business process back from someone forever. There are live demos and honest prices on the client work page.

What I am building now

Life OS is an Android app that holds an entire life's admin in one place. Tasks, notes, money, reminders, documents, and an assistant that runs on the phone itself rather than shipping your private information to somebody's data centre. It is with a small group of testers at the moment.

Beyond that: more tools, more writing, and more games, in roughly that order.

How I write

Plainly, and with the number in it. Most Indian writing about money is either an advertisement wearing a guide's clothing or a wall of legal text nobody finishes. I try to sit in between. One question per article, answered with real figures, in the words I would use if you asked me across a table.

If something I have written is wrong, tell me and I will correct the article itself rather than bury a note at the bottom.

Working with me

There is one email address, hello@khanjankavani.com, and I read it myself. Tell me what is slowing your business down and I will tell you honestly whether I can build it, roughly what it costs, and roughly how long it takes. If it is not something I should be building, I will say that too.