About
What an agency of one actually means.
I am one engineer doing work that usually takes a team. Here is how that works, where it does not, and what happens if I am ever unavailable.
Why one person can do what a team does.
- Agencies bill for a team.Strategists, designers, developers, project managers and account managers each add hours and handoffs to what you pay.
- AI changed what one person can deliver.Drafting, scaffolding, testing and documentation that once took a team now take one engineer directing capable tools.
- Experience is what makes it safe.I wrote software before these tools existed. I can read the code, see when the AI is heading the wrong way, and correct it.
- The result is better for you.Faster delivery, a lower cost, and the person doing the work in every conversation.
What one person covers
Discovery and research, content strategy, design, development, quality checks, launch and support. You talk to the person doing the work, so decisions are not relayed through an account manager, and the person who designed it is the one who builds it.
The process is the same one an agency would run, with the same approval gates. What changes is who is in it.
Where this model is not the right fit
One person is the wrong choice for some work, and I would rather say so than take it.
- Large programs with many parallel workstreams and hard simultaneous deadlines
- Round-the-clock operations coverage
- Procurement that requires a vendor of a particular size
What if I am unavailable?
It is the fair question to ask about a solo engineer, and the answer is built into how I work.
- You own the code, the repositories and the accounts
- Everything is documented for the next engineer, not for me
- Automated tests protect the behaviour that matters
- Handover is a defined step, not an afterthought
Why there is not more to show
For about ten years I was an employee at an agency. Nearly everything I built there belongs to the clients and the company, so I cannot show it here, and I will not pass it off as my own.
What I can show is the software I build on my own time, the process I follow and the way I work. If you want to know what a decade of production work looks like, ask me on a call.
The person
I am Pierre Balian, a web engineer in Minneapolis with more than twenty years of experience building websites, commerce systems and web applications. I work across TypeScript, PHP, Python and SQL, on WordPress, Next.js, Astro and Cloudflare, and I build and run my own products, ZoneSteward and CookieSteward.
- TypeScript
- Next.js
- Node
- PHP and WordPress
- Python
- SQL
- Astro
- Cloudflare Workers, D1, KV, R2
- Playwright
- Stripe
- Claude API
Is the work AI-generated?
AI is part of how I build, the way a compiler or a framework is. Every line that ships is read and judged by a person with two decades of experience, and tested.
What if you are unavailable?
You own the code, the repositories and the accounts. Everything is documented and tested, so another engineer can pick it up without me.
Do you only work with WordPress?
No. WordPress is right for many sites. Others need Astro, Next.js, Cloudflare or a custom application. I will tell you which fits, even when it is the simpler option.
Do you work with agencies?
Yes. I take overflow work, plugins and hardening under your brand or mine, with clear communication and handoff.