Paul Cooney

The Scenario

Paul needed a website to showcase his business and act as an information hub. Paul's business launched in October 2023. We started work in September 2023. Altogether, we had just under a month to put the site together.

The website needed to be simple. In Paul's words, 'something little old grannies can use'. It had to reflect Paul's character and business style. He wanted it to stand out from other real estate websites and leave a bold and lasting impression on its users.

The Relationship

Paul was referred to me by a mutual friend. Naturally, he had reservations about hiring me. His previous business' website was built by somewhat of a 'cowboy'. He did not want a similar scenario this time around. It was up to me to show that I am no cowboy.

With the tight deadline, Paul had to make his decision fast. We had an initial call to discuss his business, customer relationships, values and design tastes. Our conversation was extensive. It gave me a solid grounding to understand him and his business values.

Following our discussions, Paul felt confident enough to take a chance on me. I don't know what swung Paul's. It could have been the referral, my genuine attempt to understand him and his business, or the time pressure of the decision. Probably, it was a mix of all three. Whatever it was, we got started and never looked back.

The Struggle

As mentioned before, the tight deadline was the biggest obstacle to overcome in this project. We had under a month to design, build, test and deploy the website. The looming deadline did add extra pressure. It also brought a sense of urgency and clarity to our decision-making. This clarity was a great help when choosing the CMS. The website needed to import property listings from his CRM. We discussed this with the sales team. They told us about a WordPress plugin that automatically imports properties to the site. Decision made! We would use WordPress. With only a month to build the site, I didn't want to waste unnecessary time trying to integrate various APIs into the site. WordPress wasn't my first choice. It was, however, the best choice.

The Results

This project is one of my favourite projects. Having Paul engaged throughout the process helped to keep the site true to his vision and values. I believe we created a brilliant website. The website highlights Paul's customer-focused approach to his business. The design exemplifies his modern, bold and confident style. Everything is kept as simple as possible - no fluff. I bet even 'little old grannies' can use it.

I am delighted to see Paul's business flourishing now. We developed a strong working relationship during the project. That has continued ever since. We continued working together after he partnered with another UK-based real estate firm, Ralph James. Paul and Ralph James hired me to help modernise their website in 2024. A case study will follow for that project.

As I said before, this was a great project. It is a website I am very proud of. I am confident Paul is as well. Working with entrepreneurs like Paul is one of the perks of my freelancing business. I hope to have more exciting projects like this in future.