Bastian Neubecker · Automation & Software Development · Hamburg
Every hour your team spends copying data is an hour you need
elsewhere.
Sometimes an n8n workflow is all it takes. Sometimes you need custom code, for example for a decades-old system without a modern interface. I build both, and I recommend whatever solves your problem, not whatever is easiest to sell.
How I decide
As small as possible, as big as necessary
Before I build anything, I ask one question: what is the simplest solution that will still work two years from now? That question picks the tool.
Step 1
Workflow
n8n, Make
A good fit when:
your software has standard interfaces and the process follows clear rules.
What needs looking after:
Keeping an eye on the accounts, access and changes of the services involved.
From real projects
Follow-up emails and outreach for small-sided football tournament sign-ups, automated with n8n.
Step 2
Integration
API code, n8n with custom logic
A good fit when:
several programs need the same data and no ready-made building block covers your rules.
What needs looking after:
Maintaining data formats, exceptions and error cases.
From real projects
Automated data exchange between several programs.
Step 3
Custom software
connected to legacy systems
A good fit when:
a system has no modern interface, or your rules are too specific for standard tools.
What needs looking after:
Code and dependencies, documented in your repository, so your IT team or another developer can maintain them.
From real projects
Connected SAP to a system around 30 years old, as an employed developer at a previous employer.
If texts or documents need to be sorted, we check whether an AI step fits and decide which results a person reviews. Where clear rules are enough, I build clear rules.
To be honest
When I advise you against automation
A project that doesn’t pay for itself helps neither of us. In these cases I’ll advise against it, even if that costs me the job.
Better not automate:
The process is changing fundamentally right now.
Then we sort out rules and responsibilities first. That way you don’t invest in a solution that has to be rebuilt after the next change.
Better not automate:
The task is rare and done in minutes.
Setup and ongoing maintenance would cost more than doing it by hand. A clear checklist is the more economical solution here.
Better not automate:
The real problem is coordination.
As long as it’s unclear who is responsible for what, automation only locks the confusion in place. What you need first is a binding agreement.
Better not add AI:
AI would only be decoration.
Then I’ll advise you against AI. Fixed rules solve the task in a way that is traceable, testable and free of ongoing costs for an AI model.
How we work
From analysis to a running solution in three steps
Today
Stage 1
Process check
Together with you and the people who run the process every day, I look at where time gets lost. You get a prioritized list: what is worth doing, with which tool, roughly what it costs and what you’re better off leaving alone. A separate, paid engagement ⟨price for process check⟩. Afterwards you decide how you want to proceed.
Stage 2
Implementation
A quote with a fixed scope, a fixed price and acceptance criteria we agree on together up front. We test with real cases before your team has to rely on it.
Stage 3
Handover
Documentation, alerts for agreed error cases, a handover session. Before we start, we decide who owns the process on your side and who acts when an alert comes in.
Afterwards
What stays
What stays with you when I’m done
Access
The solution runs in your company’s accounts, and the code lives in your repository. I work with access that you grant me and can revoke at any time.
Documentation
What runs when, where the data comes from, what happens when something fails. Written for the person who has to touch it two years from now, not for me.
Monitoring
Agreed error cases trigger an alert. We decide who receives it and who responds.
Handover
A session in which I walk you or your IT team through everything, so another developer can pick it up too.
About me
One point of contact from the first call to the handover
I’m Bastian Neubecker, a software developer from Hamburg. As a full-stack developer in retail, among other things I connected SAP to a system around 30 years old. Today I lead a development team at a software agency, where I have taken many projects from the first requirement to go-live. What we discuss, I build myself. Nothing gets handed off to third parties you don’t know about.
FAQ
What you probably want to know
What does a small workflow cost?
That depends on the number of programs and exceptions. That’s why we start with the paid process check ⟨price for process check⟩. After that, you get a quote with a price for the implementation before I start; ongoing costs are listed separately.
Will I be tied to you afterwards?
Not to me. The solution runs in your company’s accounts, you get the code and the documentation, and the documentation is written for third parties. You would still have to organize a switch, and you stay tied to the platform, for example the n8n license.
What if you’re unavailable?
I work alone, and that is a real risk. Documentation, access held by your company and a handover session make it easier for another developer to take over. I don’t have a stand-in who can step in immediately. Who is responsible when something breaks is something we agree on before we start.
n8n or Make, which is better?
Whichever fits your data and the way you run your business. n8n can run on your own server, Make runs as a cloud service. In the process check I’ll tell you what I would use and why.
Can you connect to our old industry software?
Possibly. As an employed developer at a previous employer, I connected SAP to a system around 30 years old. Whether and how your system can be connected is something we check in the process check.
How long does it take, and what does my company need to contribute?
You need one person who knows the process, approved access, typical cases including the exceptions, and time for testing. We agree on the schedule once the scope and approvals are clear. I can start from January 2027.
For development teams
And if your team wants to build it themselves?
Then I’ll show your development team how to put AI tools to good use in day-to-day work: an honest look at where you stand, a pilot on real code, rules for reviews and security. Measured against how your team works today, not against miracle numbers.
Contact
30 minutes, free, no obligation
You describe a process, and I’ll tell you honestly whether automating it pays off.
Prefer to write? Email bastian@neubecker.dev
Please don’t send any login details or confidential customer data yet. I read every message myself.
What happens next
You book a call or send me three sentences. You don’t need a formal specification.
I reply to messages ⟨response time⟩, with follow-up questions or a suggested time.
Intro call: 30 minutes, free, by video or phone. We find out whether the task and the collaboration are a good fit. If automation doesn’t pay off, I’ll tell you.
If it’s a fit: a quote for the paid process check. Whether you accept it is up to you.
Free and without obligation
Pick a time right here
30 minutes · free · by video or phone
Bastian Neubecker
Intro call · 30 min
- 30 min
- Video or phone
- Europe/Berlin
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