Some Fantastic

About us

Some Fantastic is an independent web development and consultancy firm based in the UK. It is headed by Steve Jalim and backed by a high-quality network of project management, design and development freelancers.

We can take a web application from your initial idea through design and development to launch - and well beyond. We can provide skilled additional resources for your existing development projects. We can offer carefully considered technical advice. There's lots of stuff we can do for you - just ask and you'll always get a straight answer.

We're happy to work for clients anywhere, and have years of experience of highly effective remote working. And for on-site meetings, workshops and initial development, we're happy to come to wherever you are. It's good to travel.

Clients include

Smaller client projects we've taken on include a companion website for a series of popular cookery books, a solar energy startup's web presence, a simple CMS for actors and contributing to the development of a fabulous kids' story-telling site.

Development

We specialise in creating rich, useable web applications. We design and build efficient, clean front-end code and scalable, robust backends and web services. We don't just re-skin off-the-shelf applications and call it a day.

Through real-world experience, we also understand cloud computing: who it's right for (and not right for); how to get the best from it and who to pick as a provider, based on each project's priorities.

Finally, we firmly believe that open-source software projects provide an unbeatable combination of cutting-edge functionality and excellent value. That's why we use what we consider to be the best of them and are happy to provide technology recommendations from the open-source world.

Preferred tools

Writing

Over the years, we've gained a sizeable chunk of knowledge about what we're doing, and realised that often, we're repeating very similar things to different people. Which is why it made sense to get it all down in a couple of affordable, useful ebooks.

From idea to income: a tech primer for startups

Due: Late 2013

This clear, concise guide is designed to help any aspiring non-technical business founder get their head around the technologies central to launching a web-based business.
Taking in the essential topics, busting jargon and explaining everything in an accessible way, this guide will leave even net-naive entrepreneurs in a position to make informed decisions from day one, without having to acquire that knowledge the hard way.

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How to thrive as a freelance developer

On sale now

A hit-the-ground-running guide for freelance developers, this book combines Steve's experience as a respected, trusted independent dev (and many years as a freelance journalist) with advice and anecdotes drawn from his professional network.
From the decision to strike out on your own to keeping clients happy, from managing finances to winning new work and more, there's enough considered advice here that any freelancer or contractor - from greenhorn to old hand - will learn something new and useful.

Get the book at Leanpub.com

Training

For clients who want to get up to speed before a project but want to ask questions along the way, we run a relaxed, non-geekspeak seminar based on our tech primer book, customised to attendees' needs, experience and business areas.

Web-based business primer: the seminar

Whether you're an entrepreneur keen to launch your first web-based startup or a staff member transitioning to a web-related role, we run through the essentials about how the internet works, how your business fits into it, what you need to be considering when making technology decisions - and what you don't.
Contact us for more information