I fix the old database your business is scared to touch.

Replacing it is expensive. Leaving it is a risk.

The usual advice is to rip out the old system and buy something new. That costs tens of thousands, retrains every staff member, and loses twenty years of quirks that were there for a reason.

There's a middle path: understand exactly what the current system does, fix the parts that hurt, back it up properly, and modernise one piece at a time.

1. Read the system, not just the manual. I pull apart the actual forms, queries and code to map how orders really move through the business.
2. Work on a copy. Nothing touches the live system. Every bug is reproduced in an isolated copy first.
3. Test everything. Each fix comes with automated tests, so I can prove it works and that nothing else broke.
4. Keep the screens your staff know. Fixes happen underneath. Nobody has to relearn their job.

I use AI coding agents (mostly Claude) to do the heavy reading and testing. That's what makes this affordable for a small business — a week of careful work instead of a quarter.

A horticulture supplier, Northland.

Orders, delivery scheduling and invoicing run on a Microsoft Access system shared by the office. Name withheld.