When our agency first started in the late 90s, we noticed a pattern. Many clients already had designers, either internally or through their marketing agencies. The designs looked polished on paper, but most of them came from people with print backgrounds. Converting those designs into something web-friendly was a different challenge altogether, as browsers often didn’t have the capabilities to fully reproduce a design that started in print.
Beyond the design work, few of those teams had the development skills or the knowledge to handle the fractured nature of the web and the quirks of different browsers.
In those early days, we found ourselves leaning heavily into development out of necessity. Clients needed someone who could not just make a design look right on the web, but also ensure it worked across platforms and devices. That foundation shaped our approach from the very beginning. Development wasn’t just an add-on service for us. It became one of our core strengths, and as we grew, it gave us the confidence to take on complex builds where the question was never if we could do it, but how we would architect it.
Depth of Skill That Clients Can Rely On
One of the biggest advantages of building an in-house development team is the sheer depth and variety of skills we can offer. As an agency, we see projects that come in all shapes and sizes, written in different languages and built on different platforms. No single developer can know everything, but across our team, we’ve built up strong coverage of the technologies our clients are most likely to need. That means there’s a very good chance someone on our team can jump into your project and get to work quickly.
What makes our team even stronger is the curiosity and drive of the individuals behind it. Many of our developers spend time outside of work experimenting with tools, frameworks, and languages that may not be part of our day-to-day stack. That passion translates directly into better problem-solving, more creative solutions, and ongoing growth that benefits our clients.
Consistency That Builds Confidence
Technology projects are rarely “one and done.” Applications evolve, new features are added, integrations change, security patches need to be applied. When you work with our development team, you’re working with the same people who know your application inside and out. We don’t cycle through contractors or shuffle projects around unnecessarily.
That consistency has real benefits:
- You don’t need to repeatedly onboard new people.
- Our team members stick with projects long-term, building deep knowledge of your systems.
- Because our developers work together regularly, they understand each other’s workflows, making collaboration smoother and more efficient.
We also hold ourselves to consistent practices, tools, and coding standards. That means when a project shifts between team members, the handoff is seamless, and the learning curve is shorter. For clients, that translates into faster delivery and fewer delays.
Control, Quality, and Efficiency
We’ve seen many projects that were outsourced to other companies or overseas developers. On the surface, the cost savings can look attractive. But the hidden costs often show up later in the form of quality issues, communication hurdles, cultural mismatches, or difficulties with ongoing support.
By building and maintaining our own development team, we’ve sidestepped many of those challenges. Our clients work directly with us, with no layers of third parties in between. That means:
- Faster turnaround times when new needs arise.
- Higher quality outcomes, since we hold our work to consistent standards.
- A single point of accountability. If something doesn’t work, there’s no finger-pointing. We own it and fix it.
Of course, there are cases where third-party tools make perfect sense. For example, no one needs to reinvent a payment processor. But when the solution requires something more custom, having a dedicated, skilled development team on your side makes all the difference.
Why It Matters
Ultimately, building out our own development team wasn’t just a business decision. It was about creating a foundation of trust and capability that serves our clients better. It means you’re working with a team that has the depth of experience to handle complexity, the consistency to support your project long-term, and the control to deliver quality and efficiency every step of the way.
For us, that’s the real advantage. And for our clients, it means peace of mind knowing that when challenges come up, we’re ready to solve them. As an added bonus, the people working on your website live, work and play in the community where many of our clients are. We are building the tools to register our kids for activities, find a doctor and pay bills (to name a few) that we are also using in our daily lives.
