FileMaker developer planning to retire in 2025? We’ll help you do it well.

As a developer, you can find yourself in an unfortunate trap simply because you did your job well and faithfully provided the service you were asked to provide. You would like to retire but your clients – who often become friends – are terrified of you abandoning them. And you can’t face doing it to them. After all, it could seriously impact their business.

So you keep on supporting the system that you built, month after month, year after year. Even though you really would like to retire. 

This is a common situation that self-employed developers can find themselves in. But it’s one that we have developed a solution to. Unlike many, we are happy to take on other developers’ work by learning how they did it and seamlessly following the same approach. We don’t tread on anyone’s toes and we only step forward when we’re asked to. In other words, you stay in control till the moment you decide you don’t want to be.

Supporting your retirement

Our tried and tested approach respects the relationship developers have with their clients but offers them a way to hand over their responsibilities, in a well-managed way, at a time that suits them. You’ll know that you’ve left your clients in good hands and that their business system will go on being supported; your departure will have no negative impact on their business. 

Our handover process works like this, although every project is different:

1. Shadowing. Initially we simply attend the same client meetings as you, listen and learn. We will start getting to know the key people you interact with and the tasks you’re asked to do. We won’t say anything unless asked and we won’t tread on your toes. Over time we may begin contributing to discussions, but only when you and we are ready for that.
   
2. Learning your approach. We observe the way you do development – things like naming conventions, scripting standards, backups – and make notes so that we too can follow the same approach. We also watch how you handle support requests.
3. Asking questions. We ask you about the requests you’re getting and how they fit into the bigger picture.  We ask you to explain different users and their role in the business and its workflow. We build up a picture of the business, team and how the system supports them.
4. Doing tasks. We start doing small development tasks, following your approach, which you then review and feed back on. This way we not only learn by doing but we also build your confidence by proving that we can do what is needed. This can help you get jobs done that may have been hanging around for years.
5. Handover period. When you are ready to step aside, we have a handover meeting with you and the clients and initiate a period in which we do all the system work but you are still available to answer questions.

No big bang, no big change

The great benefit of working like this is that there is no sudden, abrupt change and no disruption. No one feels let down. In fact, the handover process offers an opportunity to tackle any backlog of tasks and issues you may have. Or, indeed, to achieve some larger new projects which we can work on while you continue to handle the support function. 

Throughout the process we work in a collaborative and collegiate manner. It’s a mature and respectful way to hand over what you have created to people who will care for it properly, maintain it and, if need be, develop it further. 

Your clients will thank you, and you can sail off into your retirement with a clear conscience.