Independent product development for startups and growing teams
SaaS platforms and mobile apps, built from idea to production.
I help founders and product teams build dependable web platforms, mobile applications, APIs, and cloud systems — whether you are launching an MVP or improving an existing product.
Based in Tangier, working remotely with clients and teams internationally.
Services
What I can build with you
SaaS product development
Founders need a production-ready platform, not a prototype that stalls at the first cohort of real users.
Mobile application development
Cross-platform apps that feel native, integrate with a real backend, and ship on both app stores.
MVP development
Founders who need to validate and launch a product without overbuilding it.
Backend & cloud development
Systems that hold up under real usage, deployed and monitored properly.
Where you are now
Three ways projects usually start
You have an idea, but no technical partner
We scope the smallest version that proves the idea, agree what is in and out, and build it as one working release rather than a pile of half-finished features.
Technical planning · Focused MVP scope · Working release
Your product works, but it is starting to buckle
I go into the existing codebase, find where it actually hurts — queries, architecture, deploys — and fix that first, before anyone talks about a rewrite.
Architecture review · Performance work · Deployment & monitoring
Your team is good, but at capacity
I join as an extra senior pair of hands across frontend, backend, mobile and infrastructure, working in your milestones and leaving documentation behind.
Full-stack capacity · Reviewable milestones · Handover docs
Products I've helped build:
- Cilea
- Aqarrati
- Youssef Parfumes
Selected work
Three products, three different problems
Aqarrati
Morocco's rental market runs on paper: landlords lose hours to manual contracts, chase payments by phone, and risk contracts that don't meet the legal standard.
Platform build complete; contract templates in legal certification ahead of the Tangier beta.
Role: Product owner and full-stack developer — API, web app, and infrastructure
Youssef Parfumes
A Moroccan K-beauty and skincare retailer needed a storefront that sells in French, Arabic, and English — and takes real orders — without running a commerce backend of its own.
Live at youssefparfumes.com, selling through a headless Shopify backend.
Role: Solo — full-stack development
Interface mockup — illustrative of the live storefront. Production screenshots pending.
CileaMoov
A bike-rental business is busiest exactly when its software is least usable: a queue at the counter, bikes going out and coming back, and a customer asking whether the tandem is free on Saturday.
In production with Cilea's rental customers; my work spans reservation flows, pricing and invoicing, client-balance exports, and the React Native counter app.
Role: Collaborator — Cilea software & payments dev team (B2B contract)
Public reference: cileamoov.fr
Client platform — screenshots withheld under the client agreement.
CileaRent
A 162-form Microsoft Access application still runs French car-rental agencies day to day. Moving it to the web means rebuilding years of accumulated business logic without asking those agencies to stop working.
Migration in progress on Next.js and PostgreSQL, audited form by form against the legacy system. My largest single area of contribution at Cilea.
Role: Collaborator — Cilea software & payments dev team (B2B contract)
Public reference: automobile.cilea.fr/cilearent
Client platform — screenshots withheld under the client agreement.
CileaPay
A pharmacy chain or restaurant group with several tills ends the day with several separate stories about what it earned — one per terminal. CileaPay makes that a single record merchants can search, group, and export.
In production, integrated with the Lyra payment gateway; I worked across the payment service, the merchant platform, and terminal security.
Role: Collaborator — Cilea software & payments dev team (B2B contract)
Public reference: cileapay.fr
Client platform — screenshots withheld under the client agreement.
CileaCloud
Every Cilea product generates paper that matters — contracts, invoices, inspection reports — and each was solving storage and signing for itself. Those questions have the same answer everywhere, and only need answering well once.
Shared signing service with OTP-protected signature, tamper detection on the source PDF, and audit-safe evidence handling, covered by automated tests.
Role: Collaborator — Cilea software & payments dev team (B2B contract)
Public reference: cilea.fr
Client platform — screenshots withheld under the client agreement.
Process
How we would work together
Discover
Understand the users, business objective, current product stage, constraints, and success criteria.
Scope
Define the essential functionality, delivery stages, responsibilities, timeline, and technical approach.
Build
Deliver in visible milestones with regular demonstrations and feedback.
Launch
Prepare production infrastructure, analytics, testing, deployment, and app-store submission where applicable.
Improve
Monitor the product, address feedback, and plan future releases.
Why work with me
Specific working advantages, not soft-skill ratings
Direct communication
You talk with the developer doing the work, not an account manager.
Business-language decisions
Product and technical trade-offs explained in terms that matter to your business.
Full-stack view
One partner across frontend, backend, mobile, and infrastructure.
Small, reviewable milestones
Delivery broken into visible stages you can check in on, not a single black-box handoff.
Documentation included
Handover material included so your team isn't dependent on me to maintain it.
Support after launch
Available for ongoing support and improvements when agreed in advance.
About
Issam Elbouhati
I've been building production software since 2021, working across real estate, food delivery, e-commerce, and messaging products. I work directly with founders and product teams — planning the architecture, writing the code, and staying involved through launch and beyond.
Based in Tangier, Morocco, collaborating remotely with clients and teams internationally.
Common questions
Before you reach out
What kinds of projects are a good fit?
SaaS platforms, mobile applications, and backend/API work — from a new MVP to improving an existing product.
Can you work with an existing codebase?
Yes. I regularly join existing products to add features, fix bottlenecks, or modernize architecture.
Do you provide UI/UX design, or work with a designer?
I can work from your existing designs, or collaborate with a designer you bring in — whichever fits the project.
Can you help scope an MVP?
Yes — technical planning and scoping is part of how every engagement starts.
What happens after launch?
Ongoing support and improvement is available when agreed as part of the engagement.
What project budgets or engagement models do you accept?
It depends on scope — the project form lets you share a budget range and preferred engagement model so I can respond usefully.
Have a product to build or improve?
Pick a time that suits you. Thirty minutes, no obligation — tell me what you are working on and I'll suggest a useful next step.