Websites & small business tools · Chicago
Websites you actually own.
I build modern websites for small businesses — and when the project is done, everything is yours. The domain, the hosting, the passwords, the code. No hostage sites. No calling your web guy to change a phone number.
I'm Max Radakovitz. I take on one to two projects a month, so I can give each one real attention.
Sound familiar?
Most small businesses don't own their own website.
They just don't know it yet.
The site was built years ago by someone who registered the domain under their own name. The hosting is on an account nobody has the login for. Changing a phone number means emailing a person who takes four days to reply — if they reply at all.
It isn't usually malicious. It's just how a lot of web work gets done. But it leaves you renting something you paid to build.
Two questions worth asking about your current site: Whose name is the domain registered in? And could you change your business hours yourself right now, today, without calling anyone?
If you can't answer both, that's the problem I fix.
The handover
What you get on the last day
Not a promise — a checklist. Every item below transfers to you at final payment.
- The domain, registered in your business name, in your own account
- The hosting account, in your name, on your card
- The database, if your site uses one
- Every third-party account I set up, with the login
- Every password, in one document
- The complete source code, in a repository you own
- A written guide for updating the site yourself
- A short screen recording walking through it
If you stop working with me tomorrow,
nothing breaks and nothing gets held.
Services
What I build
Small, well-made things. If your project is bigger than this, I'll tell you early and point you somewhere better.
Business websites
A clean, fast, mobile-first site that explains what you do and makes it easy to contact you. Built so you can edit the text and images yourself.
Website redesigns
You have a site. It's dated, slow on phones, or you can't change anything on it. I rebuild it properly and hand you the keys.
Landing pages
One focused page for a single service, campaign, or offer. Fast to build, fast to launch.
Quote request systems
A form that asks the right questions up front, so the leads that reach your inbox are already qualified.
Simple customer portals
A basic login where your customers can see their information — orders, documents, job status. Kept deliberately simple.
Small internal tools
A lightweight dashboard or tracker that replaces a spreadsheet you've outgrown. Same ownership terms as everything else.
Pricing
Plainly stated, before you call.
Fixed price, agreed before anything starts. Half up front, half at launch. No hourly billing, no surprise invoices.
One page
$750
Fixed price
- Single-page site
- Mobile-first, fast, accessible
- Contact form
- Basic SEO setup
- Full ownership handover
- Two rounds of revisions
Business website
$1,200
Fixed price · most common
- Up to five pages
- Mobile-first, fast, accessible
- Contact or quote form
- Basic SEO setup
- You can edit text and images
- Full ownership handover
- Written guide + walkthrough video
- Two rounds of revisions
Tools & portals
Quoted
After a short conversation
- Quote request systems
- Simple customer logins
- Small internal dashboards
- Priced once scope is clear
- Full ownership handover
Copywriting — add $400
Most people stall for weeks trying to write their own website copy. If you'd rather not, I'll write it. This is the single most common reason a project runs late, so it's worth considering up front.
Care plan — $75/month
Entirely optional. You own everything either way, and you can cancel any month by email. No contract.
- Updates, backups, and monitoring
- Hosting and domain renewals handled
- Up to 30 minutes of content changes monthly
- Replies within two business days
How it works
Four steps, three to four weeks.
No standing meetings. Most of this happens over email, on your schedule.
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A short conversation
Twenty or thirty minutes, phone or email, whichever you prefer. I ask what your business does, who you're trying to reach, and what's wrong with your current situation. If I'm not the right fit, I'll say so here.
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A fixed quote
A written proposal with the exact price, exactly what's included, how many pages, and the timeline. Nothing changes after you approve it unless you ask for something new.
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Content, then build
I send a simple checklist of what I need — your text, photos, logo, hours. Once it's all in hand, I build. Gathering it beforehand is what keeps projects from dragging on for months.
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Launch and handover
The site goes live, and I walk you through every account, every password, and how to make your own updates. Then it's yours.
Selected work
Some of what I've built
Real projects, currently live — from a full sales CRM to nonprofit tools to professional services.
Territory Radar
A field-sales CRM for people who sell to trucking fleets. It pulls real registered carriers from federal FMCSA data, scores which yards are actually worth stopping at, and optimizes the day's route. A rep can photograph a truck door and have the USDOT number turn into a full company profile, build a quote PDF in the customer's parking lot, and send an end-of-day report — all from a phone. Multi-tenant, with organizations, rep roles, and cross-team duplicate detection.
Oxford House Illinois Challenges
A fundraising platform where member houses run photo challenges. Members submit entries, the community votes, and the site tracks participating houses and running totals — with privacy safeguards built into the submission flow.
BriskHouse
A weekly submission and reporting tool built for an Oxford House chapter. Members sign in, submit their weekly information, and the system compiles it into reports. Private and login-only — the kind of small tool that replaces a shared spreadsheet.
The Pension Specialists
The website for an independent retirement plan administrator in Illinois — services, advisor resources, downloadable forms and calculators, and client portal access for plan sponsors, serving firms from broker-dealers to medical groups.
I've also done marketing and content work in the commercial tire and real estate industries. Happy to talk through any of it.
About
I'm Max Radakovitz.
I build websites and small business tools for companies around Chicago.
I've worked in marketing and web development for small businesses, and I spend my days in commercial sales — which means most of my week is spent talking with owners and managers of exactly the kind of company I build for. I hear what frustrates them about their websites long before anyone hires me to fix it.
I work with a small number of clients at a time — usually one or two projects a month. That's deliberate. It means I answer my own email, I do the work myself, and nobody hands your project off to someone you've never spoken to.
The ownership thing isn't a marketing angle. I've seen too many small businesses stuck paying someone for access to something they already bought. It's a bad way to treat people, and it's easy to just not do.
Questions
The things people actually ask
If I own everything, what stops me from leaving?
Nothing. That's the point. You should be able to walk away — most people don't, because there's no reason to.
Can I really update it myself?
Yes, for the things that change most: text, photos, prices, hours, staff, services, blog posts. Bigger structural changes are worth a conversation, but you'll never need to call me to fix a phone number.
What if I already have a website?
Most of my work is redesigns. If you don't know who owns your current domain, I'll help you find out — that's usually the first thing worth sorting out, whether or not you hire me.
How long does it take?
Three to four weeks for a typical business site, once I have your content. The waiting is almost always on content, not on building.
What does hosting cost after we're done?
For most small business sites, somewhere between nothing and about $20 a month, paid directly to the hosting company on your own card. I don't mark it up and I don't resell it.
Do you do SEO or run ads?
I set up the basics properly — page titles, descriptions, fast loading, mobile, a sitemap, Google Business Profile. I don't sell ongoing SEO retainers or manage ad campaigns.
What if my project is bigger than this?
I'll tell you in the first conversation and suggest someone better suited. I'd rather lose the job than take on something I can't do well.
Do you use AI to build these?
I use modern tools, including AI, the same way any competent shop uses better equipment — it's part of why I can charge what I charge. The design decisions, the writing, and the judgment are mine, and I stand behind the result either way.
Get in touch
Tell me what you're working with.
No pitch deck, no discovery process, no pressure. Tell me about your business and I'll tell you honestly whether I can help and what it would cost.
If it's not a fit, I'll say so and try to point you somewhere useful.