Services · Laravel Consulting
A senior Laravel & PHP backend consultant, not an agency.
25+ years in production, 13+ years as backend lead for a Swiss SaaS group. You talk to the engineer who reads your code and writes the fix — no account manager, no hand-off to a junior.
WHAT I FIX
Three problems I get called for most often.
When I come in as a consultant rather than a team member, these are the problems I get called for. If your backend is PHP or Laravel and your database is PostgreSQL or MySQL, this is my home turf.
Slow queries and database bottlenecks
Pages that take seconds, reports that time out, a database bill that keeps growing. I read the query plans, fix the schema and indexes, add caching where it pays off, and give you the numbers before and after.
Tools: PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, EXPLAIN ANALYZE, indexing, caching
Legacy code nobody wants to touch
Old PHP versions, no tests, a framework three majors behind. I stabilize the codebase, add a safety net of tests, and upgrade it step by step without stopping feature work or breaking production.
Tools: PHP 5.x to 8.x, Laravel & Symfony upgrades, tests, Docker
Queues, integrations and AI features that must not fail
Background jobs that silently drop, payment webhooks that double-fire, a first LLM feature that needs to be reliable rather than a demo. I build these the boring way: idempotent, observable, retry-safe.
Tools: Laravel Horizon, Redis queues, webhooks, Stripe, OpenAI & Anthropic APIs, n8n
Is this a fit?
Who I work best with
A good fit if you have
- A SaaS or product company with a PHP / Laravel backend already in production
- Real users and real pain: slow pages, growing DB costs, fragile deploys, a backlog nobody can start
- A team (or founder) who can give me repo access and answer questions async
- Companies in Poland, DACH, the Nordics or elsewhere in the EU working in English or Polish
Probably not the right fit
- Greenfield apps in Node or Go. I can help, but you will find a better match
- WordPress or Shopify theme work
- Projects that need daily on-site presence
How it works
From first call to merged fixes in about a week
01
30-minute call
You describe what hurts. I ask questions and tell you honestly whether I am the right person. No pitch.
02
Audit or a scoped first task
We agree a fixed price and a scope for the first week: the audit, or one concrete problem you want gone.
03
Pull requests and a written report
I work in your repository. You get PRs with clear descriptions, before/after numbers and a report you keep.
04
Continue only if it makes sense
If the first week was useful, we pick a retainer or a contract. If not, we part ways with no hard feelings.
Engagement options
Start small, or bring me in properly
Every engagement starts the same way: a fixed-price audit or a small first task.
40h / month
Backend Partner
€2,400 / month
For teams that need a senior pair of hands every week: fixes, query tuning, small features, reviews.
80h / month
Backend Lead
€4,400 / month
Half of my time for one product: refactoring, upgrades, scaling, ownership of the backend roadmap.
Need a senior engineer or backend lead on your team for a few months?
I also take B2B contracts: full-time or part-time, interim backend lead, or covering a gap while you hire. Remote from Poland, CET hours, invoice in EUR or PLN.
from €60/h
Proof
Production systems, not mock-ups
🇨🇭 Uniplex AG · Zurich, Switzerland
uniplex.ch13 years of backend ownership: refactoring, database tuning, integrations.
Outcome
Zero major backend-caused outages
- Owned PHP/Laravel backends across the product portfolio.
- Kept PostgreSQL latency sub-second under growing load through query and schema work.
- Added n8n and LLM pipelines to operational workflows.
🇨🇭 Compero.ch · Switzerland
compero.chReal-time lead capture, validation and partner CRM delivery.
Outcome
Sub-second intake-to-CRM, no lost leads on spikes
- Queue-based intake, validation and routing to partner APIs.
- SEO page generation engine feeding the funnel.
🇨🇭 Team Extension AG · Zurich, Switzerland
teamextension.chBackend delivery and team leadership for Swiss enterprise clients.
Outcome
Complex client backends delivered on time and on budget
- Led backend work on high-availability applications for Swiss clients.
- Chose architectures for cost and delivery speed, not for slides.
What clients say
Public LinkedIn recommendations
"Michal is an extremely skilled IT professional. Not only does he excel at programming, but Michal's management and PM skills are also impressive. Under his leadership, him and his team were able to diligently develop and deliver complex applications on time and on budget. He always suggests the most cost and time-efficient path to delivery, keeping in mind all the business imperatives. Michal is definitely someone I highly recommend and that I will keep working with in the future."
"It was a pleasure to work with Michał in Uniplex/Compero, building up the full platform and integrations. His solid technical leadership with a broad range of competencies helped us build a scalable and powerful solution avoiding unnecessary complexity. Michał is thorough, detail-oriented and friendly, making collaboration with him enjoyable and easy."
FAQ
Questions about Laravel & PHP consulting
Tell me what is slow or scary in your backend.
A free 30-minute call, no pitch. Or start with a fixed-price audit if you already know where it hurts.