The Real Process Behind a Client Project (Athletic AbhyAn)
Author
Navas
Published
January 8, 2026
Category
Case Study
A transparent look at how a "simple landing page" became a full platform with CMS and brand redesign. What actually happened from first conversation to launch.
How it started
I met Abhy through cricket. We play for the same club in West London, often drive to matches together. Those drives turned into long conversations about fitness, startups, and careers.
Abhy and his brother Anurag run Athletic AbhyAn - personalised fitness coaching for athletes. Not your standard gym programme, but tailored training based on individual goals and sports. They'd built a growing client base through Instagram, YouTube, and word of mouth.
During one drive, Abhy mentioned wanting a landing page. Something simple to send potential clients to. He'd already written a brief and was considering outsourcing to a developer in India.
I asked to see the brief. Then I offered to help.
The proof of concept
I built a quick POC within days. Nothing fancy - just enough to show direction and align expectations before committing to anything bigger.
The response was positive. Abhy shared it with his brother, they discussed, came back with feedback. That's when the scope started evolving naturally.
They didn't just want a landing page. They wanted to publish blogs. Showcase YouTube content. Display testimonials. Have a proper sign-up flow. List their programmes with pricing.
The brief for "a simple landing page" was actually a brief for a platform.
The brand problem
As I reviewed their existing assets, the visual identity didn't match the ambition. The logo felt cluttered - bodybuilder silhouette, decorative leaves, circular border, all crammed together. It looked like clip art, didn't scale well, felt dated.
I proposed simplifying it. Something bolder, cleaner, more modern. Several iterations later, we landed on an "AA" monogram with strong typography and a forward-leaning angle. Movement, progress, strength.
This wasn't scope creep - it was necessary. A polished website with a clip-art logo would have felt disjointed.
What I actually built
The public site includes hero section, about the founders, programmes listing, testimonials, blog, video section, resources hub, contact form, and a six-step onboarding flow.
But the clever bit is the CMS. A custom admin dashboard where Abhy and Anurag can manage everything themselves:
Write and edit blog posts with rich text editing. Upload and organise media. Link YouTube videos automatically. Add or remove programmes. Manage testimonials. View and track onboarding submissions. Get email notifications for new enquiries.
No more Google Forms. No more scattered spreadsheets. No more asking me to update their phone number.
The technical decisions
Next.js for frontend and API routes. TypeScript throughout. Tailwind CSS for styling. NeonDB for PostgreSQL database. Vercel for deployment. Vercel Blob for media storage. Resend for transactional emails.
Nothing exotic. Just reliable tools that work well together and don't require maintenance overhead.
The handover
Beyond building, I helped with ownership transfer. Set up a GitHub account, migrated the codebase to their repository. Configured Vercel deployment, walked through the dashboard. Advised on domain purchase and email setup. Documented next steps for future features.
The goal was to leave them informed, not dependent.
Timeline and scope evolution
Six weeks from first conversation to launch. The scope evolved significantly from the original brief, but that evolution produced better results than a rigid spec would have.
What started as "a landing page" became a platform that actually supports their business growth. That flexibility - staying open to learning what's really needed - is how good projects happen.
What I learned
The best products come from genuine relationships and real problems. I didn't cold pitch Abhy. I offered to help someone I knew and wanted to see succeed. That foundation made everything smoother.
Scope evolution isn't always scope creep. Sometimes you discover what's actually needed by starting to build. A rigid spec would have delivered something worse.
Real stakeholders teach you more than any course. Requirements gathering, prioritisation, expectation management, technical decisions with business implications - this was the full cycle of product development, compressed into six weeks.
That's the work that matters. Real products for real people solving real problems.