Meet Steve. He’s a developer.
One Tuesday morning, Steve was sipping his coffee when his phone rang.
“Hey,” the voice on the other end said, “I need a simple database to track my orders. Nothing fancy. Should be quick, right?”
If you’ve been in this industry long enough, you already know that the phrase “simple database” is about as comforting as someone saying “hold my beer” before attempting a backflip. But Steve is an optimist (some might say a glutton for punishment), so he replied, “Sure! Let’s hop on a call and talk it through.”
The Plot Thickens
During that first meeting, the “simple database” began revealing its true nature—like a chameleon in a paint store.
“Oh, and we need to track customers too.”
“Can it send email confirmations?”
“Actually, we have different pricing for different customer types.”
“Oh! And we need reports. Lots of reports.”
“Can customers log in and see their order history?”
“We accept five different payment methods, by the way.”
By the end of the hour, Steve’s “simple database” had quietly evolved into a full-blown order management system—complete with customer portals, payment processing, automated emails, and enough reporting features to make a data analyst weep with joy.
Simple. Right.
Why Does This Always Happen?
Here’s the thing: clients aren’t trying to trick anyone. They genuinely believe their needs are simple because they’re comparing them to massive systems like Amazon or Salesforce.
In their mind, they’re just tracking orders. How hard could it be?
What they don’t see is what “tracking orders” actually involves:
- Storing data securely
- Managing relationships between customers, orders, products, and payments
- Handling different business rules and workflows
- Supporting different user roles and permissions
- Generating reports that are actually useful
- Integrating with payment processors
- Sending notifications and confirmations
- Backing up data (because disasters happen)
- Scaling as the business grows
Suddenly, “simple” doesn’t look so simple anymore.
What Steve Learned (the Hard Way)
After seeing several “simple” projects turn into six-month journeys, Steve developed a survival strategy. Now, when someone says they need a “simple database,” here’s what he does.
Ask About the Verbs
Instead of asking, “What do you want to store?” Steve asks, “What do you want to do?”
Create orders?
Update them?
Cancel them?
Refund them?
Report on them?
Export them?
Share them?
Each verb is a feature. Each feature takes time. This conversation alone usually multiplies the original timeline—before the data structure even enters the discussion.
Talk About the Users
Who’s using the system?
Just the owner?
The whole team?
Customers?
Vendors?
A database used by one person is wildly different from a system where customers log in, place orders, track shipments, download invoices, while sales agents manage commissions and managers run financial reports.
Same “database.” Entirely different universe.
Discuss the “What Ifs”
Steve also asks questions clients rarely think about—until it’s too late:
- What if you get 100 orders in a day instead of 10?
- What if someone enters the wrong price?
- What if a payment fails?
- What if the internet goes down?
- What if someone deletes an important order by accident?
These “what ifs” surface requirements that will come up eventually—often at 11 PM on a Saturday.
The Happy Ending
These days, when someone says they need a “simple database,” Steve just smiles.
“I love simple projects,” he says. “Let’s spend an hour understanding what simple means for your business.”
That single hour—digging into workflows, users, edge cases, and future plans—saves everyone from painful surprises halfway through the project.
And sometimes? It really is simple. A spreadsheet replacement with better structure and search. Those projects are a joy.
But more often, it’s a full business system wearing a “simple database” disguise. And that’s perfectly fine—as long as everyone knows what’s being built before the first line of code is written.
The Real Lesson
What Steve wishes more developers understood is this: when a client says “simple,” they’re not wrong. They’re just speaking from their perspective.
The developer’s job isn’t to correct them—it’s to translate “simple” into real requirements.
Because clients don’t care about schemas, indexes, or relationships. They care about solving their business problem without pulling their hair out.
And if you can take a “simple database” request and turn it into a system that quietly handles all the complexity behind the scenes, you’re not just a developer.
You’re a business problem solver who happens to speak code.
And that’s worth far more than someone who just builds “simple databases.”
Takeaway:
The next time someone asks for a “simple database,” don’t rush to estimate. Grab a coffee, sit down with them, and explore what simple really means. Your future self—and your project timeline—will thank you.