About Lightning Developments
I build the systems I wish I'd had when I was running my own business.
I'm Rupert Gough, founder of Lightning Developments, a Tauranga-based NZ business automation and custom software company for SMBs that need practical intranets, client portals, workflow automation, and AI strategy. I've spent most of my career running businesses, not just writing code. That changes how I scope problems, how I design software, and what I care about when something needs to work in the real world.
From Mortgage Lab to Lightning Developments
I built Mortgage Lab from scratch, a mortgage advisory business that I scaled across New Zealand before selling it to the Maurice Trapp Group in 2022. That founder/operator background is why Lightning Developments focuses on practical systems strategy, AI adoption, workflow automation, portals, intranets, dashboards, and custom software that solves real business drag. During that journey, I lived every operational headache a small business can throw at you.
Spreadsheets that no one could make sense of. Manual processes that ate hours every week. Client data scattered across email, shared drives, and people's heads. Commission calculations that took days when they should have taken minutes.
I started building tools to fix my own problems, internal dashboards, automation workflows, client portals. The more I built, the more I realised that every small business I knew had the same issues. Most of them just didn't realise that practical solutions had become affordable.
Bridging two worlds
Most developers have never run a business. They build what they're told to build, but they don't always understand why a business owner needs it, or what the real problem is behind the request.
Most business owners, meanwhile, know something could be better but don't know what's technically possible or where to start. I sit in the middle. I help clarify the problem, show what's realistic, and then build the system.
That's the point of Lightning Developments, practical software shaped by business reality.
80 hrs
How long a process used to take annually
4 hrs
How long it takes now
5 hrs
How long it took me to build
One client had an annual process that consumed 80 hours of work. I built a system in 5 hours that reduced it to 4. That's the kind of result that used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars and now sits well within reach for small businesses.
What working with me looks like
I start by understanding your business, not your tech stack. What takes too long? Where do things fall through the cracks? What questions can't you answer without digging through spreadsheets?
Then I build the systems to fix it. Sometimes that means connecting the tools you already use. Sometimes it means replacing a mess of spreadsheets with a proper dashboard. Sometimes it means automating the busywork that keeps stealing your team's time.
Every hour is tracked to the second. You only pay for work that gets done. No bloated retainers, no mystery invoices, no hand-wavy agency theatre.
Beyond the code
I'm based in Tauranga with my daughter Sophie. When I'm not building systems, you'll usually find me out on the water, paddleboarding, wing foiling, or chasing snow in winter. I'm also a dedicated Formula 1 fan and a Lewis Hamilton supporter.
What I enjoy most is the moment a business owner sees the shift. They realise that software which used to feel out of reach can now be built sensibly, quickly, and for a fraction of what it once cost.
I like turning admin-heavy businesses into calmer, clearer, more efficient ones.