We got a call from a client running a food delivery platform for corporate businesses.
The problem? Every day during lunch hour - their busiest time - the platform would crash. Orders would fail. Customers would leave. The client was losing money and reputation simultaneously.
We dug into the codebase. The issue wasn't the server. It wasn't traffic volume. It was the code itself.
Here's what we found:
Problem 1 - Fetching everything, using nothing
The database queries were pulling every single column from every table. Even data that was never displayed to the user. Under low traffic, this is inefficient. Under 500 concurrent users at lunch? It becomes a disaster.
Problem 2 - Running the same query twice
The same database call was being executed twice on every single page load. Double the database load, for zero additional benefit.
The Fix
We rewrote the queries to fetch only the required columns. We eliminated the duplicate calls. The platform stopped crashing.
Two changes. Massive impact.
The lesson for business owners:
If your platform slows down or crashes under load, don't immediately blame your hosting or server. Nine times out of ten, the problem is in the code - specifically how it talks to your database.
A performance audit costs far less than losing customers during peak hours.
At KeyTech, we specialise in diagnosing and fixing performance issues in web applications. If your platform is slow or unreliable, let's talk.*