Custom software · Scoped first

When the tool that almost fits is costing you more than it saves.

Every business has a spreadsheet holding something together, or a system everyone works around. Sometimes the fix is to write the thing properly. Often it is not, and I will tell you which.

Smallest job I take

from $3,000

Below that, an automation or an off-the-shelf tool will serve you better and I will say so.

Worth writing when

The way you work is the businessYour pricing, your routing, your rules — the thing no product knows about.
Staff spend hours on workaroundsRe-keying, exporting, fixing the same thing every week.
Licences cost more than a buildPer seat, per month, for features you never touch.

Not worth it when

A $40 a month product does itThen buy it. I will help you set it up as an automation job instead.
Nobody can describe the processIf it is different every time, software will only make the mess faster.
It is one person's preferenceBuilt for one habit, abandoned when that person leaves.

The shapes it usually takes

Three kinds of build, and what they run to.

An internal system

Jobs, staff, stock or scheduling, held in one place instead of four spreadsheets.

$3,000–$8,000 · 3–6 weeks

A customer-facing portal

Where your customers book, upload, check progress or pay without ringing you.

$5,000–$15,000 · 4–8 weeks

A quoting or pricing engine

Your rules, applied the same way every time, by anyone in the office.

$4,000–$10,000 · 3–6 weeks

Ranges from jobs of this shape, not a quote for yours. Yours gets a fixed price per stage before that stage starts.

How it is paid for

01 · Scope$500

A written spec you own

Screens, rules, and a fixed price for the build. Credited if you go ahead, yours to shop around if you do not.

02 · First slice40%

The part that matters most

Working software in two to three weeks, on real data, not a prototype.

03 · The rest40%

Built out and handed over

You see it weekly. Anything you want changed goes on the list before it is built, not after.

04 · Live20%

One month of fixes included

Paid only once it is running with your people using it.

What you end up owning

The point of paying for a build is that it is yours afterwards.

The source codeIn your own repository from the first week, not handed over at the end.
The accounts and the billHosting and services in your name, so nothing dies if I stop trading.
Notes another dev can readHow it works and why, so you are not tied to me for changes.

Tell me what the spreadsheet is holding together.

I will say whether it is a $3,000 build, a $699 automation, or a product you should just buy.

Get in touch 022 122 0936