Tell us what you need built.

Thanks for talking with us. This is the next step: how the work runs today, what should change, and who will use it, written down, so the demo we build is of the right thing. About 22 minutes if you do it all at once, and you do not have to.

  • There are no wrong answers. If you do not know, say so or skip it. Working that out together is the job.
  • Plain words are fine. You do not need the technical name for anything. Describe the job the way you would to a new hire; the term is beside it in small type if you want it.
  • Show us the mess. A screenshot of the spreadsheet, a photo of the whiteboard, the form everyone hates. There is a place for them near the end, and they help more than any answer here.
  • Given a code by us? Enter it below and the form remembers your answers across devices, and you can ask us anything as you go.

What happens after you send it: a person, not a bot, reads it and replies within one business day with a demo price, or a couple of questions. No calls unless you want one. Software is priced per project, so there are no figures on this page. You will see every number in writing before you commit to anything.

It saves your answers so you can close this and come back, and it turns on the question box at the bottom of the page. No code? Carry on, the form works exactly the same without it.

Part 1 of 7about 3 min

You and your business

So we know who we are talking to, how to reach you, and how you would like to be talked to.

Where the written reply goes.

Only if you would rather we called or texted. We will not put you on a list.

As if you were telling a neighbour.

What is your part in it?
How many people work in it, roughly?
Best way to reach you
How would you like us to explain things to you? needed

We will use this for every message from here on. It is the most useful box on this page.

Part 2 of 7about 4 min

How the work runs today

Including the parts held together with a spreadsheet and one person's memory. Especially those.

What do you run the business on now?

This is the answer we use most. Every step, however small, and who does it.

Every copy is a place for a mistake and an hour a week. Name them all.

The embarrassing ones are the useful ones.

Hours a week spent on admin, across everyone

Names or roles, either is fine.

Part 3 of 7about 3 min

What should change

Not what the software should have. What should be different about your week, your numbers, or your customers once it exists.

What would make this worth the money? needed

Be specific. This becomes the test we measure the build against.

Part 4 of 7about 5 min

What to look at

Check anything you would like, or are not sure about. Every line says what it means in plain words. Nothing here is a commitment, and nothing here has a price yet.

What does “operations hub” mean?

Usually the centre of a build. Everything else plugs into it. Some people call it operations hub.

What does “scheduling and dispatch” mean?

For trades, cleaners, deliveries, clinics, anyone who sends people out or books them in. Some people call it scheduling and dispatch.

What does “inventory and asset tracking” mean?

Includes scanning with a phone, and a photo of a delivery note instead of typing it. Some people call it inventory and asset tracking.

What does “CRM” mean?

Built around how you actually talk to customers, not a sales pipeline you do not have. Some people call it CRM.

What does “integration” mean?

Most builds keep the tools you like and replace only the part that does not fit. Some people call it integration.

What does “iOS and Android app, internal” mean?

Works without signal and sends itself later, which matters more than it sounds. Some people call it iOS and Android app, internal.

What does “iOS and Android app, customer-facing” mean?

Only worth building when people come back often. We will say if a website does the job. Some people call it iOS and Android app, customer-facing.

What does “workflow automation” mean?

The single biggest saver of office hours in most businesses we have looked at. Some people call it workflow automation.

What does “invoicing and payment chasing” mean?

Connects to what you use for bookkeeping rather than replacing it. Some people call it invoicing and payment chasing.

What does “compliance routines” mean?

For anyone an inspector visits. The record is the point. Some people call it compliance routines.

What does “document generation” mean?

Your own templates, your own wording. Signed on a phone if you need that. Some people call it document generation.

What does “notifications and handoffs” mean?

Text, email, or a nudge in the app. The handoffs that fall through the cracks today. Some people call it notifications and handoffs.

What does “document AI, OCR” mean?

A person checks anything it is unsure about. It gets faster as it goes. Some people call it document AI, OCR.

What does “AI customer response” mean?

It hands off rather than inventing an answer. You see everything it said. Some people call it AI customer response.

What does “forecasting” mean?

Needs a few months of data to be useful. We will tell you if you do not have it yet. Some people call it forecasting.

What does “knowledge assistant” mean?

Good for training and for the questions that always come to you. Some people call it knowledge assistant.

What does “owner dashboard” mean?

Built from the numbers you actually decide with, not everything that can be measured. Some people call it owner dashboard.

What does “threshold alerts” mean?

The quiet part of a system that pays for itself. Some people call it threshold alerts.

What does “data migration” mean?

Usually part of any build that replaces something. Say what you have and we will look at it. Some people call it data migration.

What does “systems stewardship” mean?

Optional, after handover. The system runs without us either way; that is a design requirement. Some people call it systems stewardship.

If it exists, we have probably built it. If it does not, that is more interesting.

Keep, connect, or replace, for each one you named earlier.

Part 5 of 7about 2 min

Who will use it

Software that fits the people using it gets used. The rest gets a workaround within a month.

Who needs to use it?
On what?

Roughly is fine. We will write it down properly together.

How comfortable are your people with new software?

Part 6 of 7about 3 min

Your data and your rules

Where your records are now, what has to come across, and anything you are required to keep or protect.

Every place counts, including the notebook.

Does it need to come across into the new system?

Customers, jobs, orders, items, whatever you count in. A guess is fine.

Any rules you have to follow?

Screenshots, forms, and photos of how it works now

The spreadsheet, the whiteboard, the paper form, a screen from the old system, the report you build by hand every month. Screenshots and PDFs here; for the spreadsheets themselves, a folder link below. Up to 150 MB for the whole brief.

Photo uploads switch on once you have entered a code from us at the top of the page. Without one, a folder link in the box below works just as well.

    Without JavaScript, files cannot be sent from this page. paste a folder link in the box above instead.

    Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud. If the files already live somewhere, a link is fine too.

    Part 7 of 7about 2 min

    Practical

    Straight answers here save us both a month. There is no wrong answer, including "I have no idea".

    How would you like to start?

    Whichever you pick, it starts with a conversation and a demo priced for your project. You see a working demo of your actual system before you decide on the build.

    You have a code, so we have already talked. Pick whichever way of working suits you; the demo price comes from us, written down, after we have read this.

    What is comfortable for you?

    This changes what we suggest, not whether we reply. Small and useful beats big and unbuilt.

    Is there a date you need it by?
    Who will own the system after it goes live?

    A new location, new services, a sale, a merger. Anything we would be silly to build around.

    Everyone has one. Naming it is how we deal with it.

    That is everything

    A person reads this, all of it, and replies within one business day with a demo price and what the demo would show, or with questions if we need them. If something here was confusing, say so; that is useful to us.

    Your answers stay with us. See our privacy policy.

    The words

    Everything we might say, in plain English.

    If a word on this page or in a proposal from us is not on this list and you had to guess at it, that is our mistake. Tell us and it goes on the list.

    Two tools you already use talking to each other

    Your booking tool and your invoices. Your register and your bookkeeping. Instead of you being the wire between them, retyping the same thing in both.

    The door a program uses to talk to another program

    Most tools you pay for have one. It is how we get your data out of one and into another without anyone typing. The technical name is an API.

    A job that runs itself once it is set up

    A reminder that goes out three days before an invoice is due. A form that turns into a record without anyone copying it. If a person does the same steps every time, a computer can do them.

    The order things happen in

    A job comes in, someone quotes it, someone does it, someone bills it. Writing that order down is most of the work of building software for it.

    One screen that tells you how the business is doing

    Today's sales, jobs open, what is owed to you, who has not been paid. Plain numbers you can read on your phone before you open.

    Where your records live

    Every customer, job, item, and payment, in one place, with one copy of each. A spreadsheet is a database that has stopped coping.

    Moving your data out of the old system

    Your customers, history, and prices carried across into the new system before it goes live, so day one is not a blank screen.

    Who can see what

    The front desk sees bookings. The bookkeeper sees money. You see everything. The technical name is roles and permissions.

    A record of who changed what, and when

    So when a price is wrong or a job vanishes, you can see what happened rather than guess. The technical name is an audit trail.

    The instructions for running it without us

    How to add a user, what to do when something looks wrong, who to call. Written in plain words and handed over with the system.

    Someone who keeps it running and keeps improving it

    A named person who watches it, fixes what breaks, and adds the next small thing as your business changes. Optional, after handover.

    Reading a document so nobody has to type it

    Point a phone at a receipt, a delivery note, or a form, and the words land in the right fields. The technical name is OCR.

    Seeing next month before it happens

    Using what has happened so far to say what is likely next: stock you will run out of, a slow week, a cash squeeze. The technical name is forecasting.

    One login for everything

    Your staff sign in once, with the account they already have, and every tool opens. The technical name is single sign-on.

    Works without signal

    A crew in a basement or a field can still fill in the job sheet. It sends itself when the phone finds signal again.

    A copy that exists somewhere else

    So a mistake, a hack, or a dead laptop costs you an afternoon instead of your records.

    A working demo

    Not slides. A version of your actual system, with your real jobs or customers in it, that you can click through before you decide on the build.

    Phases

    The build cut into pieces, each one useful on its own and priced on its own. The first piece goes live in weeks. You can stop after any of them.

    Would rather just talk?

    The form is here because writing is easier for most people than a phone call. If it is not, skip it.

    Send a short message instead See how a software build works