Sign one
The same details, typed twice
A job goes on the whiteboard, then into a spreadsheet, then into an invoice. Every copy is a chance for the numbers to disagree.
Bespoke software development, UK
Bespoke software,
built around how
your business works.
Scoped in writing · Quoted before we start
When off-the-shelf
stops fitting.
Bespoke software development is worth it when the way you work is the thing that makes you good, and the software you can buy keeps forcing you to work some other way. It is not worth it when a product already does the job. We make twelve of those ourselves, so we will say so if one fits: see the estate first.
Sign two
Customers ringing to ask
If people phone to find out where their job is up to, the answer should be somewhere they can see it for themselves.
Sign three
A record you have to prove
Certificates, audit trails, who did what and when. When someone asks about one item six weeks later, the answer has to be there.
Not a sign
You just need to be found
If you need a website and a listing, that is not a bespoke build. A website or a free GotAPal listing will do more for less.
The parts,
already working.
A bespoke system from us is built from the same engines and components that run our own products, pointed at one business instead of a market. That is what keeps the cost of bespoke software development down: we are not starting from an empty page.
Portals your customers log into.
A branded place where your own customers book something in, see where it is up to, approve a quote and download what they need. Each customer sees only their own records.
Also in · Central Contacts' private portal
Jobs, assets and an audit trail.
Every item tracked from the moment it arrives, against the job it belongs to, with who touched it and when. Certificates and reports produced from the record, not typed up afterwards.
Also in · the tool register in ServicePay
Bookings, invoices and card payments.
Enquiries, a diary, invoices and card payments through Stripe, the same plumbing that runs our site software. Payouts follow Stripe's own schedule.
Also in · PayCamp and PayCamp Hire
Links to what you already use.
Where another system lets software connect to it, we connect to it, and we check that it does before we quote rather than after. Where it does not, we say so and find the next best way, such as a regular import.
Rule · checked before the quote
From first call
to launch.
You deal with the people who write the software from the first call to the last fix. There is no account manager passing messages along.
1 · Listen
How the work really runs
Not how the process document says it runs: the shortcuts, the exceptions and the bits people do from memory.
2 · Scope
Written down, in plain English
What is in, what is out, and what "done" looks like. Anything not on the list is a later conversation, not a surprise.
3 · Quote
Before we start
A price against the written scope, and what running it costs afterwards, agreed before any work begins.
4 · Build and test
On a private copy
You try it on a test copy of your own while it is built, with the same checks we run on our own products.
5 · Launch
When you say it is right
Not on a date we picked to look good. The launch is yours to call once it does the job on real work.
6 · Look after it
Hosting and support
We can host it and keep it running, with fixes from the people who built it. What that covers is in the quote.
Our own products,
and two client systems.
The best evidence of how we build is what we run ourselves: twelve products, each with a published price and an honest status. Four of the seven core products are fully open today. 3 Wee Pages and The Boat Market are open in part, and ServicePay is in early launch.
A repair portal for IT providers.
QuoteToRepair lets an IT provider book devices in, track them, quote and invoice from one branded portal that their own clients can log into. It is live.
Live · quotetorepair.co.uk ↗
An IT disposal platform for a UK client.
Collections booked in, every device tracked against its job, an erasure certificate for each one, a portal for the client's own customers and compliance reporting. Built to the agreed scope; the client's launch is being prepared. The same engine is now a product of its own, WipeTrail.
In preparation · wipetrail.co.uk ↗
More on each, and the websites we build, is on our client work page.
Bespoke software:
what people ask.
If your question is not here, ask it. We would rather answer it before a quote than after.
Do we own the software?
Your data and your domain are always yours, and you can have an export of your data whenever you ask. For the software there are two options: we hand over the code, or we license it to you. We work through them with you at the start and go with whichever keeps your costs down. Most builds start from our own engine, which is a large part of why they cost less than starting from nothing.
How much does bespoke software development cost?
It depends on what the system has to do, so we quote each build from a written scope before any work starts, together with what running it will cost afterwards. There is no price list for bespoke work. Our own products do publish theirs: see them on the estate page.
Can it work with the systems we already use?
Often. If the other system lets software connect to it, we can link the two, and we check that before we quote. If it does not, we look for the next best route, such as a regular import, and say so in the scope.
Who looks after it once it is live?
We can host it and support it after launch, with fixes from the people who built it. What that covers, and what it costs, is set out in the quote. How we test and release changes.
Do you only work with local businesses?
No. We are in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and work with businesses anywhere in the UK. If you need a website rather than a system, see website design in Cambridgeshire.
Start with a conversation
Tell us what the work is and what keeps going wrong. If an existing product fits, we will say so; if it needs building, we will write it down and quote it.
Tell us what you're running →