A few days
Small and focused
A tool that replaces one spreadsheet, or a simple website.
Typical project sizes
Typical sizes, from days to months.
Your project doesn't have to fit one of these. They're here so you can get a feel for the size before you spend time on an estimate.
A couple of weeks
One job done properly
An office tool with logins for different people, or two or three programs connected so they hand work to each other.
A couple of months
A full system
Software that runs a big part of the business, with scheduling, jobs, customers and invoicing in one place.
Several months
The whole operation
A system your business runs on, built in stages, often with ongoing support afterwards.
Things we'll ask you for
So we can give you a real number.
The problem today
Tell us how you handle it now, and where the time and money go.
The result you want
If we build exactly the right thing, what's different about your Tuesday six months from now?
A budget range
A rough range is enough. It tells us what's worth including, and the price covers what's in the proposal.
Timing
A hard deadline or a rough preference. If it doesn't matter, say so. We just need to know which.
Common questions
Is the first call free?
Yes. It costs nothing, and you decide afterwards whether to go further.
How much does it cost?
It depends on what's included, and a number without the conversation would be a guess, so we don't put prices on the website. After a short call we give you a fixed price in writing. The typical sizes above give you a feel.
How does payment work?
Half is due when you sign, as a deposit. A quarter is due when you see the working first version, and the last quarter when we both agree it's done. So the second half is only paid after you've used it with your own jobs.
Is there anything to pay every month?
You pay us nothing monthly. You open the hosting and the web address in your own name (we tell you what to get) and we put the tool on it, so the small monthly hosting bill comes to you. You don't pay per user or per truck.
Who looks after backups?
You do, through your hosting company. Most hosting companies offer backups, and at handover we tell you what needs backing up and how often, so you can check it's set up.
Can our people use it on their phones?
Yes. It runs in the web browser on any phone or tablet, and there's nothing to install from an app store.
Will our old records come across?
It depends on what you have and how much of it. Bringing old records across is worked out in the proposal, never assumed, so tell us what you have on the first call.
Where do our records live, and who can see them?
On hosting you pay for in your own name. We tell you what to get and put the tool on it, and where the records physically sit depends on the hosting company you choose. Only the people you give logins to can see them, and every page uses the padlock (https). Passwords are scrambled before they're saved, so nobody, including us, can read them. If you send us real records during the build so we can test with them, we use them only for that and delete our copy when the project ends.
What if something breaks after it goes live?
The first month's bugs are on us. After that, email us and we fix it as a one-off, or we set up a monthly arrangement if you'd like someone on it regularly. Either way you can stop whenever you like.
What if you're not around one day?
You own the software, your records and every login. It's built with ordinary, widely used technology (PHP, JavaScript and a standard MySQL-type database) that any web developer knows. We leave a written handover document so the next developer can follow it.
Do you do logos and design?
No, we only build. Bring your own logo and colours, or use our clean standard look.
Do you train our staff?
We walk your team through it when it goes live, and we build it so that walkthrough is short. We don't sell training courses.
Where are you?
Ottawa, Ontario. We work by email and video call with businesses across Canada, and if you're near Ottawa we're happy to meet for the first conversation.
