Why nobody quotes on the phone

Asking what custom software costs is like asking what a house costs: it depends on size, contents and location. Anyone giving a figure before understanding your process is either guessing or planning to adjust it later.

What can be done, and what we do, is give a fixed figure after the analysis, once the scope is defined.

What pushes the price up

Four factors matter more than the rest.

  • The number of different people who'll use it, each with their own permissions and screens
  • Connections to external systems, especially closed or poorly documented ones
  • Migrating messy historical data
  • Exceptions: every "except when" in your process is development time

What shouldn't push the price up

The graphics, within reason. The number of screens. The length of the proposal document. If a supplier makes those weigh on the price, they're selling form instead of substance.

Compare over three years

Comparing the purchase price of a package with a custom project tells you nothing. A useful comparison includes annual licences, the cost of customisations over time, and the manual hours the package doesn't remove.

A practical way to estimate: how many hours a week does your company spend on work the software could do by itself? Multiply by hourly cost and by fifty weeks. That's the number to compare.

How to tell if a quote is realistic

A credible quote states what isn't included, not just what is. It lists interim deadlines. It explains what happens if new requirements emerge. And it states who owns the code.

If one of those four is missing, ask. The answer will tell you more than the price.

Reducing cost without losing the result

The most effective way is to start with less. Identify the one function that justifies the project, build it well, put it in use. The rest gets added when real use shows what's needed — and often half the features imagined at the start never will be.

Frequently asked questions

Do you ask for a deposit?

Yes, as is normal in development projects. But the initial analysis, the one producing the document of automation points, is free.

Can the price change mid-project?

Only if the scope changes, and then we discuss it first. A fixed-scope quote exists precisely to avoid surprises on the invoice.