You explain the problem or the plan, and we tell you honestly what to build, what to buy, what it will cost and what we would avoid, without selling you a project you do not need.
The most expensive software decisions get made before any code exists: the wrong platform, the wrong scope, the wrong first feature. A short piece of technology consulting ahead of that is the cheapest insurance available.
What's included
What you actually get
Review of what you have
An honest assessment of your current systems: what is worth keeping, what is holding you back, what is a risk.
Build, buy or fix
For each problem, whether custom software is justified or an existing product does the job well enough.
Realistic costs and timelines
Numbers you can budget against, including the running costs people usually forget to mention.
A sequenced roadmap
What to do first, second and later, ordered by business impact rather than technical neatness.
Risk and security review
Where your data, access and dependencies leave you exposed, and what to fix first.
Help choosing suppliers
Reviewing quotes and proposals from other developers, including the times when the right answer is to use them.
Build, buy or fix
For each problem, an honest answer about whether custom software is justified at all.
In more detail
How this actually works
The conflict of interest, addressed directly
A development company advising you on whether to commission development has an obvious incentive problem. We deal with it by charging for the advice itself, so the consulting stands on its own whether or not it leads to a build. Several of these engagements have ended with us recommending an off the shelf product.
The document is yours to take anywhere
What you get is written to be handed to any developer, not just us. It covers the recommendation, the reasoning, realistic costs and the sequence, in language a non-technical board member can follow.
Usually the cheapest thing you will buy
A week or two of consulting against a project that might run to five or six figures is the highest-leverage spend in the whole process. The expensive mistakes almost always happen before any code exists.
How a project runs
Four stages, priced before each one
Typically 1 to 3 weeks
Discovery sessions
A few hours with the people who know the work, covering what happens now, what hurts, and what you are hoping to change.
Review your current systems
What you run today, what it costs, where the risk sits, and what is quietly holding the business back.
Written recommendations
Build, buy or fix for each problem, with realistic costs, running costs and a sequenced roadmap.
Walkthrough and follow up
We talk the document through with you and your team, then check back once you have had time to act on it.
We will review other people's quotes
Including the times when the right recommendation is to go with another supplier.
Who it's for
This is usually the right fit if…
- Businesses about to commission a large build
- Owners who had a bad experience with a previous developer
- Teams deciding between several competing tools
- Companies that inherited systems nobody fully understands
Most often used in
Questions
Common questions
Not automatically. If an off the shelf product or another supplier is the better answer, we say so. That is what you are paying for, and it is why we charge for the advice separately.
Yes. The document is yours and it is written to be handed to anyone, with no dependency on us.
A few hours of conversation with the people who know the work. The rest is on us.
It is priced as a fixed fee for the scope, agreed before we start, and it is typically a small fraction of the project it is advising on.
Yes, and it is one of the more common reasons people come to us. We will tell you whether the scope, the price and the approach look reasonable.
That is a perfectly good starting point. Sometimes the answer is a process change or better use of a tool you already own, and finding that out is a good outcome.
Yes, routinely, and we are used to working with commercially sensitive information.
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A short call and an honest answer about what to build, and what not to. No obligation, no sales script.