“It depends” is the usual answer, and it is true, but it does not help you plan. So rather than a price list, here is what the price depends on, and how to keep it down. We are a small UK software house, and this is how we work out every quote.
Two systems that sound the same
“An ordering system” can mean a form that emails an order to the office. It can also mean what we built for CJ Fresh Foods: chefs order from their phones at any hour, products like cheese vary in weight and have to be adjusted before they are picked, orders can be edited after they are placed, prices update automatically overnight as the market moves, and invoices go out on their own every Sunday.
Both are ordering systems. One is a few days’ work and the other is a proper project. That is why a price only means something once you know what the system has to do.
What actually drives the cost
How many people use it, and in how many roles. A system used by one team who all do the same job is simpler than one used by office staff, field staff, managers and customers, each seeing different screens and allowed to do different things.
What it has to connect to. Each connection to another system (your accounts package, an online shop, a warehouse system, an existing database) is its own piece of work. It also needs looking after, because when the other system changes, the connection has to change with it.
Whether it needs an app as well. A web application that works well on a phone is often enough. An app makes sense when people work with no signal, need the camera or a scanner, or use it all day, but it adds a second thing to build and keep up to date. Our app development page goes through when each makes sense.
How much data comes across from the old system, and how clean it is. Moving tidy data is quick. Data that has grown up over years in spreadsheets, with duplicates and gaps, takes time to sort out, and it is better done before the new system goes live than after.
How many rules and exceptions the process has. This is the one people underestimate. JC Lindsay needed every quote and invoice to carry the right Schedule of Rates codes for each housing association they work with. The screens were simple; the rules behind them were not.
What you pay for after it is built
The build is not the only cost. Software needs somewhere to run, someone to keep it secure and up to date, and someone to call when something needs changing. We host and support what we build, and the first three months after go-live are included, so anything about what we delivered gets fixed without a new bill. After that, support is through a monthly plan or paid as you go, and new features are priced as small projects of their own.
Ask any supplier what happens after go-live before you compare their quotes. A cheaper build with nobody to look after it is not cheaper for long.
How to keep the price down
- Start with the part that hurts most. The first version does not need to do everything. Get the one job that costs you the most time working first, then add to it.
- Buy off the shelf where something already fits. If an existing product does the job, it is usually quicker and cheaper, and we will say so. Bespoke pays off where your way of working is unusual or is part of what makes your business better. We weighed this up for CRMs in bespoke CRM or off the shelf?
- Clean your data before you move it. It is cheaper to sort out a spreadsheet than a live system.
- Decide who owns the code. You can buy the code outright, or license it and pay less up front. Either is fine, as long as it is agreed before you start.
- Know what you want before the build starts. Changes are cheapest on paper.
Why a paid scoping day is worth it
For anything beyond a small, clear job, we start with paid scoping days. We map how your business works today, find where software will save time, and write down exactly what will be built, what it will cost and how long it will take. You keep that written specification whether or not you go ahead with us, so it is never wasted money.
From the specification you get a fixed figure for the agreed work before any building starts. We then build in stages, so you see it working early, and if something needs to change along the way we talk it through with you then, rather than it turning up on the final invoice. There is more on this in how we work.
So, how much?
Enough to be worth doing properly, and less than you might fear if the first version is kept to what matters most. The quickest way to a real number is a conversation: tell us what is getting in the way, and we will tell you whether it needs bespoke software at all, and roughly what it would take. The first call is free.