Built around your process
First I spend time watching how you work today. What gets built should make that faster, not replace it with something else.
Software built around the way you work
At some point a spreadsheet stops working. Three versions of it are going around, two people edit it at the same time, and nobody knows which one is right any more. Off-the-shelf packages sometimes solve that, but just as often you end up bending your way of working to fit the package.
Custom software turns that around. I build exactly what your process needs and nothing on top of it: a booking system, a dashboard, a planning tool, a link between two systems that do not talk to each other.
What you get
What a project like this includes
Bookings and reservations
Availability, prices per period, online payment and a calendar that keeps itself right. Without a single back-and-forth email.
Dashboards with your own numbers
Visitors, revenue, bookings: together in one overview that reads the way you look at your business.
Links between systems
Getting your accounting, till or calendar talking to the rest, so nothing has to be typed in twice.
Multiple users
Everyone gets their own login and permissions, so staff see what they need and nothing beyond that.
Your data stays yours
Export to Excel whenever you like. You are not locked in anywhere, not even to me.
Approach
How it works
- 1
Watching and scoping
We go through how you work today and find where the time leaks away. That tells us what belongs in a first version and what can wait.
- 2
Start small, show early
You get something working in your hands early on instead of months later. That way you steer on something you can use, not on a description.
- 3
Running it for real
The first version joins your day-to-day work. Whatever chafes gets fixed before we build further.
- 4
Extend where it pays off
After the first version we build on what turns out to help in practice. Step by step, with a price per step.
Questions
What people usually ask first
What does custom software cost?
That can only be said once it is clear what it has to do. So I start with a short exploration: after that you know what a first working version costs, before you commit to the bigger job.
Is an off-the-shelf package not cheaper?
Often it is, and I will say so. Custom only pays off once the package gets in your way, or when you are paying per user per month for something you half use.
What if you are not around in two years?
You get the code and the data. Everything is built on common, open technology, so another developer can take it over without starting from scratch.
Can it hang off my existing website?
Yes. A booking system or client portal can sit under your current site, so it feels like one whole to visitors.
Wondering what this would cost you?
Tell me briefly what you have in mind. You will hear how I would approach it, how long it takes and roughly what it costs, with no strings attached.