How a project runs
Five stages, and the estimate does not exist until stage two is complete and paid for.
Initial conversation
What the software has to do and what is driving the date. We will show you our estimating record at this stage, before any quote is discussed.
Paid discovery
A fixed-fee engagement producing a written scope with exclusions, a risk list and an estimate with stated confidence. Sold standalone and yours to take elsewhere.
Build
Phased so each increment is usable, in your repository from the first commit, with weekly progress notes rather than silence until launch.
Launch
Deployment into your own infrastructure, with a re-quoted maintenance figure based on what was actually built rather than what was imagined.
Recorded against estimate
Actual effort compared to the original figure and added to our published record, whatever it shows.
What this costs us
Our estimates read longer. A competitor quoting optimistically shows a shorter timeline and a lower number, and clients compare those directly.
We publish our worst project. A sixty-three per cent overrun is visible to every prospective client and is the first thing some of them ask about.
Discovery is sold standalone. Clients can buy the scope and estimate and take it to a cheaper developer, and that has happened.
Exclusions reduce change requests. Writing down what is out of scope removes a revenue stream most studios rely on.
Frequently asked
What is in your estimating record?
Every delivered project with its original estimate, the actual effort, and the variance. Median overrun is eleven per cent; the worst was sixty-three. We send the whole record on request.
Why was one project sixty-three per cent over?
An integration with an undocumented third-party system that behaved differently to its documentation. We will talk through it in detail; it is the most instructive item in the record.
Why charge for discovery?
Because a defensible estimate requires understanding the work, and a number given without that is a guess. The output is yours and you may take it to any developer.
Who owns the code?
You do, in your own repository from the first commit, with hosting and services in your accounts billed directly.
Do you charge more for inherited code?
No, the same rates. Most systems that exist were built by somebody else.
What stack do you build in?
Mainstream technology your team can hire for locally. An unusual framework is a liability for a client in this region.
Will you review another firm's estimate?
Yes, as standalone work, including an honest view on whether the timeline is realistic.
Can you hit a seasonal deadline?
We will tell you honestly whether the date is achievable, using our own record as the basis rather than optimism.