Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly is custom software?
Off-the-shelf software is built to serve as many businesses as possible, which means it's designed around the average rather than the specific. Custom software is built around how your business actually works — your processes, your workflows, your integrations. You're not adapting to fit the software; the software is built to fit you.
Do I need to know exactly what I want before getting in touch?
No — and in most cases it's better if you come to us before you've made any decisions. That's precisely what the initial consultancy work is for. Many clients come to us knowing they have a problem but unsure what the right solution looks like. Working that out together, before anything gets built, is one of the most valuable things we do.
What's the difference between your consultancy and your development work?
Consultancy is where we help you understand your options and make the right decision — whether that's a custom build, an off-the-shelf product, a combination of both, or something else entirely. It's independent advice, and we charge for it properly because that's the only way it stays genuinely independent.
Development is where we build the solution, once the right one has been identified. The two often follow on from each other, but not always — some clients come to us purely for the consultancy, take our recommendations, and implement them elsewhere. That's fine with us.
What kind of budget do I need?
It depends on what you need to build. The table below gives a rough guide to the budget ranges you should be working with depending on the scale and complexity of the project. These aren't quotes — every project is different — but they'll tell you whether you're in the right ballpark.
| Size | Examples | Budget Range |
|---|---|---|
| Small project or website | Brochure website, prototype, small interactive tool | £2,500 – £12,000 |
| Small web application | Custom CRM with a small number of users, one or two user roles, one or two third-party integrations | £5,000 – £50,000 |
| Large web or mobile application | Multiple user roles, complex business workflows, custom reporting, multiple integrations | £25,000 – £150,000 |
| Large multi-phase system | Full CRM and operations platform, extensive reporting, complex workflows, multiple user roles, potentially hundreds of users | £75,000 – £300,000 |
If your requirement sits between categories or you're not sure where it falls, a discovery call is the right place to start.
How does the development process work?
We work in four phases: Research and Scoping, Design and Specification, Build and Test, and Release and Acceptance. The most important of these is the first — we spend significant time understanding your business before anything gets designed or built. It's where most projects go wrong when it's rushed, and we don't rush it.
There's a full explanation on our How We Work page.
How long does development take?
It varies considerably depending on scope and complexity. A focused solution might be ready in a few months; a larger, multi-phase system could take six months or more. We'll give you a realistic timeline as part of the proposal at the end of the scoping phase — and we mean realistic, not optimistic.
Am I locked into working with you after the project is complete?
No. The software we build is yours, and if you ever want to move to another developer or bring development in-house, we'll help make that transition as smooth as possible. We provide source code and documentation, and we're happy to support a handover. We'd rather earn your continued business through the quality of our work than through any kind of dependency.
Who owns the software once it's built?
This is a more nuanced question than it first appears. Full IP transfer — where you own the software outright — sounds appealing, but in practice it's legally complicated and expensive. Almost every custom software project is a mix of code written specifically for you and third-party libraries and components that we're licensed to use but don't own. That means we can't transfer ownership of those elements, only of the bespoke code we wrote. Unpicking and documenting that properly requires solicitor involvement and a detailed IP assignment agreement — costs that are rarely a good use of a development budget.
There's also a practical reality worth considering: enforcing software IP if someone infringes it requires very deep pockets. For most businesses, the theoretical value of owning the IP doesn't justify the legal cost of acquiring it or the even greater cost of defending it.
For these reasons, most of our clients opt for a perpetual licence instead. This gives you permanent rights to use, modify, and build on the software within your business (with or without us) — everything you'd practically ever need — without the legal complexity and cost of full ownership. For clients who genuinely need outright ownership, perhaps because they intend to commercialise the software or licence it to others, full IP transfer is available, and we'll be upfront about what that involves.
Further reading: Who Owns My Custom Software?
What happens after the software goes live?
Most clients take out a maintenance and support package, which covers routine upkeep, security updates, bug fixes, and ongoing access to the team. Beyond that, almost every system we've built has been extended and improved over time as the business evolves and new requirements emerge. Software is never really finished — which, if you're running a growing business, is exactly how it should be.
More details on our Hosting and Maintenance page.
How do you ensure quality?
Testing is built into every phase of development rather than treated as a final step. We use automated testing, manual testing, and structured acceptance testing with the client before anything goes live. We also maintain separate development, staging, and production environments so that issues are caught before they reach your live system.
