We've outgrown spreadsheets
One file, one owner, and everyone else working from a printout. Bespoke software development turns that into a system with rules, history and permissions.
✦ Services
What we build
Bespoke software for B2B businesses that have outgrown spreadsheets, off-the-shelf tools or a system nobody will support any more. Any stack, any platform, built around the way you already work.
✦ Start with the problem
Most people arrive with a problem, not a product name
Almost nobody rings us asking for a works order module or a CRM schema. They ring because quoting takes three days, because the same order gets typed into three systems, or because the person who wrote the old Access database left in 2014.
So the services below are grouped by the problem that brings people here. Pick the one that sounds most like your week and the page will tell you what we would build, how long it usually takes and what you would own at the end.
✦ Sounds like you?
The six problems we're called about most
Our system is too old to support
It works, just about, and nobody will touch it. Legacy modernisation replaces it in slices so the business keeps running through the change.
Our tools don't talk to each other
The same data re-typed between the CRM, the accounts package and a spreadsheet. Integration and API work removes the re-typing for good.
Our CRM doesn't fit how we sell
You're paying per seat to bend a generic pipeline into your process. A custom CRM matches the way your team actually sells.
Our team works away from a desk
Engineers, drivers, site staff. Mobile apps for iOS and Android that keep working when the signal doesn't.
We want to build a product
A first version that real customers can pay for, built on foundations that survive the second version.
✦ How we decide
How we decide what to build first
We look for the part of the process that costs the most time or causes the most rework, and build that first. It goes live on its own, gets used, and pays for itself before the next slice starts. That keeps the risk small and the feedback honest.
Sometimes the answer is that you should not build anything at all - that an off-the-shelf tool configured properly will do. We will tell you that on the call rather than three months into a project.
✦ Commercials
How the pricing model works
Every engagement is a one-off build fee for the work, then a low monthly retainer that covers hosting, support and continued improvement. No per-seat licences and no annual increases for using your own system.
You own the software and the code at the end of it. We publish the model, not the figures - the number depends on what you need, and we would rather work that out with you on a call than guess in public.
✦ Questions we get asked
Answered here, not on the call.
Do you only work in one technology stack?
No. We pick the stack that fits the problem, the integrations and the people who will maintain it. Web, mobile, cloud or on-premise.
How long does a first build usually take?
A first useful slice is typically live in weeks rather than quarters. Bigger programmes run as a series of those slices instead of one long build.
Can you work alongside our existing IT team or supplier?
Yes. We frequently build around systems someone else runs, and we document handovers so your team can take work on if they want to.
What does the monthly retainer include?
Hosting, monitoring, security updates, support and an allowance of continued development so the system keeps pace with the business.
✦ Related
Where to go next
Bespoke software developmentThe flagship service: software built around your process.Read more Custom web applicationsPortals, dashboards, order and job systems.Read more Mobile app developmentiOS and Android for work away from a desk.Read more Custom CRM developmentA CRM shaped around how your team sells.Read more Legacy software modernisationReplace old systems without a big-bang cutover.Read more Business process automationRemove the re-typing and the weekly report.Read more System integration & APIsMake your existing systems talk to each other.Read more SaaS and MVP developmentA working first product for B2B founders.Read more Bespoke software by sectorHow this looks in manufacturing, construction and more.Read more
Tell us what isn't working. We'll tell you what we'd build.
Thirty minutes. Bring the process, the systems it touches and the deadline. You'll leave with an approach and an honest answer on whether custom software is the right call.
No pitch deck · We map your process · You own the software