Guide
How to prepare for a software quote: what to write down before the first call
Companies often put off the conversation about a system because "we need to write a specification first". You do not. I write the specification, after you tell me how you work. What is worth having before the call fits on one page.
What is worth having before the call
You do not need everything on this list. The more you have, the more accurate the quote and the fewer questions from me afterwards.
1. How the process looks today, step by step
From the moment an order, job or request enters the company to the moment it is closed. Who does what, in what order, where they record it. Plain sentences, the way you would tell a new hire. If the process has exceptions (“unless the customer pays cash, in which case…”), write them down, because they are what decides the quote.
2. Who is involved
A list of people or positions that touch the process. Sales, warehouse, production, bookkeeper, owner. For each: what they see, what they enter, what they can change. Roles and permissions in the system come from this.
3. Which spreadsheets and programs are in use
All of them, including the “private” ones on a salesperson’s laptop and the ones everyone forgot about. For each: what it holds and who fills it in. Bring them to the call if you can. Showing me a spreadsheet says more than an hour of talking.
4. What hurts most
The one thing that made you think about a system at all. Customers calling about status, someone retyping data for half a day, invoices going out with errors. That is what the first module, the first self-contained part of the system, is built around. You usually get it after the first month.
5. What should change
What the work should look like once the system is live. “The customer checks the status themselves”, “the warehouse sees what will run out next week”, “the invoice is issued from the order on its own”. Concrete sentences, not “process improvement”.
6. Who will use it
How many people, and on what: a computer in the office, a tablet on the shop floor, a phone in the field. Whether customers are to have access too. Whether anyone works without a steady signal.
7. Which programs have to be connected
Accounting, warehouse, couriers, payments, shop, a supplier’s system. Program names, if you know them. Connecting to a program with a ready-made way in for other programs costs many times less than a workaround for one without. More in the guide on connecting the programs in your company.
8. Deadlines
Whether there is a date the system must be running by: the season, a new branch, the end of a contract with your current vendor. Deadlines mostly affect the order of the modules.
9. Budget as an order of magnitude
You do not have to name a figure. It is enough to know whether you are thinking of spending the equivalent of one month of work or six. That lets me propose a first module that fits what you have, instead of a plan for the whole that you will not carry out. What drives the price is on the page how much custom software costs.
10. Who decides
Who signs the contract and who accepts the modules. When those are two different people, both should be on the call.
What you can skip
A specification. A specification written without a developer lists the features that seem necessary and leaves out what is obvious to you and not to me. I write it, after the call, and you get it back to correct.
Screen mock-ups. Screens follow from the process. First we settle who does what, and you see the first screens in a working module usually after the first month, not in pictures.
A choice of technology. That is my decision and my responsibility. You get it described in plain language, with the cost and consequences of each option, but you do not have to make it.
What the first call looks like
Half an hour, online or at your place. You do not need to prepare. The list above only cuts down the questions I ask afterwards. You tell me how the work looks today and show me the spreadsheets and programs. I ask about exceptions, about who sees what, and about what hurts. Towards the end I say whether a custom system makes sense, or whether a ready-made program or an add-on to what you have will do. If you want, I sign a non-disclosure agreement before the call.
What you get after the call
After the call you get a document in writing: the process step by step, the split into modules, the order, and dates and prices separately for each module. You can take that document to another vendor and compare offers. Whether to go custom or ready-made is settled on the page custom or off the shelf, and the overall picture of what you get is on the main page of the guide.
If you have even three points from the list above written down, paste them into the form below. I will get back to you with questions and a time for the call.
Questions and answers
Does the quote call cost anything?
No. The call and the written scope commit you to nothing. The first invoice comes after you accept the first stage, meaning the first module, a self-contained part of the system.
I do not know exactly what I need. Is that a problem?
No. Most companies come with a description of what gets in the way of their work, not a list of features. Tell me how the work looks today and where it hurts. I write the scope down after the call and you get it in writing.
Who from the company should be on the call?
The person who decides about the money, and the person who knows the process from the inside, say the office or production manager. They are often two different people and both are needed. The first knows what the company wants to achieve, the second knows how things really are.
Contact
Have it written down? Paste it into the form and you will get a scope and prices
You do not need a specification. Describe how the work looks today and what should change. We will write the scope together.