Build your app for less than $45k.
I'm Alastair, an experienced software engineer. I've built ground breaking apps for various different startups. I know how to get your idea off the ground and build something magical on a limited budget. Lock in your next app build by paying a deposit today.
Why is $45k the limit?.
Well, I've built a few of these now and I feel anymore and I'd argue your scope is too big.
But to be clear, if you need a really simple app, it'll most definitely be less. For example to build a tourist information app, something like that could be built for around the 5 to 10k mark but for any app I don't believe you need go above the $45k mark.
If you have a decent level of complexity, e.g. user roles, authentication and some sort of magic that makes your app unique then you might be nearing that 45k mark for what's needed to deliver something exceptional for your users.
Why not more? Biting off a larger piece of work is fruitless, the more you look into the future the harder it is to predict what you'll need. In tech terms there's a constant battle between agile and waterfall, I won't bore you with the details but you need waterfall for planning and budgeting but you need agile to adapt to real world changes. I think a fully costed scope works if it's lean and your team is experienced. Get off the ground then decide where to go after that. Keep your road map small and targeted, build fast and launch fast.
How my process works.
Start with design.
The first step is to complete your app designs. It's much easier to design your app than it is to build it, so at the design stage, you need to figure out exactly how you want your app to work for your users.
Don't worry about any admin functionality, just focus on your user experience, work from bottom up, put the customer experience first, not yours.
Use this process to work out your unique user features and flows. And to figure out exactly how you want things to work for your users. This is a prerequisite to building it. There's no need to rush into development until you're clear on how it all holds together.
If you don't have a designer yet, send me an email, I can put you in touch with some I've worked with in the past. After this stage, you should have a set of designs, this will function as the scope for what is to be built.
Next comes the planning.
You've got your app designs. Awesome. This is where I come in.
Scroll to the bottom, send me a link to your designs and pay the deposit and I'll get started. That said, read on to know the process.
I will sit down and meticulously plan out how every screen will work, what backend endpoints they will need to hook in to, I'll cross reference different screens with each other to check if they share functionality and I'll work out exactly what technology is needed for each part to work flawlessly. I've architected so many systems in my professional career, I love doing this and I'm good at architecting a foundation that will support you forever into the future. I've built software that hasn't winced when run by millions of people, so I know how to set you up for success with tech that will scale and can be expanded upon down the track.
This is quite a laborious process. But it's key, good planning here will make the project go smoothly and keep overall costs down and we'll get the most bang for your buck.
During this process I may have questions for you? e.g. I don't think this section of the design is clear, how should x do y? Or perhaps we could do this in a slightly different way so that instead of costing $10k in work to implement we could do it for $500? I take pride in my ability on being able to simplify and still have exactly the same great end user experience.
Once I've now got a clear idea of how everything works and hinges together, I will provide an hourly estimate for every single feature and split the work into deliverable milestones. I'll aim to prioritise each milestone into the most important features first. I'll send this document to you so you'll see exactly what tech choices I'll use where, and exactly how many hours I think each feature will take to build and you'll have a blueprint on how to build a scalable solution. You'll have a fixed price on what it will cost to build it.
If you decide to go ahead from here, the deposit will come off the build price. Otherwise feel free to take this fully architected app blueprint to other companies and shop around. It'll give you talking points on what to question them on.
And finally - the building!.
You've got a road map and a fixed price to deliver it. Once you're ready to go ahead, I and potentially 1 or 2 hand picked contractors will start building (depending on if I'll need help to meet the milestone deadlines).
I'll start delivering each milestone. At the point you're happy with each milestone, you then pay for that milestone.
To ensure the build goes smoothly, I'd like you to be involved with the development process, I take a bit from agile here. The way I work is I split the work into tickets, each ticket accurately describes the work being done and periodically I'll deploy the work for these related tickets to a staging environment. At this point I'd ask you to test the work done, here you will pass or fail the ticket. You might have feedback, perhaps something should work slightly differently, let me know and I'll make changes. You're the champion of your app and I don't want to release anything that you're not happy with.
This constant communication is what will ensure we're always on the same page and working as a team to deliver an app you and your customers will love.
Recent Projects.
Check out a few recent projects I built.
Shade Spot
I built Shade Spot from the ground up. Mike was after a beautiful website with an interactive quote builder. He wasn’t sure if it could be built. I helped him realise his vision by creating a dynamic quote tool that builds a diagram as you select various options for your shade sail. And not just that, it integrates directly with Stripe to take orders and has a powerful backend portal that communicates directly with the manufacturer from order inception, right up until delivery.
FAQ.
Do you build web platforms?
What if my scope is more work than $45k?
Can you build an app to a smaller budget?
What if I change my mind on the road-map, part way through development?
How do I keep costs low?
Why would you choose me over a large app development team?
Will it cost less than $45K?
What about no-code tools and off the shelf software?
Who pays for bug fixes?
Will you take equity?
Are prices in US dollars or Australian dollars?
Ready to build?.
Provide your email and a link to your app design, fill out your payment details to make a $500 deposit.
I will be in touch with a fully costed, app development blueprint.