Ewan Byte Team
Software Development Experts
The price on the quote is not the cost of the software
Two quotes for the same project can differ by three or four times. The cheaper one is not always wrong, but it is usually a quote for a different thing. This article explains what is typically missing from a low quote, where that cost comes back later, and what you should get when you pay for a proper custom build.
What a low quote usually leaves out
- Understanding your process. No discovery means the developer builds what they assume you need.
- Design. Screens are assembled from a template instead of designed around your staff’s daily work.
- Testing. The first real test happens when your team starts using it.
- Data migration. Your existing customers, stock and balances are left for you to type in.
- Training. A login is handed over and the job is called finished.
- Support. The person who wrote the code has moved on to the next cheap job.
- Ownership. The code, domain or hosting stays in the developer’s name.
Where the cost comes back
None of this shows on day one. It shows three months later, as staff who go back to Excel because the software does not match how they work, as bugs nobody answers the phone for, and finally as a rebuild. A system that is built twice is always more expensive than one built properly once, and the months of disruption in between cost more than either.
What you are paying for in a proper build
- Discovery: time spent with the people who will use the system, before a line of code is written.
- A written scope: the modules, screens and rules, so both sides know what done means.
- Senior developers: people who have seen where systems fail and design around it.
- Review and testing: every change checked before it reaches you.
- A staging environment: you try new work safely before it goes live.
- Backups and monitoring: so a bad day does not become lost data.
- Handover: source code, documentation and accounts in your name.
- Continuity: the same team available next year.
When a cheap option is the right choice
Premium is not always the answer. If you need a simple brochure website, or your process is standard enough for a packaged billing product, buy the cheaper thing. Custom work earns its cost when the software runs your operations, when your process is your advantage, or when a failure would stop the business.
How to compare two quotes fairly
- Ask each company to list what is included: discovery, design, testing, migration, training, support.
- Ask who will actually build it, and meet them.
- Ask what happens when you request a change halfway through.
- Ask who owns the code and the accounts.
- Ask to see a system they built that is in daily use today.
How we work at Ewan Byte
We are a custom software company, and we take a limited number of projects at a time so each one gets senior attention. Every project gets a written scope and a fixed quote, weekly demos, and full handover of code. Read how a project runs with us, see our starting prices, or talk to us about what you need.
