Small business apps and internal tools, for when a spreadsheet stops being enough.
Staff logins, customer portals and tools that do the job you are currently doing by hand. Quoted per job, usually $3,000 to $10,000 + GST, with its own timeline in the quote.
The spreadsheet has become the system.
It started as a simple list. Now it has a dozen tabs, the same details get typed into it and into emails and documents, and there is one person who really knows how it all fits together.
When that person is away, or the business grows, the process slows down or breaks. A small purpose-built tool can take over the repetitive parts and make the process work the same way no matter who is doing it.
A tool built around how you already work.
- A tool shaped around your existing process, replacing the spreadsheet, the inbox or the copy and paste
- Logins for your staff, and for your customers if it's a portal, each seeing only what they need
- Built in your own accounts wherever possible, on platforms you already pay for, such as Microsoft 365
- Automation for the repetitive parts: documents drafted, approvals tracked, updates sent
- Written documentation of how it works, so it never depends on me alone
- Phone use, where the job needs it, scoped in the quote
Not the right fit for enterprise systems, big online shops, anything that needs a team on call around the clock, or anything that genuinely needs a development team. If your job is one of those, I'll say so before taking it on and point you to someone better suited.
Quoted per job, before anything starts
App or internal tool
Usually $3,000 to $10,000 + GST. Quoted per job, with its own timeline in the quote rather than a fixed fortnight.
Keeping it running
Set in your quote. Ongoing support is a monthly fee based on how much looking after your tool needs, agreed before the build starts.
How a build like this runs
- StartWe talk through the process the tool replaces, step by step, including the parts that only live in someone's head.
- QuoteA fixed quote with its own timeline and the monthly support fee, before any work starts.
- First versionA working version in your own accounts, tried with test data rather than live records.
- Your team tries itThe people who will use it every day try it out, and I make changes from what they find.
- HandoverIt goes live, with written documentation of how it works.
A tool already in use.
I built an internal tool for a Melbourne recruitment agency on the Microsoft 365 they already pay for. It drafts candidate summaries and reference checks, tracks approvals, and delivers finished documents to clients. The client is private, so there is no name or screenshot here.
I also built and still run Blinker, an Australian app with accounts, payments and its own backend, and StackFall Arena, an online multiplayer game with accounts and leaderboards.
The things people ask first
Who owns the tool?
You do. Once the final payment clears, the tool and everything in it are yours.
What happens if you are unavailable?
You own the tool, it runs in your accounts, and I write documentation of how it works, so another developer could pick it up if I couldn't.
Where is our data stored?
In your own accounts, wherever possible on platforms you already pay for, such as Microsoft 365. Your data stays with your business.
Can staff use it on a phone?
If the job needs it, yes. Phone use is scoped in the quote, so you know before the build starts.
Tell me what you need
Describe the process that is slowing you down, in a few lines. I'll come back with questions, then a fixed quote before anything starts.
See also websites with bookings and payments and all prices.