An agency quoted you $200K. You sketched it on a napkin.
Custom software exists between 'a SaaS that almost works' and 'an enterprise build with three vendors.' Most small business problems live in that gap, and most agencies aren't built to scope them honestly.
For the same scope, a Fortune 500 agency quote and a right-sized custom build come out very different.
Right-sized custom software is software built for a specific business problem, scoped honestly between what off-the-shelf SaaS can solve and what a Fortune-500 agency budget would buy. Most small business software needs live in that gap, where typical agencies aren't structured to scope work fairly.
- The off-the-shelf software solves 70% of our problem
- We've been quoted $80K, $150K, and $250K for the same idea
- We hired offshore. They built it. We can't run it without them
- We need something custom but the agencies want Fortune 500 budgets
- I have a spec. Nobody seems to want to scope it honestly
- Our software is held together by one IT contractor we can't lose
Built a corporate-tax calculator into the new site, a real tool that does the math for a visitor and pulls in local searches at the same time.
See the work →A full software product I designed and built end to end, from the data pipeline to the live app. Proof I build real systems, not just configure off-the-shelf tools.
Visit the product →Custom builds aren't productized.
Every project is different, and the work starts with deciding what NOT to build. We scope on the call: what's the smallest thing that solves your real problem, what's a 'maybe later,' and what does it cost to ship the first version. You leave with a number you can act on, even if you don't hire me.
Custom build, scoped honestly
We scope on the call: what's the smallest thing that solves your problem, what's worth skipping, and what it costs to ship the first version.
Book a custom-build consult →Find out, or
Talk it through.
An hour with me, across the five stages of your business. You get a written report within 24 hours with what to fix first. Or scan it yourself first in 13 minutes if that's faster.