Before you talk to anyone
Prepare three things. A short description of how work moves through your company today, including the tools and spreadsheets involved. The problems that cost you most, in hours or money. And a rough idea of what you're willing to spend. With those, you'll get far more useful conversations and far more comparable proposals.
Why a checklist helps
Buying custom software is something most owners do once or twice in their career. The agencies you talk to do it every week. That imbalance is normal, but it means the conversation tends to follow the agency's script: portfolio, technology, team, timeline, price.
A checklist flips that. It makes every agency answer the same questions, in the same order, about the things that actually predict a good outcome. It also makes the answers comparable, which is the only way to choose rationally between proposals that look very different on the surface.
Questions about how they work
The process predicts the outcome better than the portfolio.
- How do you learn how our company works? Look for: watching the real work and material. Be wary of: a questionnaire and a long discovery phase billed separately.
- When will we see working software, and on what data? Look for: early, on a sample of your real data. Be wary of: months of documents first.
- How often will our users test what you build? Look for: continuously, in short loops.
- How do you handle data migration? Look for: early sample imports, reviewed by our people, included in the price.
- How do you go live? Look for: one team or site at a time, with support on hand.
Questions about price and scope
This is where most disputes start, so be precise.
- Is this a fixed price or an estimate? If it's hourly, what caps the total?
- What exactly is included: roles, integrations, data migration, support period?
- What counts as a change, and how are changes priced?
- What will we pay after launch: hosting, support, changes? In whose account does hosting run?
- Are there per-user or licence fees for anything you use?
- What happens if the project runs late because of you? And because of us?
Questions about ownership
Ownership is the most important clause in the contract. Without it, you're renting.
- Who owns the source code, and when is it handed over?
- Who owns the data, and can we export it at any time in a usable format?
- Is documentation part of the delivery?
- Can another team take over the system if we part ways?
- Are domains, hosting and third-party accounts registered to us?
Questions about the people
You're hiring people, not a logo.
- Who will actually build this, and will they be on the call?
- Who is our single point of contact, and how quickly do they answer?
- What happens if key people leave during the project?
- Can we see real interfaces you've built, even with anonymised data?
- Can you explain a past project that went wrong, and what you changed afterwards?
Questions about security
Business software holds your clients, prices and people. Ask before you sign.
- How are logins, roles and permissions handled?
- Is there an audit log of who changed what?
- How are backups made, and when was a restore last tested?
- How is the system monitored, and who responds to alerts?
- If AI is involved, what can it read, and is our data used for training?
- For EU companies: where is data hosted, and will you sign a data processing agreement?
Questions about after launch
The relationship lasts longer than the build. Make sure it's defined.
- How long is the included support period, and what does it cover?
- How are changes requested, prioritised and delivered after launch?
- What does ongoing support cost per month, and what's included?
- How are updates, security patches and hosting maintenance handled?
- How quickly do you respond to a critical problem, and who responds?
Red flags
Any one of these deserves a direct question. Several together usually mean a painful project.
- They quote before understanding how your company works.
- They can't show anything that runs until late in the project.
- The contract is vague on what's included and what counts as a change.
- They keep the code, or the hosting is in their name with no transfer clause.
- They agree to everything you ask for and never say something isn't worth building.
- The person selling is never the person building, and you can't meet the builders.
- Support after launch is 'to be agreed'.
- They use testimonials or client names you can't verify.
Green flags
The best signs are simple: they ask about your business before your features, they give you a fixed number tied to a clear scope, you see working software on your data early, you own everything, and they tell you when a standard tool would serve you better.
One more: they're comfortable with you checking. Good agencies expect these questions, answer them in writing and don't treat them as a sign of distrust.
How to compare proposals
Proposals rarely line up neatly. One quotes hours, another a fixed price; one includes migration, another doesn't; one has six months of support, another none. Before comparing numbers, put them on the same basis.
Make a simple table with the same rows for each agency: scope in business terms, price or cap, what's excluded, when you see working software, data migration, support period, ongoing costs, ownership terms and the people involved. Fill in the gaps by asking. Then compare five-year cost, not first-invoice cost.
The cheapest proposal is often the one with the most exclusions. The most expensive is sometimes the only one that actually includes everything you need.
How we answer this checklist
We'd rather you ask us these questions than not. Our short answers: we reverse-engineer how your company works from the real material in one call. You get a fixed price. You see a first working version on your own data within 24 hours of kickoff. Data migration is included. You own the data from day one, and the source code and documentation are handed over when the project is paid.
Prices are public: Core €18,000, Maxxed €48,000, Empire from €120k, extra integrations €4,500 each, Maxxing Care €2,900 per month after the included three to twelve months of support. We deliver across Europe and take a small number of US projects, quoted in dollars. If that sounds right, apply and show us how your company runs today.