What scoping is for
A price given before the project is understood is a guess. Either it's padded to cover the unknown, or it's too low and the bill climbs along the way. In both cases, the client pays the difference.
Scoping replaces the guess with a plan. We take the time to understand, write down what we're going to build, and put a price on it. Only then do we start. It's the title of our Digital products page: a plan and a price, before the code.
What the roadmap contains
The roadmap is a document. It has four parts.
The need
Who will use the tool, to do what, and how it's done today without it. This part is written in your words, not a developer's. If you don't recognize yourself in it, the rest won't hold.
The first stage
Not everything gets built at once. The first stage is what we build first: the smallest part that's genuinely useful. The rest is noted for later, in order.
The architecture
What it's built with, where it runs, and what it connects to: a payment, accounting software, a tool you already have. These are the choices that are expensive to change once the work has started.
The price
In writing. Scoping sets the price of what we build. Scoping that ends without a price isn't finished.
How it works
Before: a 25-minute call
It all starts with a free 25-minute video call with Bastien. You come out of it with what we'd do, and where to start.
During: 10 to 30 hours
The length depends on the project. A first tool for a small team is scoped faster than software that touches sales, invoicing and the books.
On your side, three things help. The person who does the work every day should be there, not just the one who signs. The files in use today, even the Excel sheets you're a little ashamed of, are worth more than a description. And exceptions count as much as the rule: the client who pays differently, the order that doesn't follow the usual path.
After: in stages
With the roadmap in hand, you decide. If we continue together, the rest happens in this order: design, where the screens and the data are validated with you, then the stages, delivered and checked one at a time, then hosting, with OVH, in Quebec.
For Zoho too
Scoping isn't only for custom software. Before setting up Zoho One, we do the same work: your processes, from sales to the books, and the Zoho applications you need. It's paid separately too, and it sets the setup price in writing.
How long the setup takes depends on the number of applications and the data to bring over. We estimate it with you during scoping.
The pitfalls
- Nobody decides. Scoping moves forward when one person on your side can say yes or no. With five, it goes in circles.
- Wanting to scope everything. Describing in detail what we'll build in two years is wasted time. We detail the first stage and name the rest.
- A roadmap only its author understands. Yours has to be something you could hand to another team. That's the test: it's yours, even if you build elsewhere.
When it's not the right solution
A business website doesn't need scoping. After the call, you get a written proposal, with the price, and a website goes live in a few days.
Nor does a Shopify store, most of the time. How long it takes depends on the catalogue and the tools to connect, and we estimate it with you on the first call.
A project started by someone else is handled differently. We first review the code and the hosting, and fix what costs the most before moving ahead in stages.
And if all you want is a number, right now, to compare three quotes, scoping won't get it to you any faster. It will get you a number that holds.
What we build once the scoping is done is on our page Digital products.