Custom Business System / Starting project price

Replace scattered work with one clearer system.

Custom Business Systems start from US$2,500 and are scoped around the customers, staff, data, and workflows involved.

Signals to look for

Custom work is for a process worth owning.

A custom system is not the answer for every business. It becomes worth considering when the work behind the customer action has become difficult to see, repeat, or hand over.

It may fit when

Work is repeated across paper, messages, spreadsheets, and disconnected software.
Customers or staff need accounts and private information.
One workflow has handoffs, decisions, statuses, documents, payments, or notifications.
Staff need reliable records instead of reconstructing the current state from conversations.

Existing software may be better when

A useful product already handles the workflow well.
The process changes too often to define a first release.
Automation would add complexity without a clear owner.
The business only needs public pages and one enquiry route.

Before and after the first scope

Start with the work, not a feature list.

The aim is a clearer first workflow. Useful existing software can remain part of it when it already does a job well.

Current pattern

Information is spread across places.

The same details are copied between messages, forms, and spreadsheets.
People ask who owns the next step or which version is current.
Documents, payments, and status updates are difficult to connect.
Staff reconstruct the history of a customer, job, order, or request by hand.

A clearer first workflow can mean

The next action has a dependable home.

One shared record for the agreed piece of work.
Clear roles, statuses, required information, and handoffs.
Customer and staff views connected to the same workflow.
Existing tools kept where they remain useful and reliable.

What can be included

Build only the capabilities the workflow requires.

The final scope decides what is built. The starting price does not assume unlimited complexity or every possible feature.

Requirements discovery
Public website when needed
Customer portals
Staff dashboards
Accounts and permissions
Digital forms
Workflow management
Automation
Data management
Reporting
Third-party integrations
Deployment
Onboarding and staff training

Public website plus private system

The public and private parts can work together.

A project may need both surfaces, or only the part of the workflow that is currently missing.

Public website

Explain and begin.

Public pages help customers understand the offer, submit the right information, and enter the agreed process.

Private system

Manage and continue.

Accounts, permissions, records, dashboards, and status views give customers or staff a place to continue the work.

Existing software

Keep what works.

Microsoft tools, WhatsApp, spreadsheets, accounting, payments, or scheduling can remain when they fit the responsibility they carry.

Discovery and scoping

Define the smallest coherent release before development.

You do not need a technical specification. Start with what happens now, who is involved, and where the process becomes difficult.

01
Discover
Clarify what starts the workflow, who takes each action, what information is needed, and what exceptions matter.
02
Map
Document the current tools, records, roles, handoffs, customer actions, staff decisions, and provider responsibilities.
03
Scope
Choose the first useful release and confirm functionality, data, permissions, integrations, responsibilities, timeline, and exclusions in writing.
04
Build and review
Develop the agreed workflow in reviewable stages and test ordinary cases, missing data, permissions, and handoffs.
05
Launch and train
Complete the agreed handover, onboarding, staff training, deployment, and post-launch responsibilities.

What changes the price and timeline

The system is priced around responsibility, not a feature count.

US$2,500 is the starting point for a tightly scoped first workflow. The final proposal confirms what the system carries.

Workflow complexity
Number and type of users
Data requirements
Integrations
Automation
Security and permission requirements
Migration requirements
Support responsibilities

Ownership, training, and support

The operating responsibilities are part of the scope.

A useful proposal states who owns, pays for, manages, and supports each part of the system after launch.

Ownership and access

Decide who controls the essentials.

Ownership of the code, data, domain, hosting, and provider accounts
Access, permissions, handover material, and documentation
Responsibilities for privacy, retention, payments, and security

Onboarding and support

Make the first release usable after launch.

Onboarding and staff training where included in the written scope
Custom-system hosting, infrastructure, maintenance, backups, monitoring, and support quoted based on the system and support requirements
New features, new workflows, and material changes estimated separately

Ongoing system responsibility

Custom-system care is quoted around the system itself.

Hosting, infrastructure, maintenance, backups, monitoring, onboarding, and support depend on the system’s users, data, providers, and operational responsibility.

Custom-system support

Ongoing support is quoted based on the system and support requirements.

Hosting and infrastructure where agreed
Maintenance and dependency work where agreed
Backups and monitoring where agreed
Support responsibilities and response expectations confirmed in writing

Care is optional where the client owns and manages the relevant hosting and infrastructure. Unused update time does not apply to custom-system support. New features and material changes are quoted separately.

Questions before you enquire

Know what the offer does—and does not—cover.

Is US$2,500 a fixed Custom Business System price?

No. US$2,500 is the starting point for one tightly scoped first workflow. The final price depends on the users, data, integrations, permissions, migration, automation, testing, and support responsibilities involved.

Do I need a technical specification before enquiring?

No. Start with the current process, who uses it, where information is lost or repeated, and what should happen next. Discovery helps define a coherent first scope.

Will you replace Microsoft tools, WhatsApp, or spreadsheets?

Not automatically. Useful existing software can remain part of the workflow. Custom work should solve the missing responsibility and connect or replace tools only where the written scope justifies it.

Can a public website and private system be built together?

Yes, when the customer journey and staff workflow need to share information. The proposal will separate the public pages, private tools, integrations, and responsibilities involved.

What happens after launch?

Ownership, hosting, backups, monitoring, maintenance, onboarding, training, and support are confirmed for the specific system. New features and material workflow changes are scoped separately.

Direct enquiry

Prefer to describe the workflow directly?

Describe the current process, the tools involved, and where work gets stuck. I’ll review the context before recommending a scope.

Next step

Start with the process your business needs to see clearly.

Answer a few practical questions. RCB Software will help identify the smallest useful first scope—or tell you when existing software is the better answer.

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