What to Send Us So We Can Answer Properly

Five things, not a document

1. What happens today, as numbered steps — even rough ones
2. How often, and who does it
3. What goes wrong and what it costs — errors are usually where the business case lives
4. Which systems are involved, named
5. A budget range you would be comfortable with

Half a page covering those five gets you a better answer than four pages covering anything else.

Why we ask for the budget

Withholding it produces proposals scoped at the wrong scale. A range — “we expect £15,000–£30,000 and want to understand what each end buys” — gets you comparable answers from anyone you ask.

It does not mean you will pay all of it. It means nobody wastes a fortnight designing something you were never going to approve.

What helps more than prose

• A screenshot of the spreadsheet you currently use
• A sample of the emails or documents that arrive
• A screen recording of someone doing the task, however rough
• Last month's numbers — volumes, errors, hours

Fifteen minutes of these is worth more than a written specification, because it shows what actually happens rather than what people believe happens.

What not to bother with

A technical solution design, unless you have one you are committed to. A long company background. A feature list without the process behind it.

We would rather understand the problem and propose the approach than price a solution somebody else specified.

What you get back

A reply within one business day, either with two or three questions or with a suggested time to talk. Then a rough cost range, a rough timeline, the main risks, and a clear next step.

Including, sometimes, that there is no project here and why.

Frequently asked questions