A working prototype and a firm price for your build, in two weeks
The hardest part of a software project is not the building. It is committing to a budget before anyone has proven what you are actually paying for. You are asked to sign off a number based on a conversation and a hope.
The Build Roadmap is a two-week discovery sprint, and it removes that leap. For a fixed fee, agreed before we start, we turn "we think we need something like this" into a working prototype you can click through, a data model, a phased plan, and a firm price to build it. If you go ahead with the build, the fee comes off the cost. If you do not, you keep everything we produced and can take it to anyone.
What you walk away with
Four things, each useful on its own, and together enough to brief a build with confidence, ours or someone else's.
A working prototype
A clickable version of the core screens and the main flow, so you can see and feel what the software does before a line of production code is written. Not a slide deck. Something you can put in front of your team.
A data model
The shape of your information: what the system stores, how the pieces relate, and where it connects to the tools you already run. The foundation that decides whether the build holds together later.
A phased plan
What to build first, what can wait, and why. Sequenced so you get something working early rather than waiting for everything to arrive at once.
A firm build price
A fixed price for the first phase and honest ranges for what follows. A number you can plan around and take to your board, not a guess designed to win the work.
The fee comes off the build
This is the part worth reading twice. The fee is not money spent on top of the build. It is the first payment towards it.
Credited in full. If you commission the build with us within ninety days, the fee comes straight off the cost. If you decide not to build, or to build elsewhere, the prototype, the data model, and the plan are yours to keep. We do not hold the work hostage to win the next stage.
That is the honest version of a paid scoping engagement. You are not betting the fee on whether we are any good. You are buying a plan you own, and getting it back if you go ahead.
How the two weeks run
Short, focused, and built around your real work rather than a generic template. Every discovery sprint follows the same four beats, and you will not disappear into a black box for a fortnight.
A working session, week one
We sit down with the people who do the work and map how it actually happens: the steps, the handovers, the places it breaks. This is where the real requirements surface, not the ones everyone assumes.
Shaping and the data model
We turn what we heard into the shape of a system: the core entities, the flows, and the decisions that matter. We bring questions back to you rather than guessing at the answers.
The prototype, week two
We build a clickable prototype of the main flow, so the idea becomes something you can try, react to, and show around. Seeing it changes the conversation every time.
The plan and the price
We hand over the phased plan and a firm build quote, and walk you through it together. You leave knowing what to build, in what order, and what it costs.
How it differs from Discovery
They sound similar and they share DNA, but they answer different questions. The Build Roadmap is for when you roughly know what you want and need it scoped, proven, and priced. Discovery is for when the problem itself is still fuzzy and the real question is what to build at all.
If you are not sure which fits, the free call sorts it in ten minutes. We would rather point you at the right one than sell you the bigger one.
Who it is for
The Build Roadmap suits a specific moment: the idea is real, the budget is not yet committed, and you want proof before you spend.
Where it leads
Most Build Roadmaps lead into a custom build, with the fee credited and the plan already in hand. Some lead to a smaller first version to prove the riskiest part before the rest. A few confirm that an off-the-shelf product is the right call, which is a useful answer to have at a known, fixed cost. If you already have software and want it assessed rather than scoped, the Stack Health Check is the better starting point.
Start with a plan, not a leap of faith
Tell us roughly what you have in mind. If the Build Roadmap is the right next step, we will book the two weeks and get you a prototype and a price. The first conversation is free and takes about thirty minutes. Read more about what working with us looks like, or get in touch directly.
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