Frequently Asked Questions
Honest answers to the questions South African SMEs ask most before starting a software project.
About Our Services
We work exclusively with South African SMEs — businesses with 1 to 100 employees. This includes retail, manufacturing, professional services, distribution, healthcare, creative agencies, and field service businesses. If you’re a corporation or a startup pre-product, we’re probably not the right fit.
Both. We build new custom systems from scratch, and we also modernise, integrate, and extend existing systems. If you have a legacy system that’s become a liability, we can assess whether modernising it or migrating to a new system makes more sense — and give you an honest recommendation either way.
We choose technology based on what’s right for your use case, not what’s trending. For web systems we typically use React or Vue.js on the frontend with Node.js or PHP backends. For mobile we use React Native. For databases we use PostgreSQL or MySQL. For hosting, we work with AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and SA-based hosting providers depending on requirements.
Yes. We have specific experience integrating with Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, and MoneyWorks. We can also integrate with any system that exposes an API. If your current system doesn’t have an API, we’ll assess whether direct database integration or data file synchronisation is a viable alternative.
Pricing & Investment
For fixed-price projects, our work starts from R50,000 for simpler systems and can reach R300,000+ for complex enterprise-grade platforms. Most SME projects fall in the R80,000–R180,000 range. For revenue-sharing arrangements, there’s no upfront cost — we take 3–7% of revenue the system generates. We’re transparent about all costs in our proposals.
We build your system at our expense. Once it’s live and generating revenue, you pay us an agreed percentage (typically 3–7%) of that revenue monthly. The percentage is based on the project complexity and projected revenue. You can track earnings transparently, and there’s a pre-agreed buyout formula if you want to own it outright later. We report on the percentage monthly with full transparency.
You’ll have third-party costs (hosting, domain, payment gateway fees, third-party API subscriptions) which we itemise upfront. Our ongoing support costs depend on your model: revenue-share clients have maintenance included; fixed-price clients can purchase a monthly retainer (from R3,500/month for a 10-hour retainer). These are always optional — you’re not locked in.
30% on project kick-off, 40% at mid-project milestone (working prototype approved), 30% on go-live. 30-day invoice payment terms are available for established businesses. No payment is required before we complete the discovery and design phases — you only pay to build once you’ve seen and approved the prototype.
Development Process
Moderately involved, but not overwhelmingly. You’ll have a 1-hour review at the end of each 2-week sprint (to see working features and give feedback), weekly 30-minute check-ins, and access to a project tracker showing progress in real time. We do the technical heavy lifting — we just need your business knowledge and feedback at key decision points.
Changes happen — that’s why we use agile methodology. Minor changes within scope are absorbed into the sprint backlog at no cost. Significant scope additions are assessed, priced transparently, and you decide whether to include them. We never surprise you with a change-order invoice. You always know the cost before we build.
We take data migration seriously. We first audit your existing data, identify quality issues, and create a migration plan with a reconciliation report. We run parallel systems (old and new) during testing to validate data integrity. Migration happens in a scheduled maintenance window with zero data loss — we don’t go live until every record is verified.
Every project includes: user manuals for each role, technical documentation for your IT team or future developers, video walkthroughs of key workflows, and in-person or virtual training sessions for your team. You leave with everything you need to operate the system independently — or with us, your choice.
Business Challenges & Solutions
Spreadsheets work — until they don’t. The typical breaking points are: more than 3 people accessing the same data, any manual re-entry between systems, reports that take more than a few minutes to compile, or data errors that have caused real business problems. If none of those apply, you might genuinely not need us. We’d rather tell you that than take your money.
SA’s infrastructure challenges are a first-class design requirement for us, not an afterthought. We design offline-capable systems where operations can be performed without internet and synced when connectivity returns. For critical operations, we implement caching layers and graceful degradation so the system remains usable even during load-shedding. Hosting is configured with automatic failover.
We’ve heard this often, and we take it seriously. Common failure points we address specifically: (1) You see working software every 2 weeks — not a big reveal after months. (2) Our proposals include realistic timelines, not optimistic ones. (3) We document everything so you’re never dependent on us. (4) We don’t start the main build until you’ve approved an interactive prototype. (5) We have a defined process for scope changes — no surprise invoices.
Yes, compliance is built in from the start. We implement POPIA-compliant data handling (consent tracking, data subject access requests, breach notification workflows), secure data storage and transmission, and audit trails. For financial software, we build SARS-compliant VAT calculations and reporting. We also advise on hosting requirements for data residency if your industry requires it.
We can start a discovery call within 48 hours of your enquiry. For urgent projects, we can expedite the proposal to 2 business days and mobilise immediately after sign-off. However, we won’t shortcut the discovery and design phases — those exist to prevent the much costlier problem of building the wrong thing quickly. Our fastest typical project delivery from kick-off to live is 8 weeks.
That’s the best problem to have, and we plan for it. Our architecture is designed for 10x your current scale from day one. If you outgrow initial design parameters, we can scale infrastructure quickly (usually same-day on cloud hosting) and add capacity without rebuilding. For revenue-share projects, growth is exactly what we’re working towards — so we have every incentive to make sure your system handles it.
Technical & Support
For fixed-price projects, full ownership of the code, database schema, and all intellectual property transfers to you upon final payment. For revenue-sharing arrangements, you have perpetual usage rights from day one, with full ownership available via the buyout option. We retain no backdoor access or licensing control. Your system is yours.
We address this directly in every contract. You always have access to the full source code in a repository you own or have access to. Technical documentation is thorough enough that another developer can maintain or extend the system. We also offer an escrow service for critical systems where code is deposited with a third party. Your business is never held hostage by our existence.
Security is not optional. Every system includes: encrypted data at rest and in transit (TLS 1.3), secure authentication with multi-factor options, role-based access control, comprehensive audit logging, automated security patching, regular penetration testing, and POPIA-compliant data handling. We also perform a security review before every release.
Critical production issues (system down): 2-hour response, same-day resolution target. High priority (key feature broken): 4-hour response, 24-hour resolution target. Standard issues: 8-hour response, 3-business-day resolution target. For revenue-share clients this is included. Fixed-price clients on a support retainer receive the same SLAs.
Yes. From day one of development, you have access to your repository (GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket — your choice). You can see every commit, review code quality, and have your own technical advisor review it at any time. We welcome scrutiny — it keeps our standards high and gives you full transparency into what you’re investing in.
Getting Started
You don’t need a formal brief — just come ready to talk about your business. Useful things to have in mind: what your current pain points are, what a successful outcome looks like for you, roughly how many people would use the system, and any must-have integrations (accounting software, payment gateways, etc.). If you have examples of existing systems or reports you want to replace, bring those too.
The discovery call is specifically designed to answer this. We’ll assess technical feasibility, identify the core risks, and give you an honest opinion on whether what you’re imagining is achievable within your constraints. We’d rather tell you something isn’t feasible in a free call than charge you to find out later.
That’s actually the most common starting point. Most of our best projects began with ‘I know something needs to change but I’m not sure what.’ The discovery phase is precisely for uncovering requirements. We ask the right questions to surface what you actually need versus what you think you need — these are often different things.
Yes, and we often recommend it. We design for a phased approach: MVP (minimum viable product) first to validate the concept and get value quickly, then systematic expansion based on real user feedback. This reduces risk, gets you into production faster, and ensures we build features people actually use rather than features we assumed they’d want.
Book a discovery call via the contact page. Pick a time that works for you — we’ll send a calendar invite with a short preparation guide. The call is 60 minutes, completely free, and completely no-obligation. If we’re a good fit, great. If not, we’ll point you in the right direction.
Still Have Questions?
Book a free discovery call. We’ll answer any question you have, no strings attached.