Custom software for small businesses
Custom software for small businesses, built lean and built to be used.
Most small business software is built for everyone, which means it fits nobody exactly. When the tools you pay for keep getting in the way, custom small business software can be built around how you actually work. We build it, and we'll tell you honestly when you don't need it.
Is it right for you?
When custom software makes sense, and when it doesn't.
Custom software is an investment, and it isn't always the right one. If an off-the-shelf tool does 90% of what you need, use it. We'd rather tell you that now than sell you something you'll regret.
Probably a good fit
- You pay for several tools and glue them together by hand.
- Your team works around your software instead of with it.
- Someone repeats the same manual task every day or every week.
- The way you work is part of what makes you better than your competitors.
- Your subscriptions keep growing while you use a fraction of what you pay for.
Probably not a fit
- A popular tool already does the job, and you'd mostly like it to look different.
- You need standard accounting, payroll or email. Those are solved problems.
- You haven't run the process by hand long enough to know what it should do.
- You need it finished next week.
What we build
The kinds of software small businesses actually need.
Rarely a cathedral. Usually one sharp tool that removes a daily headache, and then grows from there.
Internal tools & dashboards
One place to see and manage what's currently spread across spreadsheets, inboxes and three different apps.
Customer-facing web apps
Booking, ordering, quoting and client portals. Things your customers use directly, built to be fast and simple.
Automation & integrations
Connecting the tools you already use, so data moves on its own instead of being copied by hand.
Data collection & reporting
Scrapers, monitors and reports that gather the numbers you need and tell you when something changes.
Desktop software
Still the right answer for some jobs. We were building Windows software long before the cloud was fashionable.
Mobile apps
For when your team or your customers need it in their pocket, and a website won't do.
Past projects have included an app built on Betfair's betting-exchange API, log-monitoring and alerting software, and a .NET rewrite of a company's older software. See more of our work →
How it works
Something real in your hands early, then better every round.
Custom software projects usually go wrong the same way: months of building in the dark, then a big reveal that misses. We work the other way round.
We talk
We learn your business and the problem. If we don't think custom software is the answer, we'll say so.
We quote
A free quote and a plain-English plan for what we'd build first, and why.
We build the MVP
The simplest version that solves the core problem, in your hands as early as possible.
We refine together
You use it for real, tell us what's off, and we adjust. We repeat that until it fits.
We help people find it
If your customers use it, we can help them discover it through search, content and paid traffic. It's the part most developers skip.
Why a small studio
What you get by working with us.
You talk to the builder
The person who scopes your project is the person who builds it. No account managers, no game of telephone.
Built, then found
We know search and paid traffic, so software your customers use doesn't launch into silence.
We ship our own products
We build and run our own software too, like Penguinhops, so we know what it takes to make something people keep using.
Cost and time
What small business software development costs.
It depends almost entirely on scope, which is why we don't publish a price list. What we can tell you is what moves the number.
The biggest factors are how many kinds of users the software has, how many other systems it needs to talk to, whether it handles payments or sensitive data, and how polished it needs to look on day one.
Starting with an MVP keeps the first bill as small as it can be. Instead of paying for everything you might one day need, you pay for the part that solves the problem now, see it working, and then decide what's worth adding. A focused internal tool can take a few weeks. A customer-facing app with accounts and payments is usually a few months.
Every quote we send is free and comes with the plan behind it, so you can see exactly what you're paying for. And if the numbers don't make sense for your business, we'll tell you that too.
Common questions
Questions small businesses ask us.
How much does custom software cost for a small business?
It depends on scope. A small internal tool costs far less than a customer-facing platform. Starting with an MVP keeps the first version as lean as possible, and every quote we give is free and comes with a clear plan.
How long does small business software development take?
A focused tool can be ready in a few weeks. Larger projects take a few months, but you'll have a working first version long before the end, because we build in small steps.
Do I own the software you build?
Yes. What we build for you is yours. If other businesses turn out to have the same problem, we may suggest turning it into a shared product with you as a partner, but only if you want to.
Shouldn't I just use off-the-shelf software?
Often, yes. If an existing tool covers most of what you need, it'll be cheaper and faster. Custom software earns its keep when your process doesn't fit the boxes, or when you're paying for several tools and stitching them together by hand.
Do you work with businesses outside Romania?
Yes. We're based in Bucharest, but many of our clients over the years have been in the US, Australia and elsewhere in Europe. Everything happens remotely, in English.
What happens after launch?
We don't disappear. We fix what needs fixing, keep improving the parts you use most, and if the software is customer-facing, we can help people find it through search and paid traffic.
Have a problem your software doesn't solve?
Tell us about it. Worst case, you get an honest opinion on whether custom software is worth it for you.