Budget
What affects the cost, and why quotes can look so different
I cannot give you a number before I have seen your project, and I would be guessing if I tried. "A website" covers everything from a single page to a system a whole company runs on, so two quotes for what sounds like the same request can be very far apart. Here is what actually moves it, so you have something concrete to compare against.
Six things that move it
Why two projects that sound identical are not
How much it has to do
A single page and a forty page site are not the same job, and neither is a screen that displays a list and a system that runs your orders. This affects the cost more than everything else on this page combined, which is why it comes first.
How many people use it, and who sees what
If everyone sees the same thing, that is straightforward. If your staff see one view, you see another, and a customer must never see either, that separation has to be built carefully and then tested. It is real work and it takes real time.
What it has to talk to
Something that stands on its own is quicker. If it has to talk to tools you already use, like your accounting or your sales channels, we have to build that connection and then test that both sides agree. The testing usually takes longer than the connecting.
Whether your words and data are ready
If your text, images, and existing records are ready to go, the work moves quickly. If someone has to write the copy first, or clean up years of accumulated records, that is a second job sitting inside the first one.
How fast you need it
A normal timeline works out lower than a rushed one. Compressing a schedule means rearranging other work and putting in longer days. If your deadline has some give in it, that flexibility is worth more to you than it might sound.
What happens after launch
Some customers take the keys and run it themselves from day one. Others would rather I keep an eye on it. Those work out differently, and it is easier if we decide which one you want at the start rather than the week after launch.
Keeping the cost down
Two things that genuinely help
Start with the smallest version that is actually useful
The most expensive way to build software is to plan all of it, build all of it, and find out at the end that a third of it was wrong. It is usually better to build the part that has to work, put it in front of real people, and let what they do decide what comes next. You spend less, and you are up and running much sooner.
Tell me what you are not sure about
If part of the plan is a guess, say so. I would much rather leave it out of this round and add it once you know, than build something we both suspect will change. Quite often the most useful thing I can tell you is that a piece does not need building yet at all, and I would rather say that than quietly put it on the list.
Common questions
What people ask about money
What does a website or a system cost?
I cannot honestly give you a single number, because a small, tightly scoped job and a system your whole company depends on are wildly different sizes of work. What I can usually do in one conversation is tell you which end of that range your project sits at, and what would bring it down. Email me at askpurin@pm.me with what you have in mind.
Can I keep the budget under control?
Yes, and the approach is simple enough. Build the smallest version that genuinely works, launch it, then add to it once the business has shown you what it actually needs. In my experience that beats one big build most of the time. You spend less, you find out sooner whether you were right, and you are up and running months earlier.
Why do quotes for the same thing differ so much?
Because "a website" covers an enormous range of work. One quote might cover the look of it and little else. Another covers where your data lives, how your team reaches it, a written handover, and support after launch. Ask both sides to list exactly what is included before you compare the numbers. Otherwise it is impossible to tell whether one is better value or simply leaving more out.
Does hiring a developer in Thailand cost less than hiring at home?
Yes. Hiring me in Bangkok costs less than hiring a developer in London, Sydney, or San Francisco. The work is the same standard. What changes is what a workday costs in each city. Going direct also means no agency is taking a cut in between. That said, I would not choose a developer on cost alone. Look at what they have actually finished and shipped, and at whether they answer your questions clearly. If both hold up, the cost difference is a bonus rather than the argument.
How do payments work?
In stages tied to progress, never the whole amount before I start. We agree at the beginning what each stage covers and when it is paid, so you see working software before you release the next one. You are never paying into a black box and hoping.
Want to see what a system like this involves? Here is what I build, and here is what it has looked like.
Get an estimate
Tell me about it and I will give you a rough idea
You should not have to guess at this on your own. Tell me what your business does and what you would like built, and I will come back with the size of the job, what I would leave out to bring it down, and anything I think you do not need yet.