What to prepare before asking for an app quote: a checklist

You don’t need to know about technology to ask for a good quote, but you do need to be clear about a few things in your business. The more concrete they are, the more accurate and comparable the price you get. This list works with any provider.

1. The problem, not the solution

Start with what you want to achieve (“customers booking without calling me”, “no more keying orders in by hand”) before describing screens. Sometimes the best solution is simpler than you imagined.

2. Who will use it

Define the types of user (customers, staff, administrators), what each one does and roughly how many there will be. Permissions and scale follow from that.

3. Essential versus nice-to-have

Make two lists. The essentials are what the app is useless without. The nice-to-haves can wait for a second phase. This split is the most powerful tool for adjusting the price.

4. What it has to connect to

List the current systems it must talk to: ERP, CRM, accounting, payment gateway, email, spreadsheets. Note whether they have an API or documentation.

5. The data you already have

If customers, products or history have to be migrated from somewhere else, say so early: migration is one of the parts that most often comes as a surprise.

6. References

Apps or websites you like, and why. Not to copy them, but to understand the level of design you expect.

7. Deadlines and an indicative budget

If you have a deadline (a campaign, a season) or a budget ceiling, say so: it allows an essential version that meets it to be proposed instead of a complete one that doesn’t.

8. Who will maintain it afterwards

Decide whether you want the provider, your team or a third party to do it. It changes the quote and the documentation you should receive.

With these eight points written on one page you have more than enough. If you would rather not prepare it yourself, our assistant asks you the necessary questions with one-click answers and gives you a fixed quote in a few minutes.