Custom business systems
Orders, cases, projects, stock, staff, or whatever your organisation actually runs on — built around your vocabulary rather than an industry template.
Systems development for organisations that outgrew their spreadsheets.
Custom business systems, internal tools and integrations that connect people, data and processes — built around how you actually work.
Almost every growing organisation has the same thing underneath: a spreadsheet nobody dares touch, three systems that do not talk to each other, and one person who is the only one who knows how it really fits together. It works for a long time, and then it becomes the most expensive part of operations.
Systems development is rarely about building everything from nothing. It is about seeing where the work actually stalls, replacing exactly that, and connecting the systems that already do their job. An off-the-shelf system you have to adapt to costs more in lost time than one built around the process you already have.
We build in steps and go live early. The first thing replaced should be whatever costs the most manual work, so the system pays for itself before it is finished — and so operations never have to stop for a single large cutover.
What is included
Scope is set per project. These are the parts we work on.
Integrations
Connections between the systems you already run: finance, CRM, ecommerce, payroll, logistics. One source of truth per fact, instead of four versions of the same customer.
Internal tools and admin surfaces
The tools staff use every day. They are rarely built properly, and that is where the most time is lost in the least visible way.
Reporting and decision support
Numbers you can rely on, updated automatically, instead of a manual monthly compilation everyone questions anyway.
Migration from existing systems
Data moved with its history intact, parallel running during the transition, and a way back if something turns out to be missing.
Permissions and audit trails
Who may see what, who changed what and when. The foundation for both data protection and for debugging without guessing.
How it runs
- MappingWe follow the work as it is done today, not as the process document claims.
- PrioritisingWhich single step costs the most manual time? That one gets built first.
- PilotOne bounded piece in real use with one team, early enough to change direction.
- RolloutMore processes in steps, with parallel running so operations never stop.
- IntegrationExisting systems connect once the new core is stable, not before.
- MaintenanceMonitoring, backups and further development as the business changes.
What we build with
Application
- React
- TypeScript
- Node.js
Data
- PostgreSQL
- Supabase
- Row-level security
- Migrations
Integration
- REST
- GraphQL
- Webhooks
- Queues and jobs
Operations
- Cloud hosting
- Backups
- Logging
- Monitoring
A fit if you
- run critical processes in spreadsheets only one person understands
- pay for several systems that do not talk to each other
- have an off-the-shelf system the business had to adapt to, rather than the reverse
- have an internal system that works but nobody can maintain any more
- need audit trails and permissions to meet a requirement or an audit
Systems development
When is custom software better than an off-the-shelf system?
When the process is part of what you compete on. Accounting, payroll and email should be bought as standard — deviation there is pure cost. But the process that makes you faster or cheaper than competitors is rarely the one an industry template supports, and adapting the business to the template means giving up exactly that advantage. Often the answer is a combination: standard underneath, custom where it counts, joined by integrations.
Do we have to replace everything we have?
No, and we rarely propose it. The common case is that one piece is replaced — the one costing the most manual work — while the rest is connected through integrations. A cutover that takes everything at once is the most expensive and riskiest route, and the most common reason projects like this never finish.
What does systems development cost?
Cost follows the number of processes to support, how many systems are integrated and how much historical data has to migrate — not the number of screens. A bounded pilot replacing one manual flow can often go live as a clear first step with its own budget, before you commit to the rest. That is normally the sequence we propose.
How do you handle the data we already have?
Migration is planned before the build, not after it. We go through what exists, what is actually used, what is duplicated and what must be kept for legal reasons. During the transition old and new run in parallel until the numbers agree on both sides.
Will we be dependent on you afterwards?
The code, the database and the environments are yours, documented so another developer can pick them up. We are glad to keep maintaining them, but that should be a choice you make each year — not a position you ended up in because nobody else can get into the system.
Will the system meet GDPR requirements?
Personal data is treated as its own question in the design: what is collected, why, how long it is kept, who may see it and how it is deleted on request. Permissions and audit trails are built in from the start because they are expensive to add later. We supply what you need for your own processing records, but we are not lawyers and do not replace a legal assessment.
What we build — and what you have once it is built.
AI & automationAI and automation where the technology creates genuine business value: smarter flows, less manual work, faster answers.E-commerceCommerce built for conversion, for scale, and for a customer experience that still holds up a year in.MVP & product developmentFrom idea to MVP, launch and everything after — with a clear view of what gets built first and what can wait.
Have a process costing too much manual work?
Book a free consultation. We go through the flow as it stands today and say where we see the biggest gain.