Free Efficiency Review — the software lens
Off-the-shelf is cheap to start and expensive to live with. Our free Efficiency Review, looked at through the software lens, puts three years of fees next to a bespoke system you'd own — so you can see whether owning finally costs less than renting.
Book a Free Efficiency ReviewNo fee, no obligation, no sales pressure. You keep the analysis either way.
Eight seats on a typical cloud CRM, at £35 per user per month.
8 seats × £35/month × 12 = £3,360/year → £10,080 over three years
That bill does not include the next tier up, extra modules, or the next eight people you add. A system you own has no per-seat fees — and it is yours.
Workarounds cost too: three hours a week of exports, double entry and side spreadsheets is another £2,880 a year (3 hrs × £20 × 48 weeks).
A replacement is only worth it if it pays for itself within two years. If renting still wins, we'll say so.
Cost is only half of it. A bespoke system you own is shaped to your work.
Lightweight by design. We look at what you already pay, not at a catalogue of new tools.
30–45 minutes on the software you rent, who uses it, what you actually need it to do, and where it has been bent to fit.
Seats, modules, and the next tier up — converted into a three-year figure you can check against your own invoices.
Whether the product is shaped to your work, or a sales pipeline with the labels painted over. Keep what already fits; only the thing you are renting and bending is in scope.
A practical view of a focused system you would own, with an indicative fixed-price range — a range, not a guess dressed up as a quote.
Vendor versus build, side by side. You keep the document. If renting is still cheaper, we say so.
Renting used to be the rational choice because custom software cost more; AI has cut the cost of building it, and that maths has changed.
The custom CRM case study shows what owning looks like in practice. For what happens when it breaks, who covers if we're not around, and how you get your data out, see Owning your system.
We only start projects where the figures are already clear. If three years of licences still cost less than a build, we'll tell you up front.
A short scoping conversation to finalise exact requirements, then a firm fixed-price proposal for a one-off build. No open-ended day rates, no per-seat meter.
Also a good outcome. You now know what the next three years will cost, and you can revisit the decision when seats, modules, or the next tier change the maths.
Most reviews land here. Commodity tools that already fit stay. The product you are bending is the one we look at replacing.
Yes. The review is free by design — it removes the first barrier to finding out whether renting is still the cheaper path. Any work that follows is a firm fixed price, set against the three-year vendor cost, and designed to pay for itself within two years. If it can't, we'll tell you before you spend anything.
Full requirements gathering takes longer than the review itself. Quoting firmly on incomplete information risks under-pricing or padding — neither is honest. You get a realistic range at the end of the free review; the firm fixed price comes after a short scoping conversation, before any commitment.
Then we tell you exactly that, and you keep the analysis. Clarity is a successful outcome — you'll know what the next three years of licences cost, and when a one-off build would start to win.
No. Keep the commodity tools that already fit. The review is about the product you are renting and bending — not a wholesale replacement of your stack.
Our deepest experience is with owner-led teams of up to around 20 people, and the review works well for businesses up to about 50. Per-seat pricing bites hardest at that size, which is also where a focused one-off build tends to pay back fastest.
Pick a time for a free 30–45 minute conversation, and within days you'll know what the vendor will charge you over three years.
Not ready to book? Send us a message or call 07949 558178.