- Typical duration
- Depends on scope
Something else
Work that fits no category has to be shown to be possible before a price is discussed. What follows is why the order runs that way.
What is built
Feasibility first, quote second
The other three services carry a band because they have been done many times. This one carries none, and none is invented. What happens instead is that the work is investigated for whether it can be done at all, and the result of that investigation is a written note: what is possible, what is not, and which assumption still needs testing.
A negative answer is also an answer
The output of a feasibility study is not always a project. Sometimes the right answer is that the work cannot be done at this budget, or with this technology. Saying so at the start is cheaper than abandoning it six months in.
The scope gets written down
If feasibility comes back positive, what will and will not be built is listed item by item. The price follows that document. Reverse the order, and scope quietly shrinks to fit a number that was named before anyone knew what the work was.
How the process works
01You describe what you want built
It starts with the problem you want solved rather than a technical proposal. What gets described first is usually a proposed solution, and the problem underneath it usually turns out to be the more interesting one.
02A feasibility note
What is possible, what is not, and which assumptions need testing, written down. The note is yours to keep; you end up with something in hand whether or not the work goes ahead.
03Scope and price
If the note is positive, inclusions and exclusions are listed and the duration and cost are built on that. The rest of the process is the one set out on the services page.
Common questions
What counts as something else?
Work that fits none of the other three cleanly, or needs all three at once. A panel that talks to a piece of hardware, a data pipeline, lifting an existing system out and rebuilding it. If you are unsure, describing it is enough; working out which heading it belongs under is the job here.
Is the feasibility study paid?
The first conversation and the short assessment that follows are not charged for. Where the investigation runs to days, because a piece of hardware or a closed system has to be examined, it is discussed as separate scope, and that too is written down before it starts.
What if it turns out not to be feasible?
Why it cannot be done, and under what condition it would become possible, is given in writing. That document is yours. Even if the next step takes you to someone else, you hold a record of what was actually investigated.
How long does it take?
The duration is given after feasibility, not before. A duration named before that is not even an estimate, only a wish. The assessment itself usually takes a few days.
Building something?
Say what you want built; a written proposal follows within two business days.