Custom software · Hobart & southern Tasmania
Your old program still works. Until the day it doesn't.
I build the replacement — for the software nobody supports any more, the job book on the bench, or the spreadsheet only one person understands. Built here in Hobart, and I'm the one who maintains it.
No obligation · No sales visit · You keep the plan either way
You already know which one you are.
Every workshop I walk into has one of these three. None of them are a crisis today. All of them are a crisis on the wrong Tuesday.
The vendor's gone
The bloke who wrote it retired, sold up, or stopped answering the phone in 2016. No updates, no support, and nobody left who can change a single field.
It only runs on the old machine
There's one PC in the corner nobody's allowed to touch, because the software won't install on anything newer and the licence disc is in a drawer somewhere.
It lives in a book
Jobs, bookings, measurements and prices in a diary, a docket book, or a spreadsheet that only works if one particular person is at work that day.
The other options
You've already looked. Here's why none of it fitted.
This is the honest comparison, including the bit where I tell you to go elsewhere.
What I build
One thing that does the job you actually do.
Not a platform. Not modules you'll never open. The specific task that eats your week, built the way your trade actually works.
- Job tracking through real stagesQuoted, approved, in the workshop, ready, invoiced — and a straight answer when a customer rings to ask where theirs is.
- Booking something you only have so much ofSlipway berths, hardstand spaces, machine time, hire gear, a drying room. Tides, durations and daily charges included.
- Quoting with your own rates and formulasYour materials, your margins, your way of measuring a job. Not a generic template you have to fight.
- Proof and approval trailsArtwork, inscriptions, drawings and layouts — what was sent, what was approved, when, and by whom.
- Production and batch recordsCures, smokes, runs and batch numbers, recorded once and findable later when someone asks for traceability.
- Availability lists customers can actually seeInstead of emailing the same spreadsheet to thirty wholesale buyers and reconciling the replies by hand.
- Recurring work you're currently forgettingAnnual antifouls, yearly services, seasonal sharpening. The system remembers and tells you who's due.
- Records a regulator expects to seeSerial numbers, licences, food safety logs, certificates. Kept properly, and printable when someone asks.
How it works
Four steps, and you can stop after the second.
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We talk on site
An hour in your workshop, not a video call. I watch how a job actually moves from the phone ringing to the invoice going out. Costs nothing, and if an off-the-shelf product already does it, I'll tell you that and go home.
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You get the plan, free
A written page in plain English: what it will do, what it will cost, how long it takes. Yours to keep whether you go ahead or not — take it to another developer if you like. Most people don't, but the offer is real.
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I build it
You see it working partway through rather than at the end, and your existing records come across so you're not starting from an empty screen. I train whoever's using it, on your bench, on your gear.
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I keep it running
Hosting, backups, fixes and small changes, every month. You ring me, not a call centre. Stop any time and you keep your data and your code.
The offer
You can't really lose here.
Most of what you're weighing up isn't the money. It's the risk that you spend it and end up with another program nobody supports. So I've taken that off the table.
What you would pay for these separately
- On-site visit & written plan$600
- Your records moved off the old system$900
- Staff training, on site, on your gear$450
- Hosting, backups & security updates$60/mo
- Bug fixes, always, at no charge$150/mo
- The source code, in your nameYours
- What that's worth$1,950 + $210/mo
You pay none of it. Every one of those is in the package price, whichever package you pick.
Four ways I carry the risk, not you
The plan is free, and it's yours
The visit and the written plan cost you nothing and commit you to nothing. If you read it and walk away, you've still got a document that tells you exactly what your problem is worth fixing.
Half up front, half when it works
You pay 50% to start. The balance is due once it's doing what the plan says it would — not on a date, not on handover, on it working.
Sixty days, or you don't pay the balance
If it isn't doing what the plan says within sixty days of handover, I keep working at no extra charge until it does. If I can't get there, you don't pay the balance and you keep what's built.
Nothing to be trapped in
No minimum term, no exit fee. Cancel the monthly whenever you like and you keep your data and your source code.
Packages
Three sizes. Yours gets quoted properly.
A signwriter's approval trail and a boatyard's slipway system aren't the same amount of work, so I don't pretend they cost the same. These are starting prices — your fixed quote comes with the free plan, before you commit to anything.
Bench
One process, built properly. The single thing that's still on paper.
from$1,499+ GST
then $79 / month + GST
Built in 1–2 weeks
- One process, one screen, done well
- Runs on the phone, tablet and desktop
- Your existing records brought across
- On-site training for your team
- Hosting, backups and security updates
- Bug fixes always free, plus 1 hour of changes a month
- Email support, replies within 2 business days
- Free written plan before you commit
Most single-owner workshops
Workshop
Several processes joined up — quote, floor, invoice, all in one place.
from$3,900+ GST
then $149 / month + GST
Built in 4–8 weeks
- Everything in Bench, plus:
- Multiple processes, joined up properly
- Customer-facing portal or status page
- Xero or MYOB connected up
- Your documents and PDFs generated automatically
- Reporting you'd actually use on a Monday
- Phone support, same business day
- Bug fixes always free, plus 3 hours of changes a month
- Quarterly review — what's working, what's next
The one I'd pick for most of you
Platinum
The whole operation, and me on retainer to keep improving it every quarter.
from$9,500+ GST
then $349 / month + GST
Built in 8–12 weeks
- Everything in Workshop, plus:
- Every process across the business, integrated
- A full day of development every quarter, plus 6 hours a month
- Priority support — 4 hour response, and my mobile
- Staff logins, roles and permissions
- Compliance and audit records built in
- Annual on-site review and roadmap
- You go to the front of the queue, always
Multi-site or heavily regulated
All prices exclude GST. I build for two businesses at a time, because I'd rather finish yours than juggle six — if the next slot is a few weeks out, I'll tell you on the first call rather than after you've paid a deposit.
Fit
I'd rather turn you away than take your money.
This works when
- You own the place and you make the call
- You've been going ten years or more
- You do something specific enough that generic software has never quite fitted
- There's one task, done daily, that's still on paper or in a program on borrowed time
- You'd rather ring a person in Hobart than lodge a ticket
This doesn't
- Xero, Square or ServiceM8 already covers it — use them, and I'll say so for free
- You need cover around the clock, or a team on standby. I'm one person
- You want everything replaced at once on a Bench budget
- Nobody in the building is prepared to change how they work
Who you're dealing with
One person, and he lives here.
I build custom software for small businesses across Hobart and southern Tasmania. I'm not an agency, there's no account manager, and the number at the top of this page is my mobile.
Most of what I replace was written by someone who has long since moved on. That's the part of this trade I think is broken — plenty of people will sell a small business a system, and almost nobody sticks around to maintain it. So I made maintenance the deal rather than an afterthought, and I priced it so it's never the thing you cut.
If your program is on its last legs, bring the old machine along. I've seen worse.
Questions
The ones I get asked on every first call.
What's it going to cost me?
Packages start at $1,499 for a single process, $3,900 for several connected ones, and $9,500 for a whole operation. Monthly support runs from $49 to $249. Your actual number is quoted in writing after the free visit, and it's fixed — it doesn't move partway through.
Why not just publish one price?
Because a signwriter's artwork approval trail and a boatyard's slipway booking system aren't the same amount of work. One published price would mean overcharging the simple jobs to cover the complicated ones. The starting prices show you the range honestly, and the free plan gives you the exact number before you commit a cent.
What does the monthly fee actually cover?
Hosting, daily backups, security updates, monitoring, and any bug fix for as long as you are on it — bugs are never billed. It also includes a set number of hours each month for changes: one hour on Bench, three on Workshop, six on Platinum plus a full day each quarter. Bigger pieces of work get quoted separately so you always know before you spend.
Are your prices GST inclusive?
All prices shown exclude GST. You will see GST itemised on the quote and the invoice, and if you are registered you claim it back.
How long does a build take?
One to two weeks for Bench, four to eight for Workshop, eight to twelve for Platinum. You see it working partway through rather than only at the end, so anything wrong gets caught while it's still cheap to change.
What happens to my data if I stop paying?
You get a full export in a standard format and you keep it, along with the source code. The data is yours, not mine. No lock-in, no minimum term, no exit fee.
Can you replace a program that isn't supported any more?
Usually. If the old program can print, export, or stores its records in a readable database, the data can generally be moved across. Bring the old machine in and I'll look at it before either of us commits to anything.
How is this different from ServiceM8 or Tradify?
Those are good apps and I'll happily point you at them. They're built for plumbers and electricians running service calls, they charge per user per month forever, and they don't do inscription proofs, slipway berths, blade sharpening cycles, batch cure records or wholesale availability lists — because almost nobody does. That specific work is the whole reason I exist.
Do I have to be in Hobart?
I cover Hobart and southern Tasmania — Glenorchy, Moonah, Kingston, Margate, Huonville, Cygnet, Sorell, Richmond, New Norfolk and Bridgewater included. The on-site visit is part of the deal, not an extra.
Who owns it once it's built?
You do — the application, the source code and the records. If you ever want to move it somewhere else or hand it to another developer, everything goes with you.
What if something breaks and you're not around?
Every build is documented and every customer has a copy of their own data and code, so nothing is stranded with me. I'm one person though, and I'd rather be straight about it: if you need cover around the clock, you need a bigger outfit than me.
Next step
Tell me what's still on paper.
I'll come and have a look, and you'll get a written plan whether you go ahead or not.
Prefer to just ring?
I reply to every enquiry within one business day.
If you send it before 3pm on a weekday, you will usually hear back the same afternoon.