“Les Contes de Perrault” by Gustave Dore – via Wikipedia
Eric Gockel

Written by Eric Gockel

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One of the first questions we get when talking about a new project is, “How Much?”. Well, it depends.

“What is your budget?” we’ll ask. Not all folks like to answer this question. But here’s how it helps us:

We will use your budget number to help guide recommendations for CMS or E-commerce platforms.

If you have complex customization and integration requirements we might steer you towards a custom e-commerce website. If you have a lower budget and simpler needs, then perhaps Shopify.com might fit the bill.

If you don’t like your current CMS, but are happy with the current design, we can just do a replatform.

When we know your budget and your pain points, then we can make cost-effective recommendations to help meet your goals.

And if you honestly don’t have a budget in mind, that’s fine too, we can discuss your options.

When there are a number of unknowns, we recommend doing a paid Discovery to help flesh out requirements. It’s often difficult for the builder (aka programmer) to come up with an estimate without plans, or a blueprint, from an architect.

Architects can’t develop plans without requirements and also can’t do it for free with the hopes of making up their costs from the folks doing the construction (assuming they get the job).

“Can you just give us a quote?”

We can. And it could be on the much higher side, considering all the possibilities that could arise during design and development. Or, we could go on the low end, thinking best-case scenario. But that usually comes with a number of not-so-fun ‘out of scope’ discussions later during the project.

With a discovery phase, working with your team, we can make sure we capture all the requirements from the business side, the marketing folks, content requirements, CMS platform decisions (and necessary customizations). This then becomes a blueprint for your project and can be handed off to the designers and developers–or even another agency if you wish. We feel the planning stages are just as important and can help mitigate surprises, budget or otherwise.

If you like the sound of our process, or are just looking for a different perspective, contact us and see where we can help.