3
Teosz
2y

I am currently weeks apart from releasing my pet project, which I am working on for almost 6 years now. Of course, there were a few stops here and there, but overall I've spent a lot of time and effort on this to make it work. It is far from complete but I am really happy with the results.

Now, since I am not a professional by any means - it is all a hobby for me - I was wondering, that how much my work would cost, if it were to made by professionals. Below the details so you can get a grasp of the thing.

The whole system is for our family business. We are selling parts for an old-timer truck model. The website was pretty much done already, people like it, it only needed some polishing and adding of the new features. But the thing behind it is monstrous (at least for me).
Apart from the custom-made CMS for the website (most of it was done already and didn't need to change), we can handle orders, partners, prices, stocks, overdue partners, pretty much anything a CRM would do.
There is a logic to automatically make orders based on import prices, or give the customer a custom discount based on the price gap of each product. There are products, which can contain other products, and their prices are dynamically changed based on a given formula, once an underlying product price changes. We can send e-mails when an order status changes, and there is also a page, where a user can interact whit their order, like changing the shipping or the delivery address. The system is (or will in the following weeks) also connected to multiple shipping companies' API, so we can order deliveries and print labels directly from our system. The whole thing is a custom made Laravel project by the way. There are countless more features, but I've just spent 2 hours explaining all to my father and was only be able to cover like half of it.

And why it is all custom made, you ask? Well, the business logic is a bit twisted, so it would be hard to operate as a regular web shop, since the availability of the products are uncertain, given the fact that it is a model, which isn't manufactured in 30 years. So, we can't just accept and send orders without confirming. It is also a thing, that people usually don't know what they need to order for their truck, so we have to help them, so they don't waste their money and the precious last pieces of a part unnecessarily.

Sorry for this rather long post, and it might feel like I just want to brag (well, I kinda do), but I am honestly interested in what such a custom product would cost in the market.

Thank you for your time answering.

Comments
  • 0
    Nice that you helped family with the custom application.
    The cost depends solely on how much someone can pay for a software and how many customers you have so it’s hard to tell. From 1000 dollars for customized woo commerce on top of word press to 10 millions for a enterprise bullshit talk.
  • 1
    @molaram Sadly can't really show it. Even if I could, most of it is untranslated, since it only ever be seen by us.

    I agree, that there are parts that could have been provided by 3rd party or open-source solutions, hell, even maybe 80% of the whole could have been covered, but that wouldn't have been perfectly tailored and smooth for our taste. Since money and time didn't really matter, I was aimed to something, that 100% fulfills our needs.

    It was a pet project, and I wasn't really got payed for it, the company is partly mine so I've done it for my sake as well. I consider it a good learning opportunity, and if the company can grow because of it, than it is a win-win situation.
  • 1
    @vane

    The customer base is around 2k but only like 5-700 are regulars.

    One of our suppliers got a new woocommerce site recently. I haven't asked him how much he payed, but according to your answer, sure a lot, compared to the clusterfuck he got.

    I'd like to think that mine is better than that, but still far from enterprise. :)
  • 0
    @Teosz well at least you learned something and you have a customer base you can test your features on. You can also ask suppliers if they want to use your product and see if they like it or ask them what’s missing, it’s nice to start small cause you can move fast, prepare some demo and give them a trial if you want.
    But I warn you that probably selling stuff like that requires another half year of work.
  • 0
    @vane Oh no, I'm not intend to sell it. Wasn't really planned that way either. It is really something that only useful for us. Besides, I will have my hands full of fixing my shit, and adding new stuff, I don't want to maintain it for someone else as well, that's too much pressure for me. :)

    My question was directed towards how much companies charge for this type of work, not how much I can sell it for.
  • 0
    @Teosz well as I wrote it depends of it’s fixed or time and material pricing, number of features and the base. If customer wears a suit or tracksuit and from what country are the developers.

    Don’t be scared, I agree that you should master the product on your website and when you become confident enough and happy give it a shoot and ask supplier if he wants a demo, it doesn’t cost you anything, they can give you some tips or beg you for a product. You never know if you don’t ask, if they like it find 5 more and hire someone to support them for you.
    Or don’t do it, life is about making choices.
    Products are worth amount people are willing to pay for them.
    Apple sells piece of cloth for 19$ cause they and their customers don’t care.
Add Comment