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How an engagement runs, from the first message to the handover.

On the left, the stage and what you pay. On the right, what you get.

The example from the main page runs through the stages.

Stage 1

You send a message

We'll reply by tomorrow.

Stage 2

A discovery week

A fixed fee, credited against the build.

We map what the tool does, which other systems it should absorb, and which rules it has to enforce.

Discovery ends with a written scope, a fixed price, and a recommendation.

A unionized nonprofit of about 90 people used a per-seat performance-review platform. The union contract set rules on response times, anonymity, and appeals that the platform couldn't enforce, so staff tracked them by hand.

Stage 3

The decision

The recommendation can be to build at the fixed price, or to keep the vendor. Under about 40 users, or with fewer than three tools to consolidate, the vendor usually is the right answer.

Work we don't do: own an HR function; financial reporting, accounting, or audit; campaign work.

The recommendation was to build.

What if the recommendation is to keep the vendor?
You keep the written scope.
Stage 4

The build

A fixed price set in discovery, paid at three points.

Signing
First payment.
Demo
Second payment, on a working demo on your data.
Handover
Third payment.

The build took about seven weeks.

Stage 5

Handover

The third payment.

Repository
In your GitHub account.
Hosting
On your cloud account.
Documentation
Written for a non-engineer administrator.
Training
Your staff have been trained.

The new system enforces the contract rules, replaced three other tools, and the organization owns it.

Who maintains it after handover?
Your administrator, for day-to-day use. For changes, anyone who can read the code.
Stage 6

Afterward

Both are separate agreements.

Maintenance is a separate agreement. You can hire us for it or anyone else.

Some clients want operating help without a build: the annual planning cycle, a budget and cash model, a vendor negotiation, a board memo, a new performance-review process. We do that on a monthly retainer scoped to a set of responsibilities rather than to hours.

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