Online tools
Customer portals, booking systems and online tools.
When your website needs to do more than share information: tools built around how your business actually works, for your customers or your team. From £8,500, priced once we’ve planned it together.
- From
- £8,500
- Timing
- Set out in the proposal, stage by stage
- Best for
- Start-ups, property businesses, and any firm running its process on spreadsheets and email
Who it’s for
For when the website is only the start.
Plenty of businesses reach a point where the website isn’t the bottleneck any more. The bottleneck is the process behind it: quotes typed up by hand, bookings juggled across a diary and a phone, customers emailing to ask where their order or project is up to.
An online tool takes that process and puts it on screen, so the customer can do it themselves and your team can see everything in one place. It’s designed as carefully as the public website, because the people using it are your customers and your staff, and it has to be obvious.
I plan it, design it and build it, which means the person who understood your process is the same person writing the code. For RentFairly, that’s the brand, the website and the £5 Rent Review Report itself, all built as one piece.
What’s included
What I can build.
Some examples. Most projects combine two or three of these.
- Customer portals. A private area where customers log in to see their account, documents, progress or invoices, and send you what you need.
- Booking systems. Availability, deposits and reminders handled automatically, shaped around how you actually take bookings.
- Instant quote tools. A few questions on screen, a price at the end, and the details in your inbox, so you quote in seconds rather than days.
- Dashboards. One screen for your team showing what’s due, what’s paid and what needs attention.
- Reports and calculators. Tools that take data in and give people a clear, useful answer, like RentFairly’s rent comparison.
- Connections between systems. Your website, your accounting software, your calendar and your email talking to each other, so nothing is typed twice.
- Secure sign-in and access rules. Each person sees only what they should. Built in from the start, not added later.
- Handover notes. Clear documentation, so the tool can be maintained by me or by anyone you choose.
Pricing
How it’s priced.
Tools are priced on what they have to do, so the honest answer is that it starts at £8,500 and the proposal sets the real figure. What drives it: how many types of user there are, whether money changes hands, what it needs to connect to, and how much of the process is genuinely different from what existing services offer.
Larger builds are split into stages, each with its own price and date, so you’re never far ahead of the work. If the idea needs shaping first, start with project planning from £1,200 and you’ll have a written plan before committing to a build.
How it works
Four steps, one person.
-
01
First conversation
Walk me through the process as it works today, warts and all. I’ll reply within two working days, then we’ll have a free call.
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02
Plan and proposal
A written plan of what the tool does, screen by screen, with the stages, dates and price. Half of the first stage is due to begin.
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03
Design, then build
You approve the screens before I build them. Each stage is tested with real scenarios before you sign it off.
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04
Launch and support
It goes live in your accounts or mine, with handover notes. Fixes are free for 30 days, with support after that if you want it.
Online tool questions
What is an online tool, in plain terms?
Anything on your website that does a job rather than just showing information. A customer portal where clients log in to see their project, documents or invoices. A booking system that checks availability and takes a deposit. An instant quote tool that asks a few questions and gives a price. A dashboard that shows your team what needs doing today.
Do I need one, or will an off-the-shelf service do?
Often an existing service is the right answer, and I’ll say so. If Calendly, Shopify or a standard booking plugin does what you need, connecting it to your website is part of a normal website project. A custom tool makes sense when your process doesn’t fit the standard ones, when you’re paying for several services that don’t talk to each other, or when the tool is the product, as with RentFairly.
Why does it start at £8,500?
Because a tool handles data, logins and payments, it has to be planned, secured and tested far more carefully than a brochure website. That starting figure covers a focused tool with one main job. It’s priced properly once we’ve planned it together, and I’ll tell you honestly if a cheaper route exists.
Where does it live, and is my data safe?
It can run in your own accounts or mine, whichever suits you. Either way, it’s built on established platforms with secure sign-in, backups and access rules so each customer sees only their own information. I’ve worked in confidential industries, I’m registered with the ICO, and I’ll sign a data processing agreement.
How long does it take?
It depends entirely on the tool. A quote calculator might be a few weeks; a customer portal with payments is a few months. The proposal sets the stages and dates, and you approve each stage before the next begins.
What if my idea isn’t fully formed?
That’s what project planning is for. From £1,200, you get a written plan of what to build, how it should work and what it’s likely to cost, and it’s yours to take anywhere.
Next step
Tell me about your idea.
Describe the process you want to improve and I’ll send my first thoughts within two working days, then a free call to talk it through.
Enquire about an online tool See RentFairly