Renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright once sketched an exquisite house on a napkin within minutes for a wealthy businessman, who was astonished by the $1 million price. Wright explained, "You are not paying for the minutes it took to draw this. You are paying for the decades of experience that enabled me to create it so quickly and perfectly."
This principle also applies to engineering quotes -years of experience enable quick identification of problems and anomalies. In this post, we'll highlight red flags and positive markers to look for in engineering quotes.
If you want us to help you assess yours, please drop us a line.
If you’ve not followed Part 1, you may not be aware that the single best thing you can do to optimise your quotes is: write a brief! Read this now if you've landed on this page first.
It sounds obvious, but if the quotes you’re getting are too varied, you may need to re-evaluate your brief. Contact us if you need help with this - it’s a fine art. Digital Diligence helps companies make the most of their software development agency relationship and avoid nasty surprises down the line.
Did you set a budget? And did you define your product precisely? These days, you can get most MVPs done for under £50k, If you don't define your requirements thoroughly, you'll end up with scope creep, which will increase the final cost
It’s important to interrogate the reasons behind price variations - they can be good, and you shouldn’t just choose the cheapest quote. But make sure you know why a quote differs in price.
You’ve received a 54-page, beautifully designed, vibrant deck showcasing the agency with 3 pages of information about your company… There’s nothing wrong with a company spending time on their deck, but this isn’t just about them - it’s about you.
You need to make sure the agency has spent time going over your brief (if you wrote one). If you didn’t, go write one and start again.
Agencies get a lot of inbound traffic and it’s hard for them to evaluate who’s serious and who’s not. To save time, some send out generic quotes/prices. If you want to know about the company, reach out to some of their clients directly.
Clarity and Detail: Ensure the quote clearly outlines what is included in the scope of work. Vague descriptions can lead to misunderstandings and additional costs later.
Deliverables: Check if all deliverables are explicitly mentioned, including specific features, timelines, and milestones. Make sure these align with the brief you sent them (you did send one, right?).
No, big is not (always) better.
Technically, this section should appear in “Choosing Your Agencies,” but we’ll cover it here too. A bigger agency won’t always get you where you need to be. If you need an MVP, you don’t need the coolest agency in London.
A bigger agency might have more experienced engineers. They might also have outsourced their engineering and will charge you a fortune for a less experienced team. A smaller agency might have a team in London and a team elsewhere, saving costs (and passing them on). They might also provide a more hands-on experience.
Don’t let size sway your decision. Choose the agency that suits your needs, not your wants.
Realistic Timelines: Assess whether the proposed timeline is realistic and achievable. Overly aggressive timelines can indicate a lack of understanding of the project complexity.
Milestones: Look for clearly defined milestones and deadlines. This helps in tracking progress and ensuring timely delivery. You don’t want an agency to take your idea, disappear for three months, and deliver something you don’t want. Ensure they engage with you regularly.
Ensure there’s a breakdown of prices for each feature/page. Evaluating these is a great way to determine if they’ve read your brief, understood and can execute it, and are charging fair prices.
Look through each of the cost breakdowns and evaluate some features side by side. For example, we’ve seen login page implementations taking 96 hours. A simple login page doesn’t take this long - it’s a generic implementation and a signal that the agency is not for you.
Not every agency will include these however, these are ESSENTIAL - even with the best brief out there. We can help you with also; however, you’re always advised to do these WITH the agency too. Everyone works in different ways, and this really kicks off your relationship.
You might be building the next best thing to find your favourite food spot, but the agency is off building apps for the NHS. You should be looking for agencies IN your sector.
You’ll want to consider this early on - don’t do this without a trusted friend or someone like us. Choosing the right tech early is one of the most important things you can do. You should be choosing this, not the agency. Or you can choose with your agency as long as they’re open to suggestions/feedback.
For example, if you embark on a project that’s written in C++, you will need to up your engineering budget when you hire engineers. (And good luck hiring them anyway.) As a rule of thumb, you should focus on the cheaper techs, like NodeJS (particularly early on in your business). Engineers for Node/JavaScript are prolific and ‘cheap’.
Remember to choose the right tool for the job. If it’s an MVP, go cheap, scale later (when you have customers).
Find an engineering friend and have them go over your brief! Have them discuss the complexity of your product. If they have a few years of experience, they should be able to figure out approximate costs/time. Budget, say, £10k per month for a simple app. If you’re seeing prices 4-5 times your expected price, either the agency doesn’t want your business, doesn’t understand what you want, or is just mad.
We’re experienced tech folks who specialise in helping small businesses make the most of their agencies. We’ll help you engage with them properly from the outset so that you avoid the nasty surprises we’ve all been told scary stories about.
This is only a guide, and evaluating quotes from engineering agencies is hard work. Contact us and we can help.
