The system your business runs on. Built to fit it.
Custom CRMs, pipelines, approvals, documents, invoicing and reporting — one system of record built around how your business actually works, rather than a template it has to bend to.
Most businesses run on email, spreadsheets and memory.
01 — The problemIt works until it doesn’t. Volume grows, a second person starts doing the same job slightly differently, and nobody can answer “where is this one?” without asking someone. Nothing is reportable, because nothing is in one place.
Off-the-shelf CRMs solve half of it and fight you on the other half: your process has stages theirs don’t, your documents have a format theirs can’t produce, and every workaround lives in someone’s head. A custom system is worth it when the process is the business — which, for most firms that have outgrown a spreadsheet, it is.
What we build.
02 — What we build- ✦A pipeline that matches your processYour stages, your rules for moving between them, and who is allowed to. Not a generic funnel with your labels on it.
- ✦Assignment and approvalWork lands with the right person, and nothing leaves without the sign-off it needs. Every decision leaves a trace.
- ✦Documents and reportingStructured data captured once, rendered into the reports, letters and PDFs your business has to produce — in the format the regulator, client or auditor expects.
- ✦Invoicing and financeFees estimated, agreed and invoiced from the same record as the work, so nothing is billed twice or forgotten.
- ✦Roles and an audit trailWho can see what, who did what and when. A regulated firm has to answer both precisely; every firm benefits from being able to.
- ✦IntegrationsAccounting, email, e-signature, storage, the industry system you can’t replace. Connected rather than re-keyed.
How it runs.
Every project runs the same five steps, and you see working software every week from the first sprint.
- 01CallHalf an hour. You describe the business problem; we tell you what we think it takes.
- 02Scoping sprintOne to two weeks. We work out what the system is, who uses it, and which features come first.
- 03PlanScope, architecture, sequence and cost in writing before any production build starts.
- 04Build in the openOne team designs, builds and tests. Working software on a staging site every week.
- 05Launch and keep goingLive, monitored, documented, in your accounts. We stay on for what comes next.
Questions about custom CRMs.
05 — QuestionsWhy not use HubSpot, Salesforce or Pipedrive?
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If your process fits one of them, you should — they are good products and cheaper than a custom build. A custom system earns its place when the process is specific to your business: stages, documents, approvals and integrations an off-the-shelf tool can only approximate. We will tell you which side of that line you are on during the first call.
How long does a custom CRM take to build?
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A first release typically lands in weeks rather than months. A valuation platform for a regulated property firm — CRM, partner portal, and regulator-format reporting — went from kick-off to live in four weeks. The scoping sprint gives you a date in writing for yours.
What does a custom CRM cost?
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It depends on scope, which is why every project starts with a scoping sprint that gives you a written cost before any production build. As a guide, our projects come in well under what a traditional agency quotes for the same scope, because product, design, build and QA sit in one team.
Can it replace the spreadsheets we use now?
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Yes, and usually the email threads around them. Part of the scoping sprint is writing down how the process actually works — including the exceptions — and deciding which of them the system should carry forward. Existing data is migrated where it is worth keeping.
Who owns the system afterwards?
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You do. The code, the infrastructure and the documentation are in your accounts from day one, on a conventional stack another team could maintain. Most clients keep us on for support and the next release, but nothing depends on it.
Tell us what you’re trying to build.
Half an hour on a call with our team. Bring a spec, a rough idea or a system that has stopped keeping up, and you leave with our view on what it takes and what comes first.
Zeki Mirza — Founder & product lead
Your first call is with the team that scopes and builds it