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Calculating ROI on your custom software build: how to put a price on your time

“I see Switchplane are here. What do they do?”, you ask. The question arises when you’re out talking to a buddy at an event. “Oh, you should have a chat with them - you mentioned the other day about struggling to find time. I’m sure they will have a solution. They’re like outsourced problem-solvers!”

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Let’s start from the top and explain who we are - before we get to the ROI part!

The Switchplane team is made up of a smart bunch of in-house developers who look at the problems you’re experiencing in your business and build a web or app-based solution to help you.

We are external consultants with the power to give you tools that will actually make life better for you, your teams, and/or your customers. Drawing on years of experience helping businesses like yours with similar problems, we provide an impartial ear, a drive to problem-solve, and the know-how to make meaningful change in your company.

It’s not one size fits all.

We aren’t selling you an off-the-shelf product, taking your money and running. We want to get to know you and your business to provide you with the tools you need to save your time, improve your employees' experiences, improve your customer service, or help you sell more effectively.

This means working with you every step of the way to make small, iterative, and manageable changes, test the output, gather your feedback, and make further improvements… the cycle continues.

We’re working in partnership with you over the long term.

Return on investment

As a business, you’ll see return on investment within the first few weeks of working with us - and if you don’t, we’re doing something wrong! How can we quantify how your monthly investment in us gives you a return?

Let’s take just one example

Imagine it’s your responsibility to create new client contracts, but you’re also a skilled engineer who can work on the tools.

By the time you copy an old document, edit bits you usually edit (but check through the whole document in case you missed a bit or accidentally pasted something in, you know, like you did that one time…), calculate the pricing, double-check that pricing, PDF it, add it to your online signing platform or send it over by email for signature… You’re easily looking at an hour’s work.

Instead, imagine opening up a screen. Adding the client’s name, contact details, and hourly rate. Then pressing a button to confirm. The client receives notification, signs in a signature box, then the signed documentation lands back in your system. What was that, 5 minutes?

Sound familiar?

Looking at the numbers, pre-Switchplane:

  • Your hourly rate for engineering work is £100.
  • You do 6 contracts a week. That’s 6 hours, or £600.
  • In a month, you’re losing 24 hours, or £2,400.
  • In a year, that’s 288 hours you could have spent on the tools; £28,800 you could have earned instead of doing that repetitive admin job.

Looking at the numbers, with Switchplane:

  • Your hourly rate for engineering work is still £100.
  • You do 6 contracts a week. Each takes 5 minutes. That’s half an hour, £50.
  • In a month, 2 hours, £200.
  • In a year, 24 hours, £2,400.

Comparatively, you’ll have 264 hours of your time back to go out there and generate revenue for your business, equating to an additional £26,400.

And that’s the improvement from just one form.

This example is just like a real-life scenario that one of our clients, Miranda at HiWire Lift Services, experienced.

Picture the difference when we apply that model across your whole business. How much time you’ll save, how much you’ll improve on the experience for your teams and your customers, how much you can re-channel your staff energy into more beneficial areas of the business.

All from partnering with Switchplane.

Sure, working with Switchplane isn’t free, but can’t you already see the benefits ticking over in your mind?

So let’s go back to that original question again: “What does Switchplane do?”

In short: We work with you, human-to-human, to build software that brings about meaningful change in your business.

Whether it’s through a web platform, smartphone app, or custom software, we’ll provide the expertise to make a difference.

Get in touch today, to find out how we can help give your business a boost.

hey!

We build custom software with your team, for your team. Our apps and web platforms bring about meaningful change for businesses across the UK.

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