What this is not
A feasibility study, a cost estimate, or an audit of a system you already have.
For founders and executives
The Build Decision
Before you commit six figures to building a system, spend three to four weeks finding out what to build, and whether to build it at all.
01 The question
What should we build, and should we?
Diagnosis comes first. I map how the business actually works, put the real constraints on the table, and end with a recommendation and the options beside it.
The honest outcome
"Don't build this" is a legitimate, fully-paid outcome. Arguably the most valuable one.
02 What you get
Two deliverables, yours to keep.
A decision document
The recommendation, the options considered, the trade-offs between them, the risks, and the constraints that shaped the answer. Written for someone who has to defend the decision to a board, a bank, or a co-founder.
An architecture and specification
Build-ready to the standard that any competent engineering team could execute it, not only mine. That is deliberate. What you receive has to be worth what you paid whether or not I build it. Yours to keep, outright.
03 How it runs
Three to four weeks, from kickoff to handover.
A fixed window, not a day rate. I am never full-time on a single engagement, and the window is sized to absorb that. You get a date.
1. Map the business, not the software
Two to three weeks with your people and your systems. What the work actually is, who owns what, where the record lives, and which constraints are real rather than assumed.
2. Put the options on the table
A decision document: the recommendation, the alternatives considered, the trade-offs, the risks. Including the option of not building.
3. Hand over something build-ready
An architecture and specification detailed enough that any competent team could execute it. Yours to keep whether or not I build it.
04 Conditions of starting
What I need from you
Non-negotiable, because the work is worthless without them. If these are difficult, the engagement is not ready to start. Better to know that now.
A named executive sponsor
One person, senior, accountable.
Guaranteed access to key people
Whoever actually knows how the business runs.
Read access to the relevant systems and data
Where the record actually lives, read-only.
A committed go/no-go decision
Within an agreed period after handover.
05 Who does the work
I have run the businesses I now advise.
I started as a developer and I still write code. Most of the largest systems I have worked on were bespoke builds well into six figures: finance systems, payment platforms, infrastructure a business runs on.
Build decisions with clients since 2015
Deciding what to build, then building it. Since 2021 through Demon Dog, the delivery company I run.
Five years running a tattoo studio
Artists, clients, bookings, cash, and being the person accountable when something went wrong.
Years in vehicle spare-parts procurement and sales
Suppliers, stock decisions, and margin on every line. I was raised in family businesses in the automobile trade.
Most people selling strategy have only ever consulted. The reason I start with the workflow instead of the technology is that I have been on the other side of it.
06 Terms
One fee, stated upfront.
€25,000
A fixed fee, payable 100% on signature.
Why upfrontA client who won't commit the fee won't commit a sponsor and system access either, and those matter more to the outcome than the money.
3–4 weeks
A fixed window from kickoff to handover.
90 days
The fee is credited in full against the build.
Why the credit expiresThe 90 days line up with the go/no-go decision you commit to at the start. A specification goes stale; the credit shouldn't outlive its accuracy.
Why there is no introductory rate
The price holds at €25,000, including for the first clients. The fee is part of the filter: it is how both of us know the decision is being taken seriously before a sponsor, access, and a go/no-go commitment are put behind it.
The build is priced separately
Always after the diagnostic, never bundled, never pre-committed. If the recommendation is to build, Demon Dog, the company I run, can deliver it, and the €25,000 comes off the price.
07 Who it's for
Check the fit before you write.
This is for you if
- You're weighing a build that matters: a platform, a payments or finance system, something the business will run on
- You can name an executive sponsor and give access to the people who know how the work really runs
- You want the decision made properly before the money is committed
This is not for you if
- You want a quote for a specification you've already written
- The build would come in under €75,000. Demon Dog handles standardized work at that size, and I'll point you there
- You want the answer to be yes
If the recommendation is "don't build this," that is a fully-paid, successful outcome.
If the recommendation is to build it differently, or not at all, you have a document that says so and the specification to act on when the time is right. Either way you own the thinking.
Tell me what you're considering
What you're considering building, roughly what it's worth to the business, and who would sponsor it internally. If it's a fit I'll come back with next steps. If it isn't, I'll tell you that too.
Prefer email? Send three sentences on what you are weighing to hello@bjornnystrom.com and I will reply with next steps.