How we work

Working software in week one, before you pay anything

Most agencies answer a first call with a proposal. We answer it with a working MVP, built in a week, free. You decide what it is worth after you have used it.

The engagement

Five stages, and who does what

Two of them cost you nothing. Most proposals only describe what the agency will do — half the risk sits on your side, so we set out both.

01

First call

30 minutes, this week

One call, no forms and no sales deck. We take the requirements straight from you — what the thing has to do, who uses it, what it has to talk to. By the end of the call you know what we are building first and when you are getting it.

We deliver

  • Take the requirements in the call, not over three meetings
  • Ask the awkward questions immediately
  • Agree what the first working version proves

You provide

  • Describe the problem in your own words
  • Tell us what it has to connect to
  • Say what has already been tried
02

Working MVP

1 week, free

Within a week of that call we are back with a working MVP built on your requirements — not slides, not a wireframe. You open it, click it and decide. It costs you nothing, there is no contract and you are under no obligation to carry on.

We deliver

  • A working MVP within a week, at no cost
  • Built against your real requirements, not a generic demo
  • An honest view on what the full build takes
  • A straight answer if we think it is not worth building

You provide

  • Sample data, if the MVP needs realistic data
  • Access to one system, if it has to connect to one
  • An hour to try it and react honestly
03

Quote

48 hours, only if you want it

If the MVP is worth continuing, you ask for the number and you get it within two days. Fixed price, itemised, with what is in and what is out written down. You are quoting against working software you have already used, which is the only time a software quote means much.

We deliver

  • Fixed price within 48 hours
  • Itemised, with exclusions stated
  • Options at different budgets, not a single take-it-or-leave-it figure

You provide

  • Tell us you want to continue
  • Confirm the must-haves and the nice-to-haves
  • One person who can sign it off
04

Spec and build

Weekly releases

We write the spec, you sign it off, and then we build to it. Every week you get a new version you can open and use. Quick does not mean loose — the standards below are in the contract, not left to interpretation.

We deliver

  • A written spec you approve first
  • Working software every week
  • Automated tests and review on every change
  • The cost of any change, before it is agreed

You provide

  • Sign off the spec before we start
  • 30 minutes at each weekly review
  • Decisions inside two working days when we flag them
05

Launch and support

Go-live, then rolling

A phased release with a tested way back, training for the people who will actually use it, and then a named person who already knows your system. Or a clean handover to your own team, if that is the plan.

We deliver

  • Staged rollout with a tested rollback
  • Monitoring, alerts and security updates
  • Training and written documentation
  • Agreed response times and a quarterly review

You provide

  • Nominate who owns the system
  • Approve the go-live checklist
  • Agree what counts as urgent

Working principles

The rules we hold ourselves to

Moving quickly only works if the things that protect you are non-negotiable.

Week one is on us

You see working software before you see an invoice. If we cannot show you something useful in a week, that tells you something worth knowing early.

Fast is not the same as rushed

The speed comes from cutting meetings, proposals and approval theatre — never from skipping tests, review or security.

No progress theatre

You get the same access we have. A weekly summary is a convenience, not the only way to know what is happening.

Changes have a price, stated first

Scope moves. When it does, you get the cost and time impact before anyone agrees to it.

One person accountable throughout

The same person from first call to launch. You are never re-explaining context to someone new.

You can leave whenever

Your accounts, your code, documented. That is the only honest basis for a long relationship.

Engineering standards

What "finished" means

Not "it works on my machine". Every item here holds on a weekly release cycle, and the list goes in the contract rather than being left to interpretation.

  • Automated tests covering it, run on every change
  • Reviewed by a second developer before it merges
  • Deployed somewhere you can open and try it
  • Accessible to WCAG 2.2 AA, checked automatically and by hand
  • Security and dependency scans passing
  • Logging in place before it reaches real users
  • Documented where someone would actually look
  • Shown to you, and accepted by you

Process questions

Practical detail

Still unclear on something? Email hello@voxalone.com.

Is the first week genuinely free?

Yes. One call, then a working MVP within a week at no cost, no contract and no deposit. We would rather spend a week proving we can build the thing than spend a month writing a proposal about it. If you walk away afterwards, you owe us nothing.

What is the catch?

That a week is a week. The free MVP covers the core of what you described — the part that proves the idea works — not every screen, edge case or integration. It runs on our infrastructure until you commission the full build. We tell you exactly what is in it before we start, so nobody is surprised.

What if the MVP shows it is not worth building?

Then we say so and you have lost a week and nothing else. It is a good outcome, and a far cheaper one than finding out four months into a paid build. We would rather end a week with an honest no than take the money.

How much involvement do you need from our team?

Very little up front: one 30-minute call, then an hour to try the MVP. Once the build starts it is a 30-minute review each week and decisions inside two working days when we ask. The single biggest cause of a software project going badly is nobody being available to decide, which is why we ask for that time explicitly.

How can you move that fast without cutting corners?

We cut the sales process, not the engineering. No multi-week discovery phase, no proposal rounds, no committee. Every change still gets automated tests, a second pair of eyes and a security scan before it merges — that list is in the contract.

What does it cost after the first week?

A fixed price, quoted within 48 hours of you asking, against software you have already used. It is itemised, so you can see what each part costs and drop anything that is not worth it — and you get options at different budgets rather than one take-it-or-leave-it figure.

Do you work in our tools or yours?

Yours, wherever possible — Jira, GitHub, Trello, whatever you already use. Adding a tool only we can see would defeat the point.

Next step

Book the call. Get the MVP a week later.

30 minutes to take your requirements, then a working MVP within a week at no cost. No contract, no deposit, and no obligation to carry on.

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