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45 minutes with Rea. No pitch. No pressure. Just cost-saving advice.
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Before you book, the three things everyone wants to know:Three things everyone asks:
Read the transcript
We started to reach out to software companies and look at what that solution could be. That came with a very hefty price tag. It came with a lot of commitment, and we weren't ready to commit to such a large undertaking at that time. The biggest decision for us to go with New Idea Machine was that it lowered that risk: this is going to be a 12-month commitment and way too much money, versus just, hey, let's just get started and see where it goes. And I think that was what really helped us decide to say, you know what, that lowers the risk. It allows us to get started tomorrow. We don't have to commit to a 12-month contract, all those big things that really scared us off from working with other teams. That was the perfect situation that we had with New Idea Machine, and ultimately the reason why we said, "Yeah, let's..."
Started right away, with no 12-month contract
“We didn't have to commit to a 12-month contract, all those big things that really scared us off from working with other teams.”
Shannon Phillips, Business Owner, Unbounded Thinking
Watch Shannon's story →New Idea Machine is a Calgary custom software and AI automation agency serving small business owners worldwide.
What happens after you book a call?
Meet Rea
Get clear answers on your idea or bottleneck in one 45-minute video call.
Your idea stays confidential: we send a mutual NDA before we meet. Canadian company? We'll also tell you if government funding could cover part of your build.
Get your estimate
Know what your build will cost before you commit to anything.
Answer about 20 minutes of simple questions in our App Cost Calculator ($197, credited back in full if you hire us). Then we meet again to make sure we've captured everything, and you get your estimate as a range, with a low end and a high end.
Hire us only if it fits
Start only when you're ready. You get a contract and a Scope of Work: a written list of exactly what's included and what isn't, so your budget doesn't quietly grow.
Read the transcript
Before committing, I was a little bit worried about what the maintenance would look like. I've been in custom software and I've worked with custom software developers for a while and I know that a lot of things can break when you're building custom, but the team was really able to show me what went into the system, what the third-party APIs were, what the third-party connectors were, and based on that, they gave me reassurance on what might have the potential to break and what wouldn't. And so, they really gave me a lot of confidence to know that I could maintain it and what the cost could potentially be if any of those third-party systems did break. And after we did that analysis, it did make sense for me to keep going forward and build my own learning management system.
Her doubts answered before she committed
“Before committing, I was a little bit worried about what the maintenance would look like. The team was really able to show me what went into the system.”
Paisley Churchill, Business Owner, Tech Translator
Watch Paisley's story →What do business owners ask before booking?
Capability & Experience
What industries do you work with?
We are industry agnostic and work with:
- Professional services (law firms, accounting firms, consulting agencies, case management, time tracking, client portals, document automation)
- Healthcare & Medical
- E-commerce & Retail
- Manufacturing
- Real Estate
- Education & EdTech
- Logistics & Transportation
- Agriculture & Food
- Energy & Utilities
- Construction
- Hospitality
Do you work with startups and small businesses?
Yes! We built New Idea Machine for small business owners because we believe every entrepreneur deserves to have someone in their corner who'll tell them the truth about their options.
Let's talk about what you're building. Even if we're not the right fit, you'll walk away knowing your next steps.
No sales pitch, just direct advice from someone who's spent years helping business owners make these exact decisions.
How big is your team?
We're a team of nine working with a network of fifty developers across different specialties.
When you have a project, we match you with developers who actually fit what you're building:
- The right tech stack.
- Someone who understands your industry.
- The pace that works for your timeline.
It means you're not stuck with whoever happens to be available. You get people who can jump in, understand what you need, and start delivering without weeks of ramp-up time.
The practical benefit: your project moves faster because the team is built around your specific requirements, not the other way around.
What technologies do you specialize in?
- General Purpose: Python, JavaScript, Java, C++, C#, C, Go, Rust, Ruby, PHP, Swift, Kotlin.
- Web Development: HTML, CSS, TypeScript, JavaScript (React, Vue, Angular frameworks).
- Data & Analytics: Python, R, SQL, Julia, MATLAB.
Process & Project Management
Is quality assurance included?
Yes, with every build. Your software is tested as it's built, and you see it working every week or two, so problems get caught while they're small.
How do you structure development process?
We work in an agile method. Regular meetings where we show you what we've built. You see progress every week or two, not months later.
This matters because projects change.
Your vision evolves. Market conditions shift. Customer feedback arrives.
Agile lets us pivot without starting over.
It's also more cost-effective:
- No change order fees when priorities shift.
- No 30%+ contingency markups to cover scope creep risk.
- You're not locked into a fixed plan that becomes obsolete halfway through.
We'd rather build in short cycles, show you your build as it comes together, and adjust based on what you're learning. That's how good products actually get built.
How often will we meet to review progress?
Several times a month. Usually bi-weekly, depending on what works for your schedule and the project pace.
Frequent check-ins keep us aligned:
- You catch things early when adjustments are quick.
- No surprises at the end.
- The product evolves based on your input throughout the process.
The result: you're involved in a way that actually improves the outcome, and the final product reflects exactly what you need.
Scope, Requirements & Risk Management
What are unforeseen challenges?
Every project has its own complexities. While we work hard to identify risks and constraints upfront, some challenges only become visible once development is underway.
When that happens, we address them quickly and adapt the solution without losing momentum.
Can you help define requirements?
Yes. We start by understanding the business problem. What are you trying to accomplish?
Who needs this? What does success look like?
Then we map out how people will actually use it. What's their workflow?
What's frustrating them now? Where are the bottlenecks? This surfaces requirements you didn't realize mattered.
We turn that into a clear feature roadmap with priorities.
What's essential versus what can wait. What delivers value immediately versus what's nice to have later.
For MVPs, we're especially focused on cutting scope. What's the smallest version that proves your core idea?
What can you validate manually before building it into software? We've talked clients out of half their initial feature list because they didn't need it to test their hypothesis.
Most clients arrive with a partial picture. "We need a dashboard" or "Automate this process." That's fine. Our job is asking the right questions until we land on something that actually solves your problem.
How do you handle changes during development?
Changes happen. We expect them. Your priorities shift.
You get customer feedback. A competitor launches something. The market moves.
We build flexibility into how we work.
Because we're meeting regularly and showing you progress, you can redirect us before we've gone too far down the wrong path. You tell us what's more important now, we adjust the roadmap, and we keep moving.
Sometimes, this may change the estimate we initially provided you but we will let you know ahead of time.
Our approach costs less overall because we're not building features that become irrelevant. We're building what matters right now based on what you're actually learning.
Cost & Budget
How much will it cost to build my app?
There are many factors that determine the cost of your app development. For example, building an app you download from the app store is far more expensive than building a progressive web app that looks and behaves like a mobile app.
Formal requirements gathering helps us give you an accurate estimate instead of just guessing.
We recommend building in stages and prioritizing "must-haves" vs "nice-to-haves" so you can launch faster and protect your budget.
And if you're applying for grants to develop your app, we'll help you through that process by providing an estimate that works with grant requirements.
How does your pricing work?
Every project gets split into must-haves and nice-to-haves. We build the essentials first, then you decide what's next based on your budget and results. This approach typically saves clients 30-40% compared to fixed bids, which build in large contingency fees and charge extra for changes.
We work on a retainer basis and bill for actual time and materials:
- You put funds in a retainer upfront.
- We draw hours against it as work gets done.
- You get detailed time logs with each invoice (weekly or bi-weekly).
- Any unused funds at the end are fully refundable.
Is maintenance included?
Maintenance is optional. Most clients keep us on a small monthly retainer (5-10 hours) for updates, security patches, and minor tweaks. Others prefer to handle it in-house or work with their own team.
Either way, you're never locked in.
If you want to move on after launch, we'll hand everything over with full documentation and a smooth transition. We'd rather have you stay because you love working with us, not because you have to.
Ownership, IP & Security
Who owns the code when the project is done?
You do. From day one. No lock-in, no restrictive contracts, no proprietary code that traps you.
When we're done (or if you decide to move on mid-project), everything transfers to you with full documentation.
How do you manage security, privacy, and data protection?
We build with industry best practices from the start: encrypted data transmission, secure authentication, regular updates, and proper access controls.
For projects with sensitive data (health records, financial info, personal information), we bring in an independent security expert. It's crucial to have an independent expert check each project for security holes.
You own all your data. We never access, store, or use it beyond what's necessary to build and test your software.
Do you sign NDAs or confidentiality agreements?
Yes. Before our first meeting, we'll send you a mutual NDA that protects your idea and prevents us from discussing any of your information with anyone outside our team.
Ready when you are.
One call. No pitch. No pressure. Just cost-saving advice.
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