System planning

A written plan before anything gets built.

A written plan of the systems your business needs, in what order to build them, what each one replaces, and what it costs to run once it exists. It is a document you can act on, hand to another developer, or use to say no to the next piece of software somebody tries to sell you.

Get your free plan Three sizes

The standard size takes: Two weeks
You own: The written plan, yours to act on with anyone
Runs monthly: Only if you choose to pay monthly

No figure appears on this page. Your free plan comes back with the price of every size, and with what the whole job costs together.

What it is

Systems fail more often on order than on quality. A CRM bought before anyone agreed what a lead is, or stock software bought before the counting was fixed, will be abandoned no matter how good it is. Working out the order on paper costs a fraction of finding out by building, and the wrong order is the most expensive mistake in this whole catalogue.

The plan also gives you a way to say no. When somebody sells you a tool, you can check it against a document that already says what the business needs and when. That is worth more over a couple of years than the plan costs, and it works whether I build any of it or not.

This is for you if

You have bought software three times and use none of it
Every tool solves one problem and creates a handover
You cannot decide whether to fix the CRM, the stock or the paperwork first
A developer has quoted for a build and you cannot judge whether it is the right one

One of these is usually enough. If none of them is true, this is not the first thing I would build for you, and the plan will say so.

Why it comes where it does

Most businesses have bought software three times and use none of it. Buying in the wrong order is the usual reason, and an order is cheap to work out on paper.

Nothing has to be built before this one, so it can be the first thing you do. Your free plan still puts it in order against everything else you are considering.

Worth knowingThe plan is yours. There is no obligation to have me build any of it.

Three sizes, by scope

The sizes differ by how much is in them, not by how well it is done. Start at the size that matches the business today; moving up later is normal.

The Essentials

One workflow, planned properly.

One workflow mapped as it runs today
The systems that workflow needs, and what each replaces
Running costs named for each
A written plan you own

One week

The usual choice

The Standard

The whole business, in order. Most businesses choose this.

Everything in the size before, plus:

Every workflow mapped, with the handovers between them
The full system list, with the order to build in and the reason for it
What to keep, what to drop, and what not to build
A walkthrough session and one revision

Two weeks

The Works

A twelve-month roadmap with the numbers on it.

Everything in the size before, plus:

A twelve-month systems roadmap naming every system and the order to build them in
What each system replaces, and the tools it retires
How the data moves from the old tool to the new
A budget against each system

Three weeks

The figure for each of the three sizes is not published here, because it depends on what else you are building at the same time. Build your free plan and the figure for each size comes back with it, along with what the whole job costs together.

How it is built

01
A session on how the business runs now, and what you want it to look like in two years.
02
I map the current systems, including the spreadsheets and the person who is holding it together.
03
Each proposed system written up: what it replaces, what it connects to, what it costs to run.
04
The order of work, with the reason each build comes where it does.
05
The document delivered and walked through with you, with the drops and the do-not-builds named.
06
A revision after you have sat with it, so the plan you keep is the one you agree with.

Before you decide

Three things people get wrong.

They sayPlanning is a delay. We should just start building.

A week of planning routinely changes which build comes first, and building the wrong thing first is what makes businesses give up on systems entirely.

They sayThe plan will just recommend everything you sell.

It names what to keep, what to drop and what not to build at all. A plan that recommends everything is a price list, and it would be no use to you.

They sayWe are too small to need a plan.

Small businesses have less money to spend twice. The one workflow version takes a week, and the decision it changes is usually a purchase you were about to make.

Your options

The alternatives, side by side.

Doing it yourself and hiring it out are both real answers. Here is how the three compare on the things that actually decide it.

Slide the table sideways to read every column.

Option	What it costs	What you own	Time	Outcome
Keep doing it by hand	Software bought and abandoned, one tool at a time	Nothing new	Now	Decisions made by whoever is selling
Hire a consultant, or take the vendor's advice	A consulting fee, or advice that is free because it is not neutral	A slide deck, or a recommendation shaped like a product	Weeks, then a proposal	A direction that suits the seller
This plan	One build, or a monthly fee	The written plan, yours to act on with anyone	Two weeks	An order of work, with costs, and the things not to build

In practice

The order of work, on paper

How the business runs today, drawn out. The systems it needs, each with what it replaces and what it will cost to run. The order to build them in and why that order. What to keep, what to drop, and the software you are already paying for that nothing depends on.

Straight answers

Questions I get asked about this.

01Do I have to build any of it with you?

No. The plan is written so another developer could work from it, and the running costs are named so you can price it elsewhere.

02How is this different from the workflow audit?

The audit measures where hours go and ranks automations. This decides what systems the business needs and in what order. Many people take the audit first and find the plan answers a bigger question.

03What if the plan says we do not need much?

Then it says so. A plan that tells you to fix two things and drop a subscription has done its job, and I would rather write that than sell a build you do not need.

04How long does it take?

One week for a single workflow, two for the whole business, and a little longer if you want the twelve-month roadmap with budgets attached.

Also in systems and planning

What sits next to this.

Custom CRM

Built around how your business actually runs.

Job and project management

Every job tracked from quote to invoice.

See all of systems and planning

The next move

System planning, priced in context.

The free plan asks a few questions about the business, then comes back with this service at the size that fits, anything that has to come first, and the figure for each part and for the whole job. Nothing is charged and nothing is booked at the end of it.

Get your free plan stuart@sevenlens.co

Get your free plan