How we work: nearshore software development in fixed-price stages
Four stages, a fixed price at each, and commitments in writing. This is how a project runs with Vernline, and what working with a nearshore studio in Morocco changes for you.
Updated
The four stages
Findings, priorities, a price range and a duration for each system
£1,650 ex VAT, deducted from the first project we build for you
1 to 2 weeksSpecification
Mock-ups, data schema, what is included and excluded, the firm price
Included in the system’s price
1 to 2 weeksBuild
A delivery every two weeks on a test environment
Fixed at the end of the specification
2 to 9 weeksLaunch
Go-live, training, one month of fixes against the specification
Included
1 week
Durations to scale, using the longest stated
The audit comes first for a website, a portal or an application, unless you already have a precise written brief: then we go straight to the specification. For a single automation or a CRM set-up there is no audit: a short scoping is included in the price. A sample audit report shows what the first stage produces, and every starting price is on the pricing page.
- Payment. For each stage: 30% on order, the balance on the accepted delivery, by bank transfer. A delivery is accepted, or its faults listed, within five working days.
- One month of fixes. Any fault against the specification that is reported within one month of launch is fixed at no charge. Changes and additions are quoted. After that month, maintenance is a monthly fee with no lock-in.
- Stopping. You can stop after any stage and keep everything delivered and paid for: audit report, mock-ups, specification, code. The stages already delivered and accepted remain due; nothing further is invoiced.
An agile method inside a fixed scope
The build follows Scrum: two-week sprints, each ending with a delivery you try for yourself. The specification fixes the scope and the price; the sprints set the pace.
Planning
From the list that came out of the specification, we agree with you what the sprint will deliver.
Build
Two weeks of development, on made-up or anonymised data for as long as possible.
Demo
The delivery goes onto the test environment and is shown to you on a video call.
Your answer
Within five working days: you accept the delivery, or you list its faults.
Next sprint, until launch
- A backlog that comes from the specification. The list of what is to be built, in the order of your priorities. It does not grow quietly: any addition is priced and accepted in writing.
- Nothing waits for the end. You see the system working from the first sprint, not on the day of the final delivery.
- Agile, at a fixed price. The order of deliveries can change along the way. The price, fixed at the end of the specification, changes only if the scope does.
What we ask of you
- One person who can decide. Available for one to two hours a week.
- Access to the data. What the system needs: ERP exports, API documentation, sample documents.
- An answer within five working days. On each delivery: you accept it or list its faults. That keeps the schedule.
- Two or three users. They try the system before it opens.
Nearshore software development: what it means here
Nearshore software development means giving the build to a team in a nearby country and a nearby time zone, instead of a local agency (onshore) or a team many hours away (offshore). For a British or Irish company working with us, the nearby country is Morocco.
| Point | How it works with us |
|---|---|
| Time zone | UK time or within an hour of it. Calls and questions happen in your office hours. |
| Language | English and French, spoken and written. Specifications, deliveries and documentation are in English. |
| Meetings | By video call, with decisions confirmed in writing. Visits are possible, for the audit or the launch for example, and priced separately. |
| Who you talk to | You work directly with the people who design and build your system, not with a salesperson. |
| Contract and invoicing | A written quote for each stage, in pounds sterling or euros, ex VAT, paid by bank transfer. |
| Ownership | The code repository, the hosting and the domain name are opened in your name from day one. Rights in the code pass to you as each stage is paid. |
| Continuity | The code is documented and built on common tools (Next.js, PostgreSQL, n8n): another supplier can take it over. |
How the risk is handled
Distance is a risk when you pay for months of work before seeing any of it. Here each stage has a fixed price, a delivery reaches your test environment every two weeks, and you can stop after any stage with everything already in your accounts.
Honest limits
- We are not next door. A day on your shop floor is a planned visit, priced separately, not a drive across town.
- We are a new studio. There are no public references to show yet. You judge on the audit, then on each delivery.
- Morocco is outside the UK and the EU. Access to real personal data needs a contract: see the next section.
- Public holidays differ. Morocco and the UK do not close on the same days; the schedule in the quote allows for both.
- No day rate to compare. We do not sell days: prices are fixed per stage, and the starting prices are published. For a first figure, use the quote estimator.
Your data
- In the EU, in your name. Your systems are hosted in the European Union, in accounts opened in your name. UK hosting is possible when you ask for it; it is then agreed in the specification.
- Two exceptions, said plainly. A CRM is hosted by its vendor, in an EU region when the vendor offers one. Language models are called through an option that processes data in the EU when the provider offers one.
- Made-up data first. We build and test with made-up or anonymised data wherever possible.
- An agreement before real data. We work from Morocco, which is not on the European Commission’s list of adequacy decisions; the UK has not recognised Morocco as adequate either. Before any access to real personal data we therefore sign a data-processing agreement with the standard contractual clauses, and the UK addendum for UK clients.
What we do not do
- Advertising, social media, branding: we build systems, not campaigns.
- Projects without a specification: a firm price needs a written scope.
- Open-ended day-rate development.
- Native mobile apps. A well-built web application works on a phone and is enough in most cases.
Start with a fixed-price audit
In one to two weeks you know what to build, in what order and in what price range. The audit fee is deducted from the first project we build for you.
£1,650 ex VAT 1 to 2 weeks See a sample report