Of course there are several great reasons to work with us! One of the things that really make us stand out from the competition though is that we’re a small and relatively young team who are extremely eager to demonstrate our abilities and leave our clients with a sense that we went above and beyond expectations! We take pride in hearing how our software solutions have cut costs, made companies more efficient and overall improved the companies and lives of our clients! This is what drives us and what is at the heart of everything we do at Shoretec. 

The other thing that separates us is our real world experience. Our design team is led by Chris Shore, an engineer turned software developer who has an extensive background in manufacturing, supply chain, R&D and factory automation.

When a client comes to him and says they need to upgrade from how they are currently doing things, whether that’s on Excel sheets, in an MS Access database or on old outdated software, he can really say he’s been there and knows what it’s like to be in their shoes. This can make all the difference as the focus is really from the client’s perspective rather than simply from a development point of view where focus can sometimes be on the specific tech or things that might not be that relevant to the actual end user. Check out Chris’ personal LinkedIn page for more details on his previous engineering career.

Finally, unlike most other software companies you may find on the internet, with us you have the huge advantage that you can verify for yourself that we’ve been consistently delivering high quality products for satisfied clients for a long time now. This is because before starting Shoretec Solutions Chris worked as a freelance developer for quite some time and built up a public profile on Upwork – the world’s largest freelancing site. This profile doesn’t allow him to choose what projects and reviews are shown. They are ALL included and throughout a period of over 5 years and working with over 100 clients (and counting), Chris has consistently maintained a perfect 100% Job Success Score on Upwork (putting him in the top 1% of all the freelancers on the site!). I think this fact alone above anything I can simply put into text speaks volumes about our commitment to quality and to doing whatever it takes to make sure our clients are 100% satisfied.

The very first step is deciding whether to go with an off the shelf or custom software solution. See the next question for details on this.

If you choose to go with an off the shelf solution, then we will guide you to what we believe would be the best provider and/or approach based on your needs.

If you have selected to go with a custom app, the next step is to work together to define the project requirements/work scope. This can take many forms including lists of fields to capture, calculations, automation logic, mockups/sketches of the user interface or other methods as applicable.

Once the project requirements have been documented and agreed upon, the project can start to be built. See Our Process for more details on the steps involved in building a new app.

If software exists already that can do everything you need within your budget then we will help you identify what software options are available and guide you in selecting the best fit. We also work with 3rd party low code software partners whose services can be leveraged to build something close to off the shelf but with more custom features than fully packaged solutions.

In many cases, your company’s workflow will be unique to your company and so your project will have very specific needs. Off the shelf software may not be able to meet these needs or if they can, will require significant custom programming in order to meet them. This can add significantly to the cost, which often times is already very high, not to mention monthly service fees and individual license purchases which may also be needed. In these cases, not only can it be more economical in the long run to go with a custom solution but done right, this approach also leads to a more intuitive and user friendly design as it will include only the features you need and the workflow will match exactly with your existing internal processes.

On most of our clients’ first-time projects, we offer a fixed rate for the entire project. That way you will know from the start what the TOTAL cost will be to complete the project requirements from start to go LIVE!

We are a small but quickly growing company with very little overhead. We are hungry to over-achieve on all of our projects in order to prove ourselves to our clients.

Therefore we make sure that all our fixed rate offers are highly competitive. We keep a close eye on market prices. Even when compared to what you might consider a lower-cost software house, our prices can’t be beat even though you will find that the quality of the final product, attention to detail and desire to please our clients goes way beyond our competition!

We are always learning from client feedback and stop at nothing to make sure you are happy with the product and the service received throughout the entire process. This principle is at the core of what Shoretec Solutions was built on.

Once we’ve established a working relationship we can discuss the possibility for an hourly contract for smaller new features or improvements as needed.

Every fixed rate offer includes a first draft + 2 rounds of revisions. Once those are complete, we will continue to support the project and fix any bugs that come up with the system for the LIFETIME of the product. Of course, this does not include new features or changes. Only issues that would fall within the original project requirements. On those we are more than happy to fix any issues that come up any time down the road and will always get back to you quickly, usually within less than 24h.

In addition to this we are committed to maintaining our reputation for outstanding customer service, communication and quality of the final products delivered. That’s why we’re willing to stand behind our products for as long as you’re using it!

The vast majority of the apps we build, once complete, do not require ANY maintenance down the road. The only things that are needed are any new features or changes you decide you’d like to make to improve the app.

If any bugs or issues come up with the app, assuming it was built on a fixed rate, will be addressed immediately at no charge to you.

In cases when you want to add something new, we can either work hourly or on a fixed rate to implement the improvements, based simply on what works best for you. 

Of course it can vary dramatically depending on the app. To give you an idea though, let’s take a relatively simple customer relations management app as an example. It’s a very common application and one many people might already be familiar with.

Let’s assume that this app has multiple user logins and associated permissions, manages all client’s data including not only static data but some others as well such as statuses – which may be tied to some simple automation logic – a few calculations (eg. Time as customer, last product bought, total billings etc) as well as the related products they may purchase and the orders they place. Let’s leave out any invoicing or accounting on this example.

Let’s also assume the app includes a few reports that can be exported as either PDF or Excel/CSV and that it includes integration with email services.

Something like this would be in the range of 60-80h of development to complete the first draft. The time from project start to first draft would be about 4-6 weeks depending on availability at the time when the project is quoted.

Note that if this were a real project, specific hours and lead times would be provided.

YES! We specialize in MS Access conversion projects and have extensive experience working in and building MS Access apps.
Note however that at this time we are not taking on projects for new builds based in MS Access and instead would recommend that these be built as a web app. Contact us for more details or to discuss the possibility for a hybrid solution.