How we work
Analyse. Design. Build. Support.
Every project runs the same way, from a business goal to working software. Fast, because we build with cutting-edge technology and techniques. Sound, because we know how to keep it that way.
The method
Four phases, no shortcuts
The order matters. Most of what goes wrong in these projects goes wrong before anyone writes a line of code, so we spend real effort at the start to make the build fast and predictable.
01
Analyse
We start with what you are trying to achieve, not with software. We map how work moves through your business, where it gets stuck, and where the value is. This is the free scoping call taken properly: same questions, far more depth, and it ends with something you can act on.
You come away with a detailed project summary: the milestones, who is responsible for what on both sides, a pricing breakdown, and a timetable. It tells you what is possible and what it is worth, and it's yours whether or not you build it with us.
02
Design
A clear plan before a line of code: what to build, in what order, what it costs and what it returns. This is where the hard questions get answered, so the build is fast and predictable instead of a series of expensive surprises.
03
Build
We build with cutting-edge technology and techniques, including agentic AI, which is how the work that takes a traditional team months takes us weeks. Every line reviewed, secured and tested, because fast is only worth having if it holds up.
04
Support
Software that isn't maintained quietly rots. Systems get updated, APIs change, new tools get added, and something that worked perfectly on day one breaks six months later, usually discovered when a report is wrong or a customer notices first. We stay on to monitor it, fix it before it reaches you, and evolve it as the business changes. Most clients take this as a monthly arrangement. If you'd rather run it yourself, we document everything and hand it over cleanly.
Ongoing work covers three things, in whatever combination you need: administering the system so your team doesn't have to, monitoring the service on your behalf so problems get found before they reach you, and a retainer for continued development as the business changes. Priced to the work, not off a rate card.
What to expect
From kickoff to live
Fast delivery only works if everyone knows what's happening. Here's what a typical project looks like from your side, so there are no surprises about timing, your time, or what you're left holding at the end.
How long it takes
Analyse is two to ten hours of work depending on how complex your systems are, usually about a week from first conversation to summary. Design puts a working prototype in front of you within two days, then refines it with you rather than at you. Build is six to eight working days of engineering, typically around three weeks start to live. You get a date at the end of Design, before you commit to the build.
What we need from you
Less than you'd expect. Initial scoping so we understand the business, review as things take shape, and testing before anything goes live. That's it, we do the heavy lifting. You won't need a project manager, a steering group, or your team writing specifications, and nobody has to babysit us between milestones.
How you see progress
A live project tracker, shared with you from day one, showing progress against each milestone with working links to whatever has been built so far and a record of what you've signed off. You are looking at the real thing as it gets built, not a status report about it. If something is heading the wrong way you will see it in the first few days, not at handover.
When something changes
Requirements shift once people see the real thing. That's normal and it's usually an improvement. Small changes get absorbed. Anything that moves the scope materially gets re-quoted before we do it, so the number never moves without you agreeing to it first.
What you own at the end
The code, the documentation, and the access. Everything we build is yours: you get the repository, credentials in your own accounts, and written documentation of how it works and how to change it. If you want to take it in-house, or hand it to another developer, or run it yourself, nothing stops you. We keep clients by being useful, not by being the only people who understand your system.
Getting started
Start small. Stop whenever you like.
You are never committing to the whole thing up front. Each step earns the next.
1
A free scoping call
Forty-five minutes, no charge, no deck. You tell us what you are trying to achieve and where technology is holding you back. We tell you honestly what is possible and roughly what it is worth. If there is nothing here for you, we will say so.
2
Design
A fixed-fee plan of what to build, in what order, and what it returns. Yours to keep and act on however you like, with us or not.
3
Build
Fixed price where the scope is clear, milestone invoiced. We only start once you know exactly what you are getting and what it costs.
What it costs
Priced by the project, not by the hour
We work at £75 an hour, the same as a good freelance engineer. The difference is that we deliver in a fraction of the time, so the same project costs a fraction as much.
| Quicka tool or integration | Averagea connected system | Complexcore operations | |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-house engineersalaried, plus 40% on-costs | £4,100 | £12,400 | £26,900 |
| Freelance engineer£75/hr, normal pace | £5,600 | £16,900 | £36,600 |
| Us (Mindful Digital)£75/hr, at least 5x faster | £1,1252 days, not 2 weeks | £3,3756 days, not 6 weeks | £7,300under 3 weeks, not 3 months |
We deliver up to 7x faster than traditional development. These figures are worked out conservatively at 5x, so the saving shown here is the cautious one, not the best case. Illustrative, based on typical UK figures: a senior engineer on £65,000 costs around £91,000 loaded once NI, pension, recruitment, kit and cover are added. Freelance and our rate both £75/hour; the difference is that we deliver in roughly a fifth of the time. Your actual project is scoped and quoted before anything starts.
Bigger builds
Larger projects are scoped and quoted in full before anything starts, so you always know the number up front. Nothing runs open-ended.
Ongoing work
If you want us around after launch, to keep things running, secure and improving, we offer a monthly arrangement rather than a one-off project, sized to your setup. And because we work up to 7x faster than traditional development, at a fraction of the cost, that costs far less than an agency or an in-house hire.
The alternatives
We'd rather show you the whole market than just our own number
| Route | What it costs | The catch |
|---|---|---|
| In-house senior engineer | £70k–£95k base, £110k–£130k true first-year cost | Slow to hire, expensive to be wrong about, and one person can't cover data, integration and apps. |
| Specialist consultancy | £15k–£50k for strategy, builds from £60k | You may pay £30,000 for a document, and the team who wrote it is not the team who builds it. |
| Independent contractor | £500–£1,200 a day | Flexible and cheap to start, but the knowledge leaves when they do. |
| Us | Projects from £1,125, or a monthly arrangement for ongoing work | We're a small, senior team and take a limited number of clients at a time. |
Where to start
A free call to work out what's possible
Forty-five minutes, no charge, no deck. Tell us what you are trying to achieve and where technology feels like it is holding you back. We will tell you honestly what is possible, what it would take, and roughly what it is worth. If there is nothing worth building, we will say so.
The scoping call is a short version of Analyse. If you decide to go ahead, we harden it up into the full thing, a detailed project summary rather than a first impression. If you don't, you still leave knowing what's possible and roughly what it's worth.