Guides
Guides for building software and using AI well
Forty guides written for the people who decide and pay for software, not only the people who write it. Each one ends with a checklist or clear next step.
These guides answer the questions we hear most from founders, owners and managers: what a project should cost, how long it takes, how to choose a partner, where AI really helps and how to connect it to your systems without taking on risk. They are written in plain English and based on how we actually work.
Use the search box or the topic filter to find what you need. If a term is unfamiliar, the glossary explains it in a few paragraphs, and our comparisons set common choices side by side. All of our free material is listed on the resources page.
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40 of 40 guides
Planning a product
Scope, budgets, timelines, contracts and choosing who builds it.
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How to plan a SaaS MVP
Decide what goes into the first version of a SaaS product, what waits, and which foundations to build properly.
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How to write a software requirements document
Write a clear requirements document that gets accurate estimates and fewer surprises during the build.
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How much does it cost to build a web app?
What drives the cost of a web app, how complexity changes the budget, and how to keep spending under control.
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How long does it take to build an app?
Realistic timelines for websites, web apps and mobile apps, and what speeds a project up or slows it down.
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Fixed scope vs time and materials
How fixed-price and time-and-materials contracts work, their risks for each side, and which suits your project.
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How to choose a development partner
What to look for in a software development partner, the warning signs, and how to compare proposals fairly.
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Questions to ask before hiring a software agency
Twenty questions that reveal how an agency works, who owns what, and whether they are the right fit.
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How to validate a product idea before building
Cheap, fast ways to test whether customers want your product before you spend on development.
AI-accelerated development
How AI changes the way software is built, reviewed and secured.
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What is AI-accelerated development?
How software teams use AI to plan, code, test and document faster, and where people still make every decision.
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How AI changes software development cost
Which parts of a software budget AI reduces, which it does not, and how to read an AI-assisted estimate.
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Where AI helps in development, and where it does not
An honest map of the development tasks AI speeds up and the ones that still need experienced people.
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How we review AI-generated code
The checks we apply to every AI-assisted change, from tests and security to readability and business rules.
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AI development security checklist
A practical checklist for keeping code, data and credentials safe when a team builds with AI tools.
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How to brief an AI development team
What to include in a brief so an AI-accelerated team can estimate accurately and build the right thing.
AI for business
Where AI helps a business, how to choose models and how to measure the return.
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What can AI do for a small business?
Practical AI uses for small businesses, from inboxes and documents to customer support, with costs and first steps.
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How to choose an AI model for your business
A step-by-step way to pick an AI model by testing candidates on your own tasks, data rules and budget.
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What is RAG and when do you need it?
How retrieval-augmented generation lets AI answer from your documents, when it fits and how to build it well.
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What are AI agents and how do businesses use them?
What AI agents are, real business uses, the controls they need and how to start with one safely.
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How to measure the ROI of AI automation
Measure the return on AI automation with a baseline, the right metrics and honest accounting of costs.
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AI automation vs traditional automation
How rule-based automation and AI automation differ, where each fits and how to combine them.
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How to keep customer data safe when using AI
Practical steps to protect customer data when you use AI services, from data terms to access and logging.
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Prompt writing basics for business teams
How to write prompts that get consistent, useful results from AI tools, with templates your team can reuse.
MCP and connecting AI
Connecting AI assistants to your CRM, database and tools, safely.
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What is the Model Context Protocol?
A business guide to MCP: what it is, how MCP servers work, who supports it and how to start using it.
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How to connect AI to your CRM
Connect AI assistants to HubSpot, Salesforce or other CRMs safely, with the tasks worth automating first.
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How to connect AI to your database safely
Let staff ask questions of your data in plain English without risking production systems or sensitive records.
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How to build an AI workflow with MCP servers
Plan, connect and test an AI workflow that uses MCP servers, from a single task to a reliable process.
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MCP security best practices
How to choose, configure and monitor MCP servers so AI assistants get the access they need and nothing more.
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How to automate reporting with AI and MCP
Build reports that assemble themselves from your systems through MCP, with a written summary people can trust.
Websites, SaaS and apps
Redesigns, speed, SEO, SaaS architecture, billing, mobile apps and migrations.
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Website redesign checklist
A step-by-step checklist for redesigning a website without losing search traffic, content or leads.
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How to improve website speed
Find what makes your site slow and fix it, from images and fonts to hosting and scripts, in order of impact.
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SEO basics for new websites
The technical and content basics every new website needs to be found in search, in the order to do them.
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Multi-tenant SaaS architecture explained
How SaaS products serve many customers from one system, the main design options and how to choose.
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How to add subscriptions and billing to a SaaS
Plans, trials, invoices, taxes and failed payments: what a SaaS billing setup needs and how to build it.
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React Native vs native apps
When a React Native app is the smart choice, when native iOS and Android apps are worth the extra cost.
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Progressive web apps explained
What progressive web apps can do, where they beat store apps, their limits and how to decide.
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How to migrate a legacy application
Replace an old system step by step without stopping the business, with tests, data checks and a way back.
Business operations
Automating payroll, invoices, reporting and customer self-service.
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How to automate payroll
Turn a manual monthly payroll into a reviewed, tested process with accurate payslips and a full audit trail.
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How to automate invoice processing
Read, check, approve and post supplier invoices automatically, with people handling only the exceptions.
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How to build a customer portal
Plan and build a portal where customers see status, share documents and help themselves, safely.
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How to set up automated reporting
Replace manual weekly and monthly reports with dashboards and summaries that update themselves.
No guide matches that search yet. or ask us your question.
Where to start
Not sure which guide to read first?
If you are planning a new product, start with how to plan a SaaS MVP and how much it costs to build a web app. If you want to use AI in your business, begin with what AI can do for a small business, then what the Model Context Protocol is.
For help with a specific project, see our services, solutions and case studies, or read about how we use AI to build faster.
FAQ
Questions people ask us
Have a question that is not here? Ask us directly.
Our team, based on the projects we run. Facts about AI models and MCP servers are checked against official sources and dated.
Yes. Link to any guide you find useful.
Yes. Tell us about your project and we will give you a straight answer.