Custom software for Chattanooga small businesses — internal tools, dashboards, Shopify customization, PostgreSQL databases, process automation. We pick the right stack for the job — not the trendiest — and hand off code you actually own.
Helping a local embroidery shop pick the right tools, build a custom order workflow, and set up the systems she needs to grow without drowning in admin. Software strategy, Shopify customization, and process design — tailored to a one-person operation.
If you have a process that lives across three browser tabs, an internal tool is usually the right fix. In short, we build small, focused dashboards that pull data from systems that don't talk to each other and present it the way you actually think about it. For example: a Shopify orders view that surfaces rush deadlines, a fulfillment dashboard that combines inventory and shipping, or a customer portal that replaces a back-and-forth email thread.
Typically, these projects run two to four weeks and pay back inside the first quarter. They're built in Next.js with PostgreSQL or Supabase, and as a result you control where they're deployed.
Shopify is great until it isn't. In those cases, we write custom Liquid, build custom theme sections, and use Shopify's APIs to do what their template wizard can't — for example, order configurators with their own logic, custom discount rules, and admin tools that match how the store actually fulfills orders. In short, we don't replatform people off Shopify. Instead, we make Shopify do the thing you wished it did out of the box.
In addition, we handle Shopify Plus features (checkout extensibility, B2B) when needed, and headless via Hydrogen when there's a real reason. Most projects: a few weeks, fixed-bid.
Most database work we do is fixing decisions that didn't account for how the business would change. For example: columns that should have been their own tables, indexes added in the wrong order, queries that take 30 seconds because nobody looked at the plan. Sometimes the right call is a careful migration; in other cases, it's a smart index and a query rewrite.
PostgreSQL most of the time. In some cases, Supabase when serverless fits. Performance audits are a common starting point — as a result, we've cut query times by 100x without changing the schema.
Most automation isn't new software — instead, it's making the software you already pay for talk to itself. For example: a nightly sync between booking and invoicing, custom webhooks between Stripe, Airtable, and your CRM, or the Zapier flows that have been duct-taped together for two years and break every time someone updates a tool.
In short, direct API integrations beat Zapier for anything that runs more than a few times a day. As a result, we've replaced hundreds of dollars a month in Zapier subscriptions with custom code that runs for free.
Sometimes the right answer to a software problem is more software. In other cases, it's a different off-the-shelf tool. Occasionally, it's just better process discipline and zero new technology. A Strategy Sprint, therefore, is a one-to-two-week engagement: a few working sessions, a written recommendation, and a tooling and cost analysis. As a result, you walk away with a plan you can take anywhere — including, sometimes, a recommendation to not hire us when that's the honest answer.
Fixed fee, no code deliverable. In particular, it's useful when you're staring at three vendor proposals and not sure which one fits.
Every custom build is different — stack, scope, integrations, ownership. We’ll talk for 30 minutes, scope the work, and send a written proposal with a fixed price before you commit to anything.
Plan a projectCustom software builds typically range from $5,000 for a focused tool to $25,000 or more for larger projects. We scope every project with a 30-minute call and send a written proposal with a fixed price before any work begins, so you'll never see a surprise invoice.