How RadWorks works
The whole thing, start to finish, in plain English. Read it in five minutes and you will know exactly what happens, what we need from you, and what it costs.
Before you start
There is nothing to install and nothing to sign up for yet. The interview is free and you see your blueprint before you pay anything. Two things are worth having ready, because they are what we ask about:
A list of the software you already run
Your shop system, your accounting, your scheduling, whatever holds your customer list. Keeping it is the point. Your app connects to what you have and does the parts it never did, so knowing what is already in place shapes the whole build.
For each one it helps to know who administers it, and whether you have ever been offered API access. If you do not know, that is a normal answer and it does not hold anything up.
The thing that actually annoys you
Not a feature list. The moment in the week where work gets lost, retyped, or forgotten. Version one is built around that, and everything else waits. A tool that fixes one real problem in month one beats one that half-fixes six.
How it goes
Tell us what you need
Start on the build interview. Put in your website and we read it first, so the questions that follow are about your business rather than generic. Then six questions, written for you as you go.
Tap the answers that fit. If none of them fit, say so and write it your way: that answer is worth more to us than a near-miss.
Read your blueprint
You get a written plan: what the tool is, what version one builds, a week-by-week month, what is deliberately left for later and why, and where each system you already run fits in.
Read it properly. It is the agreement for month one, and it is yours to keep whether or not you go ahead.
Subscribe, and the build starts
One flat price. No setup fee, no hourly bills, no change orders. Month one pays for itself or you owe nothing.
We build it
Your app is built in order, one milestone at a time, against the blueprint you approved. Every change runs the app's own tests before and after it goes live, and puts itself back automatically if anything is wrong.
You will not be asked to sit in status meetings. If something genuinely needs your answer, the question comes to you in writing and waits.
You get your app
When every milestone is delivered and the tests are green on the finished article, you are emailed a sign-in link. There is no password to remember: you enter your email, we send a link, you click it. It works on a phone.
You ask for changes, and they happen
This is the part that makes it different from paying an agency once. Your app has a Requests page built into it. Anything broken, anything that should work differently, anything new: file it where you noticed it and watch it move.
How your existing software connects
Nobody is asking you to throw anything out. Every system you name goes into one of three groups, and your blueprint tells you which one before you pay.
Direct connection
You paste your own key into your app's settings. We check it against your vendor before saving it, store it encrypted, and it is never readable back out, by us or anyone else. Your app then reads and writes there directly.
File and email bridge
Your existing exports come into the app on a schedule, and work goes back out the same way. Nothing about how your current system works has to change. This is the common case for small-business software, and it is a normal way to run, not a downgrade.
Not connected
When that is true we say so plainly, in your blueprint, before you pay, rather than promising a connection that arrives in month four.
Getting API access from a vendor can take weeks. Your month one never waits on it. We build on the bridge, and if the direct connection is granted later we move you over without you doing anything.
Asking for changes
Open the Requests page in your app and say what you want in your own words. You pick one of three kinds, and how much it is holding you up.
| Kind | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Broken | Something does not work the way it clearly should. |
| Works, but | It works and it is wrong for how you actually operate. |
| Something new | A screen, a report, or a feature that does not exist yet. |
What the status means
| Status | What is happening |
|---|---|
| New | Filed. Nobody has looked at it yet. |
| Planned | Agreed and queued. Not started. |
| In progress | Being built now. |
| Your reply needed | We asked you a question on this one. It waits until you answer, and moves again the moment you do. |
| Your confirmation needed | It is live. Look at it and confirm, or say it is still not right. |
| Done | You confirmed it. If you still see the old behaviour, reload the page. |
| Not planned | Not going ahead. The reason is written on the request. |
Only the person who filed a request can close it. We cannot mark your request done on your behalf. If it is not right, one click reopens it and the fix goes back in the queue. You never have to re-explain it.
How long it takes
Most changes are live within a day or two of being filed. Small ones are often live the same day. Anything that touches sign-in, your customers, or your data is reviewed by a person first, on purpose, so those take a little longer and are worth the wait.
Attaching things
Screenshots help more than descriptions. You can also attach a PDF, a sample export from another system, or a vendor's documentation, and it is read as part of planning the work.
Email and calendar
Most apps need to send something: a confirmation, a reminder, a weekly summary. Your app sends from your own address rather than a stranger's.
Setting that up takes one approval from whoever administers your email, once. We send them a link and a short page explaining exactly what is being asked for and how to switch it off again. It can be limited to a single mailbox.
Until that is done your app still works: mail goes out from us with your address as the reply-to, so nothing is blocked waiting on IT.
Questions people ask
What if I do not like what gets built?
Month one pays for itself or you owe nothing. After that it is month to month and you can stop whenever you like.
Who owns the data?
You do, always. Rad Consultants builds, hosts, and runs the platform, and your data is yours to take with you.
Do I need anyone technical on my side?
No. The only moment anyone technical is useful is the one-time email approval, and there is a page written for exactly that person.
What if my software has no API?
Very common, and not a problem. You go on the file and email bridge, and that is live in month one either way.
How many changes can I ask for?
As many as you like. One is built at a time, so the queue is visible and you can see what is next. If the order is wrong, say so and it changes.
What happens if a change breaks something?
Every release runs your app's own tests before and after it goes live. If they fail afterwards, the change is removed automatically within minutes and we are told. You are not the one who finds out.
Can more than one person use it?
Yes. Your whole team can sign in and file requests, at no extra cost. It is priced per app, not per person.
Ready to see your blueprint?
Fifteen minutes, in your own words. Free, and yours to keep whether or not you go ahead.
Start your build interview