Proposal
23/09/26 · Tom Varney · Prepared for Ryan and the GHST KTCHN team
One connected system from first enquiry to aftercare: a new GHST KTCHN website, a customer portal, and a single client profile that carries pipeline, quote, design, build, invoicing and service. Built in phases on the OrderMango platform, run as a monthly retainer, starting with a fixed-price two-week discovery.
What we're building
Your deck already says it: one client, one profile, one place. The information exists today; it just doesn't move with the project. So the job is to build the place it lives, and connect everything else to it.
When it's done, a customer finds you on a new GHST KTCHN website, configures what they want and sends an enquiry. That enquiry is already a customer and a pipeline entry when Ryan sees it. The quote is built from real options and prices, versioned when it changes, accepted by the customer in their portal, and locked. The deposit creates the build. Liam's CAD, artwork and approvals sit on the same record. The factory marks stages complete on a tablet; the customer sees progress and photos; Danny is told when a milestone invoice is due. When something breaks after handover, the customer raises it through GHST KTCHN, it becomes a service job with a booking and an owner, and the customer gets confirmation without anyone WhatsApping from a personal phone.
The shop keeps running on Shopify behind the scenes, so off-the-shelf equipment, kits, stock and checkout carry on as they are, inside the new site's design.
Three things people will notice: no re-keying, no chasing, and a customer who only ever sees GHST KTCHN.
How I work
I work as a retained partner, not a project supplier. You get a fixed slot of my time every week, a weekly check-in, and a roadmap that we re-plan together every month. Things go live in small pieces from the first month, and the plan gets sharper as we go rather than being fixed on day one and wrong by week three.
Capacity. Roughly two days a week of my time on GHST KTCHN, with a standing 30-minute check-in each week (Teams is fine). That's what the retainer buys: a slot, a cadence, and a list of things that go live.
Monthly roadmap. At each month's first check-in we agree the list for that month. The current month is a commitment; later months are a plan. If something turns out bigger or smaller than expected, it moves between months and we say so. Anything that depends on a third party (your 3D models, Easfix, the WhatsApp number, Xero access) can slide without moving the rest.
Outcomes, not hours. I don't send timesheets and you don't count hours. Each month has a named list of what's live at the end of it; if I finish early I pull the next item forward. Work not finished in a month rolls forward; unused time doesn't bank.
Built the way you built your mockups. I build with AI tooling all the way down, which is why this costs what it does rather than what an agency would charge. What you're paying for is that it works, keeps working, and someone owns it. That includes the operating side once things are live: tuning the automations, adding the next workflow, and being the person the team calls.
Plainer first, polished second. The first live version of each piece will look simpler than the mockups in your deck. It gets its finish once the team has used it for a couple of weeks and we know what matters.
Discovery: the first two weeks
The project starts with two weeks of discovery at a fixed price of £1,400 + VAT, before the retainer begins. Your deck is a strong brief but not a specification, and the fastest way to a good build is to spend two weeks turning it into one before writing code that matters. Discovery stands on its own: if you decide not to go further, you keep everything it produces.
What happens: a half-day with Ryan on sales and quoting, an hour each with Liam, Chloe, Danny and Rich on their part of the flow, a walk round the factory, and a look inside Pipedrive, the portal, the quote builder and the CAD export. I'll also set up the tenant, the new domain structure and the file storage so that building starts the moment discovery ends.
What you get at the end of week two:
- The option and pricing schema. Every unit, layout, add-on and branding option with its price and any rules between them. This is the heart of the quote engine and the configurator.
- The workflow map. Enquiry to aftercare as it will work, stage by stage, with who does what, what's automatic and what stays human.
- The client profile and build record. What lives on a customer and on a job: fields, files, statuses, milestones, warranty.
- The phase plan with dates. The roadmap below, firmed up, with a go-live date for Phase 1.
- The systems list. What we replace (Pipedrive, the portal, the quote builder), what we keep (Shopify for the shop, CAD, Xero), and what we connect (WhatsApp, email, Easfix if it can be).
The phases
The spine first, then the floor, then the edges. Each month ends with something the team is using. Months 1–4 are the commitment; 5–6 are the plan and will be firmed up in discovery.
- Enquiry
- Customer and pipeline
- Living quote
- Build: design (after acceptance and deposit)
- Build: factory stages
- Invoice at each milestone
- Handover and aftercare
Discovery (two weeks, before Month 1): schema, workflow map, client profile and build record defined, systems list, phase plan with a Phase 1 go-live date. Tenant, domains and file storage set up so build starts on day one of Month 1.
| Month | Live at the end of it | Phase |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tenant live. Client profiles and message threads. Portal login in GHST KTCHN branding. Pipedrive deals imported into a cleaner pipeline; Pipedrive enquiries stop being typed in by hand. Design direction for the new website agreed | 1: Spine |
| 2 | The living quote: build from real options, amend and recalculate, versions, reissue, customer views and accepts in the portal, acceptance locks it and deposit creates the build. New website built in your brand with the smart enquiry flow, on a staging link for review | 1: Spine |
| 3 | New website live, replacing the Shopify storefront; shop pages pulling products and stock from Shopify with Shopify checkout. Build record with stages, file uploads, design versions and customer approvals. Progress updates to the customer. Milestone reached → Danny notified with a draft invoice; invoices synced to Xero. Phase 1 complete: the team stops re-keying | 1: Spine |
| 4 | 3D configurator on the website feeding a first-draft quote (if the models are usable; otherwise the factory board moves up). Aftercare: service issues raised in the portal or by WhatsApp, with warranty status, booking, owner, status and automatic confirmations | 2: Floor + customer |
| 5 | Factory stage board on tablets; factory and office TV views; CAD parts CSV imported against the build with a purchase checklist for Chloe | 2: Floor + customer |
| 6 | Change requests as formal variations (new quote version, customer accepts, build updates); invoice auto-generation once stage data is trusted; follow-up reminders and "must see" dashboard items | 2: Floor + customer |
| Later | Stock levels and suggested purchase orders; direct link to Easfix if it has one; automated ordering from the CAD parts list; the AI layer drafting discovery notes, variations and progress reports for the team to approve | 3: Edges |
Platform and bespoke
Most of what the deck asks for is what the OrderMango platform already does for operations businesses: customers, enquiries, pipeline, versioned quotes, jobs with stages, invoices, files, message threads, a customer portal and staff dashboards. GHST KTCHN runs as a tenant on that platform, which is why it can be built and kept running at this price.
On top of the platform, built for you: the public website and its enquiry flow, the 3D configurator, the shop front, your option and pricing schema, your stage lists and milestone rules, the GHST KTCHN theme across the portal and tablets, the WhatsApp and email connections, and the Xero and Shopify links.
| Platform (OrderMango) | Bespoke for GHST KTCHN | |
|---|---|---|
| Owned by | Strawberry Lace, licensed to you monthly | You |
| Includes | Core system, hosting, security, backups, updates, new platform features as they ship | Website, configurator, shop front, your schema and workflows, branding, integrations set up for you |
| If we part ways | Your data exported in full (customers, quotes, jobs, files, messages) | Website and configurator code handed over |
Ownership and IP
The short version: I own the platform, you own everything that's yours, and that split is what keeps your updates free.
OrderMango platform. The core system (customers, enquiries, pipeline, quotes, jobs, invoices, files, messaging, portal, dashboards, tablet and TV views) and any improvements made to it during our work together are owned by Strawberry Lace and licensed to GHST KTCHN as a tenant. When I build something for you that's useful to every operations business, it goes into the platform, and every improvement the platform gets from any direction comes to you at no extra cost, for as long as you're a tenant. That's the trade: you're not paying to own a codebase you'd then have to maintain, you're paying for a system that keeps getting better.
Yours outright. The public website and configurator code, your brand and content, your option and pricing schema, your workflow configuration, your stage lists and milestone rules, and all of your data: customers, quotes, jobs, files, messages, service history. Nothing of yours is used for any other client, and your schema and pricing stay confidential.
If we part ways. You get a full export of your data in open formats and a handover of the website and configurator code. The platform tenancy ends when you say so, with a month's notice, and I'll help with a sensible transition.
Commercials
Discovery: £1,400 + VAT, fixed, for the two weeks, invoiced up front.
Retainer: £3,000 + VAT per month, billed monthly in advance from the start of Month 1, four-month minimum, then rolling month to month with one month's notice either way.
The retainer covers everything above: the build across the phases, the OrderMango tenancy for as long as the retainer runs, hosting, and the operating side once things are live (tuning, small additions, support for the team, the weekly check-in). There is no separate build fee, no setup fee and no per-user charge.
After the build. When the build side is done and you no longer need two days a week of me, the retainer ends and two smaller things take its place.
| Monthly | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| OrderMango subscription | £399 + VAT | The system itself: hosting, file storage, backups, security, monitoring, platform updates, and the running costs of your automations (AI, WhatsApp, email sending) up to fair use. Fixed for 12 months |
| Support retainer | £600 + VAT | Me: about half a day a week on average, a monthly check-in, small changes and tweaks, first-line support for the team, and priority if something breaks. Optional; without it, support and changes are by the day |
Fair use on the subscription is up to 5,000 automated actions a month (an action is one AI-drafted message, classification, or outbound WhatsApp/email). Above that, usage is passed through at cost. At your volumes you're unlikely to get near it.
So the shape over time: £1,400 for discovery, £3,000 a month while we're building, then £999 a month to run and look after it, or £399 for the system alone.
This is a design-partner rate. You're the first business of your kind on the platform, and some of what I build for you becomes platform capability. In return I'd like to use GHST KTCHN as a reference once Phase 1 is live, and honest feedback throughout.
What's not included, and what it costs if you want it:
| Item | Who pays | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify (shop only, Basic plan) | You, direct | Roughly £25–£30/month; likely a saving on today |
| Xero | You, direct | Your existing subscription |
| WhatsApp Business number and messaging | You, direct | A dedicated number plus pence per conversation |
| 3D models, if the current ones can't be reused | You, direct | Depends on the modeller |
| Domains and email sending | You, direct | Tens of pounds a year |
| More than two days a week | Agreed in advance | Extra days at the same rate, when a phase needs a push |
After Phase 2, if the build side quietens down, the retainer can drop to a lighter operating tier that keeps the platform, hosting and support running. We'd agree that when we get there.
What I need from you
- One owner on your side who can make decisions between check-ins. From the deck, that's Ryan.
- An hour each from Liam, Chloe, Danny and Rich during discovery, and a walk round the factory.
- Access: Pipedrive (export), the current portal and quote builder, Shopify admin, Xero, and an example CAD parts CSV.
- The 3D model files and whoever made them, so we can see what's reusable.
- A decision on the WhatsApp number early, since moving off a personal phone takes a little setting up.
- Patience with the plainer first versions, and honesty when something isn't working for the team.
Next steps
- You read this and we talk it through on the 25th.
- Any changes to scope or phasing, we agree in writing (an email is fine).
- Discovery invoice and go-ahead; discovery starts the following Monday.
- Two weeks later you have the schema, the workflow map and Phase 1 dates. If you're happy, the retainer starts and the build begins straight away.
Tom Varney · Strawberry Lace