of tested code-generation tasks produced code containing a known security weakness.
- Fixed price, agreed first
- We settle the number before work starts. If the job changes, we re-quote — we don't add it to the bill.
- Rescue jobs back in 3 business days
- Or we tell you on day one that it's a bigger job than that. If we still miss a date we've committed to, the extra time is free.
- You own everything we build
- The code, the repository and everything in it are yours outright once the job's paid for — no licence to renew, no dependency on us to keep using it.
- We'll get your first app live, free
- New clients get the code check, the fix it turns up, and the app deployed to their own domain for nothing — one app, about two hours of work, done whether or not you hire us for the rest.
- We'll say if we're not a fit
- On the first call, and we'll usually point you somewhere better.
Start with what needs to happen
Four ways in, depending on where you're stuck. Every job is agreed and priced before any work starts.
The agency model is built for a job that no longer takes six people
The way most software gets quoted was settled when a working app needed a floor of people to produce. That stopped being true, and the pricing hasn't caught up.
What the old quote is made of
Four things, and only one of them is your software.
- You're quoted for a team, not a job
The usual shape is an account manager, a project manager, a designer, two or three developers and a tester. Some of them touch your project. All of them are in the rate.
- The hours are the product
When the invoice is hours multiplied by a rate, finishing early makes the invoice smaller. Nobody sets out to be slow, but nothing in the arrangement pays for being quick.
- Most of the cost is handovers
Every extra person adds a briefing, a status meeting and something explained twice. Past a certain size, adding people to a project makes it slower rather than faster.
- The person who pitched isn't the person building
Pitches are run by whoever has the most experience. The work goes to whoever is free that month, and you find out which after you've signed.
What changed
Same work, fewer people, and the difference shows up in the price.
- One engineer covers more ground
Scaffolding, boilerplate, the first draft of tests, the plumbing between two systems — that's the work AI tooling is genuinely good at, and it's the work the extra pairs of hands were there to absorb.
- What's left is judgement
Deciding what's worth building, fitting it to systems you already run, and checking the output is actually right. That part doesn't divide neatly across six people — it gets worse when you try.
- Nothing gets explained twice
There's no account layer between you and the code. The person on your first call is the person writing it, so a change is a conversation rather than a change request.
- Which is why the prices look like they do
A free code check, a rescue from $350, a first version from $1,750 — fixed, agreed before we start. Those numbers aren't a discount on the old model. They're what the work costs without it.
How a job runs, start to finish
Four stages, from a free first call to handing the work back. Every job is agreed and priced firmly before it starts.
- 01
A straight conversation
30 minutes, freeYou tell us what's stuck. We tell you whether custom software helps, which job fits, and what it costs. If we're not the right people, we say so on this call and usually point you somewhere better.
- 02
Assess and map
1 – 5 daysWe read through your code, or map out how the work flows today, rank what we find by what actually matters, and hand back a plan with a fixed price against each step. The plan is yours whether or not we build it.
- 03
Do the work
Agreed upfrontAgreed job, fixed price, and a start date you can plan around. If the job changes, we re-quote rather than add it to the bill.
- 04
Hand back and hold
Ongoing, optionalYou get working code, written up plainly, along with the reasoning behind it — so you're never stuck with us. Monthly plans exist if you want ongoing monitoring and updates, but nothing obliges you to take one.
You get a senior engineer in Australia, and you get the same one throughout
Small enough that there's no team to be assigned to. You meet the person who does the work, on the first call, before anything is agreed.
It's me, plus specialists I bring in per job
There's no bench and no account layer — I do the work myself. When a job needs something outside my depth, I bring in someone I've worked with and trust, and you know who before they touch anything.
Based in Australia, working your hours
No offshore work, and nothing quietly passed to a contractor in another time zone. Whoever's on your project works Australian hours, so a question doesn't wait overnight for an answer.
The person you meet is the one who builds it
The person on your first call is the person who writes the code, answers your questions while it's underway, and hands it back at the end. Nothing gets reassigned to whoever happens to be free, and there's no account manager sitting in between.
If I'm unavailable mid-job
The timeline shifts rather than the work being quietly handed to someone else without telling you first.
More on who you'd be working with, and what we build with, is on the about page.
The platforms your work runs on
We build on tools you've already heard of, so someone else can pick the work up after us. These are the platforms we use — not partnerships or endorsements, and we'll tell you when a cheaper one would do the job.
- Amazon Web ServicesHosting and databases
- Google CloudHosting and data tools
- MicrosoftAzure, Microsoft 365 and Teams
- AnthropicClaude, for AI features
- OpenAIGPT, for AI features
- StripeTaking payments
- PayPalTaking payments
- CloudflareHosting, DNS and blocking bad traffic
- VercelHosting for web apps
- SupabaseDatabase, logins and file storage
How a rescue actually goes
AI coding tools are fast, but they leave a lot quietly broken and exposed. Here's how we turn a shaky prototype into something you can rely on, in three business days.
Illustrative example — this shows how a job like this typically runs, not a specific client engagement. Figures are representative, not measured outcomes.
45% of tested code-generation tasks produced code containing a known security weakness — Veracode GenAI Code Security Report, 2025
What we found
Built with AI tools in a weekendThe 3-day fix
Fixed and safe to launchSound familiar?
The problems we get called about most. Each one explains what's happening, what it costs to leave alone, and what fixed looks like.
Try it yourself, free
No account, no sales sequence. Use them and walk away if that's all you need.
Melbourne-based, working Australia-wide
We're one small studio in Melbourne. Most work happens remotely, which is why we can take on a free code check as readily as a three-week build.
- Based in
- Melbourne, Victoria
- Hours
- Mon to Fri, 8:30am – 5:30pm Melbourne time
- hello@smallshop.au