Blog · Apps and PWAs
For your team, your customers, or both. Your app could bring together loyalty rewards, special offers and ordering, manage stock and team conversations, or give clients a clear view of their project. Built around your business, under your own brand.
At a glance
In plain words
A progressive web app, or PWA, is a web application that people can add to their home screen and use in an app-like window. For a small business, it can become a space to serve customers, support your team or connect both. It can include several features, from loyalty rewards and ordering to stock management and project updates.
People can use it through a web link without an app store download. Installation options and features vary by browser and device. The same web application can serve phones and computers, but it needs testing on the devices your clients use.
Offline access and push notifications are possible features, not automatic benefits of calling something a PWA. They need to be designed and built. MDN explains how PWA installation works.
What it can do
Your app can help you sell, keep customers informed, reward their loyalty or give your team a workspace of its own. These three examples show different possibilities, not a fixed list of what an app can do.
Build around the idea you have. Your app can combine several features. A loyalty card, offers and ordering could belong together, just as project updates, documents and approvals could. We define what belongs in the first version and what you want to add later.
Open a fictional project portal with stages, sample documents and a decision to approve. Switch between client and team views.
The budget
An app for a small business does not have to begin as a large software project. You can launch a first version with the features you need now, then develop it as the business grows.
The cost depends on the screens, user accounts, payments, integrations and how the app needs to work. A loyalty and ordering app, an internal workspace and a client portal each have different requirements.
This starting point is for a very simple first version with standard data and a small number of screens. Larger apps and additional features are quoted against the agreed scope. It covers the agreed build, testing and a handover guide. An installable PWA version is included only when agreed in the scope.
This is the build price. I do not charge VAT. The Time Leak Audit starts at £950, and Process Design has a separate fixed fee. Hosting, software subscriptions and ongoing support are additional where needed. I set out the total project and running costs before you commit to the build.
The features determine the scope and price: customer accounts, loyalty rewards, payments, integrations, push notifications, offline synchronisation and app store publication. Combined team-and-client apps also need the right views and permissions. The final fixed quote follows Process Design.
The final price is agreed before the build.
A closer look
Delivery platforms provide discovery and delivery as well as ordering. Their commission rates need comparing on the same basis.
At the time of checking, Uber Eats lists 30% for Uber Delivery, or 33% for Uber One members. Just Eat lists 30% when it delivers and 14% when you use your own drivers. VAT applies to these published platform commissions. The 14% rate covers a different delivery arrangement.
A direct ordering site or PWA can avoid the marketplace commission on orders placed directly. You still pay for payment processing, hosting, maintenance and getting the order to the customer. Customers also need a reason to choose your direct route.
Start with repeat customers and one ordering journey. Compare the costs you would actually remove with the costs you would take on, using your current contract and an implementation quote.
A lower commission is useful only if the whole order still works.
Honestly
Offline use must be built. A PWA can keep selected information or tasks available without a connection when that behaviour has been designed. Live project updates, sending a form and completing a payment may still need internet access. MDN explains the offline mechanisms.
Notifications need setup and permission. On iOS and iPadOS 16.4 or later, the web app must be added to the Home Screen. The permission request must follow a direct user action, such as tapping a button. The app also needs the notification feature implemented. WebKit documents these requirements.
App stores are optional, not impossible. You can distribute a PWA through a web link. Some PWAs can also be packaged for app stores, with extra work and the relevant store requirements. A web link alone does not create a store listing.
Private data needs proper access controls. Individual accounts, sensitive documents and complex integrations add work beyond a simple interface. Agree who can see what, how it is protected and who supports it before building.
Why I start with the process
My client work includes invoicing, direct debits and online onboarding for a payroll business, and a CRM with follow-up tasks and reporting for a recruitment team. You can read the client stories.
I also ran a childcare business in London, where recorded hours fed invoicing and payments. Those experiences are why I start with the information and the handovers: who enters it, who needs it next, and what happens when something is missing.
For an app, I apply the same approach. I start with what you want people to be able to do: buy, communicate, track a project or manage the business. Then I design how the features, information and people connect.
How I can help
I design and build apps and PWAs for internal use, customer use, or both. Tell me what you have in mind: a loyalty and ordering app, a team workspace, stock management, a client portal or another idea. We agree the features, technology and scope before the build.
What do you want the app to do, who will use it, and what would it change for your business? I map the needs and the work behind them, then compare the options against your goals, time and costs.
From £950 · fixed feeThe screens, the data, who sees what, and what happens when something goes wrong. We test the proposed approach and confirm what can be delivered. A clear specification you own.
Separately scoped · fixed feeI build the agreed app, test its features and user journeys, and hand it over with a guide. Hosting, maintenance and support are agreed as part of the scope, along with any specialist development the project needs.
Fixed project price · quoted after Process DesignBefore any of it, a free fifteen-minute conversation about your app idea and what you want it to do for your customers, your team or both.
Yes. An app or PWA can serve your team, your customers, or both, and combine several features. It could include loyalty rewards and ordering, stock management and team discussions, or project tracking, documents and approvals. Different users can have different views and permissions.
No. They can use a PWA through your website and add it to their home screen where their device and browser support installation. On an iPhone, this can be done through Share, then Add to Home Screen. Some PWAs can also be packaged for app stores, but that is a separate distribution choice.
Yes, when those features have been implemented. Offline access covers only the information and tasks designed for it. Live updates, form submissions and payments may still need a connection. On iOS and iPadOS 16.4 or later, push notifications require a Home Screen web app, permission requested after a direct user action, and an implemented notification feature.
Yes, a web app can use a payment provider. Payment processing, order handling and any delivery costs still apply. Accounts, checkout and integrations are scoped separately from a very simple build.
Very simple builds start at £2,000 for a first version with standard data and a small number of screens, including testing and a handover guide. Larger apps and additional features are quoted against the agreed scope. This is build-only. The Time Leak Audit starts at £950, and Process Design is priced separately. Hosting, software subscriptions and ongoing support are additional where needed. The final fixed quote follows Process Design.
Yes. I design and build apps and PWAs for internal use, customer use, or both. Loyalty schemes, ordering, stock management, team conversations and client portals are examples. I start with your idea, then agree the features, technology and scope with you before building.
Sources
Checked on 5 October 2026. Platform prices and device support can change.
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