From First Call to Handover: How a Project Runs

A defined project should feel defined from the very first conversation. Here is the path every Steel Bridge engagement follows, from the first call to the day we hand over the keys.

Step 1 — The initial consultation (£200, one hour)

You describe the process: how enquiries come in, how work gets booked, where the hours disappear. We give a considered view on whether automation fits — and if it does, which of our three offerings addresses it and at roughly what cost.

Two honest outcomes are possible. One is a recommendation to proceed. The other is "automation is not the answer here," and we give that answer more often than you might expect. The fee is credited in full against any project commissioned within 30 days, so if we do proceed, the consultation was free.

Step 2 — Scoping and the statement of work

If the project makes sense, we write it down properly: the scope, the fixed price, the timeline and the acceptance criteria — the concrete, testable statements of what the finished system must do. This document is the contract. Nothing is invoiced before it is agreed in writing, and the first payment (40%) is made on signature.

Step 3 — The build

We build against your real cases from day one. For a voice agent, that means your actual call scenarios and booking rules; for a website, your actual content, payment flows and UK compliance requirements; for training, your team's actual documents and workflows.

At the agreed build milestone we demonstrate the system working — against those real cases, not a rehearsed demo. The second payment (30%) is released on that demonstration. And if priorities have changed, this is a boundary where you can stop, paying only for what has been completed and accepted.

Step 4 — Acceptance, documentation, handover

The finished system is tested against the acceptance criteria in the statement of work. When you confirm in writing that they are met, the final 30% is due — and you receive the full handover: documentation, credentials, admin access, plain-English guides for the people who will run it day to day, and a 30-day defect warranty.

The test we hold ourselves to

Could you sack us tomorrow and keep everything running? If the answer is ever no, we have built it wrong. The point of the handover is to make us removable — which, in our experience, is precisely why clients come back for the next project.

If you have a process you suspect could run itself, the first step is an hour of honest conversation. That is what the consultation is for.