The 24-hour kickoff
What "projects start within 24 hours" actually means, hour by hour, and what we need from you to make it true.
The promise
Within 24 hours of the signed scope and the deposit arriving, the project exists: repository, hosting, test address, and the first commit that does something. Not a kickoff meeting. Code.
What happens in those hours
| Hour | What exists |
|---|---|
| 0 | Scope signed, deposit received, access shared |
| 1 | Private repository created under your organisation or ours, README with the scope pasted in |
| 2 | Hosting project created on your account, test address live with a placeholder |
| 4 | Data model or screen map written down and shared for comment |
| 8 | First real feature in progress; continuous deployment to the test address working |
| 24 | You receive a message with the test address, what is there, and what comes next |
For integrations and AI projects, hour 4 is usually "we have read access to your systems and have pulled the first real data". For mobile, it is a build pipeline producing an installable test app.
Why we can do this
Because every project starts from the same foundation. The stack is decided, the hosting pattern is decided, the project template is maintained between projects. The first day is not spent choosing tools.
What we need from you before hour 0
- The signed scope. It is short; most are one or two pages.
- The deposit. The invoice goes out with the scope.
- Access: the accounts, documentation, designs, data or test environments named in the scope. If something is missing we start anyway and flag it, but the clock on that part starts when it arrives.
- A named person who can answer questions within a working day.
What it does not mean
It does not mean the project is finished in 24 hours. Delivery dates are in the scope and are as long as the work honestly takes. The kickoff promise is about not losing weeks at the start, which is where most projects lose them.