Aghora LabsAghoraLabs

19 August 2026 · 5 min read

Six questions to ask before you approve any software quote

None of these questions are technical, and none of them need you to understand databases. The fourth one is where most projects fall apart.

None of these are technical. You don't need to understand databases or frameworks to ask them. You just need to be willing to sit in the silence after you ask.

A good development partner will answer all six clearly and will probably be relieved you asked.

1

“Can you describe my current process back to me?”

If they can't do this without notes, they haven't understood what they're quoting for. Everything after this is guesswork with a price tag.

2

“What are you assuming that isn't in this document?”

Every quote has assumptions. Good vendors will list them. The gap between what you assumed and what they assumed is where the cost overrun lives.

3

“What happens to the price if I change my mind in month two?”

You will change your mind. The question is whether that costs ₹0, a conversation, or a renegotiation. Get the answer in writing now.

4

“Which parts of this could we not build, and what would we lose?”

This is the fourth question, and the one that reveals whether they think like a partner or a supplier. A vendor who can't identify anything to cut is selling you scope, not judgement.

5

“Who exactly is writing the code, and will they still be here in month four?”

Especially with larger firms. The people in the sales meeting are often not the people on the project.

6

“What do I own at the end, and how do I get it?”

Source code, hosting accounts, domain, database, documentation. Ask for the list. If the answer is vague, that vagueness is a business risk, not a technical detail.

7

Bonus: “What would make you tell me not to build this?”

The best answer to this question is not “nothing.”

What the answers actually tell you

A quote is a number. The answers to these questions are the reasoning behind the number. If the reasoning is thin, the number will move later, and it will move in one direction.

Email [email protected] with a quote you are weighing up. We are happy to walk through which of these six it already answers, even if we are not the ones building it.

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