The verdict in three sentences
A spreadsheet running a 25-person business costs far more than its apparent zero price: wasted time, errors and slow quotes quietly erode margin. In Dublin in 2026, a custom business platform at 58,000 EUR generated 72,000 EUR in annual gains, a 10-month payback. The key is not the technology but the rigorous measurement of KPIs before and after.
Before / after: the consultancy's numbers
The firm produced quotes, estimates and project tracking on a stack of shared Excel files. Here are the indicators measured over the 6 months before and the 6 months after go-live.
| KPI | Before (spreadsheets) | After (platform) | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual entry / week | 14 h | 2 h | -12 h |
| Time to issue a quote | 5 days | 6 hours | -95% |
| Estimation error rate | 8% | 0.5% | -94% |
| Quotes issued / month | 32 | 51 | +59% |
| Win rate | 21% | 27% | +6 pts |
| Cross-team re-keying | 9/day | 0 | -100% |
Every line is a euro: freed-up time is reinvested in billable work, and avoided errors stop nibbling at margin.
Breaking down the ROI calculation
ROI is only credible if every gain is quantified with verifiable assumptions. Here is the method applied over 18 months of tracking.
| Gain source | Assumption | Annual gain |
|---|---|---|
| Recovered entry time | 12 h/wk × 46 wks × 45 EUR | 24,840 EUR |
| Avoided estimation errors | 7.5% margin on 380,000 EUR | 28,500 EUR |
| Additional revenue (faster quotes) | +19 quotes/mo, 4 signed | ~18,000 EUR |
| Reduced tools/licenses | Removed Excel add-ons | 900 EUR |
| Total annual gains | ~72,240 EUR | |
| Initial investment | custom build | 58,000 EUR |
| Payback | 58,000 / 72,240 | ~10 months |
Beyond break-even, every month generates a net surplus around 6,000 EUR, excluding run cost (12% to 15%/year of the build).
Mini case study
Helen, director of the Dublin consultancy, now works from a single dashboard. Before, her 4 account managers spent 14 h/week re-keying data between files; at a 45 EUR loaded hourly cost, that was 28,980 EUR/year of non-billable time. After go-live, that line drops to 2 h/week. The time saving alone already repays 43% of the build per year. Adding avoided errors and the 4 extra quotes signed each month, the project is fully repaid by month ten, KPIs to prove it.
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FAQ
How do we guarantee the stated ROI is achieved?
By measuring baseline KPIs BEFORE the project (entry hours, error rate, delays). In Dublin in 2026, serious scoping sets 5 to 8 indicators tracked monthly for 18 months.
What is the biggest gain driver?
Often avoided errors, not time. Here, 28,500 EUR/year of avoided estimation errors exceeds the 24,840 EUR of recovered time. Quality pays more than speed.
How much does maintaining the platform cost after delivery?
Expect a run of 12 to 15% of the build budget per year, roughly 7,000 to 8,700 EUR/year for this 58,000 EUR project, covering hosting, fixes and small enhancements.
Is a custom platform profitable under 25 people?
Yes from 8 to 10 users if manual entry exceeds 8 h/week per person. The threshold depends on re-keying volume and hourly cost, not headcount alone.
How long to build such a platform?
Between 12 and 18 weeks in Dublin in 2026 for a quote + estimation + project-tracking scope, built incrementally with intermediate releases.
Let's scope your project. Give us your entry volumes, your error rate and your monthly quote count: we'll model your ROI and price the platform. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
