Why we do not quote custom development before a scope review
A short note for owners and CTOs: what we need before an estimate, how we split base scope from optional work, and which first step reduces budget risk.
Read moreAbout - A team with its own product. A product with a team behind it.
We're engineers who have been shipping online stores and enterprise portals for mid‑market teams on 1C‑Bitrix, Next.js, Laravel and Elasticsearch since 2015. In 2024 we packaged our headless stack into our own product — Frontbox — and started more complex projects with a 15-minute brief and compact discovery.
We are useful when "rewrite everything" is too risky: a live catalog, SEO, ERP and CRM integrations, active revenue, user roles and accumulated technical debt. First we separate the base from optional work, then choose a safe first slice.
Two bases — Saint Petersburg and Almaty. A partner presence in Dubai. Working languages — Russian, Kazakh, English. Compliance — 152‑FZ for Russia, GDPR for the EU, on‑prem / FSTEC for gov and fintech.
- in e‑commerce and 1C‑Bitrix
- 10+ yrs
- Saint Petersburg + Almaty
- 2 HQs
- own open‑core platform
- Frontbox
- before fixed estimates for custom scope
- Discovery
Before an estimate
What we check before the project becomes a black box
Fixed price fits packaged Frontbox formats. For custom development, replatforming and integrations we first build a compact map of requirements, risks and the safest first step.
Current stack, release process, access model and parts of the system that cannot go down.
Critical flows: catalog, search, cart, checkout, account area and content operations.
Integrations: ERP, CRM, payments, delivery, analytics, external APIs and data constraints.
Base / optional / client-specific: what belongs in the first release and what should wait.
Acceptance criteria: speed, SEO, roles, control URLs, analytics events and review criteria.
The safe first step: a 15-minute brief that clarifies options and a budget range.
What we prioritize - Brief first, open‑core, scope aware — never six months of slides
We're building a studio where speed does not replace engineering checks. First we map constraints, agree the scope, and only then promise timelines, metrics and budget.
- Brief first, not spec first. The first step is a 15-minute brief with a product owner and developer. If the task needs it, we then define a verifiable scope instead of a 200-page spec.
- Open‑core, not vendor lock‑in. Frontbox is an open‑core platform. After launch all sources, docs and CI/CD stay with you. Handoff to another team — no fees, no drama.
- Discovery before promises. For custom work we separate base scope from optional features and check data, integrations, roles and acceptance criteria before estimating.
Leadership
Elena Zhilyakova
Founder / CEO
Founder and CEO of WebGoodPeople. Elena leads key client engagements, sets the studio strategy, and represents the company publicly.
From the blog
We write about storefronts on top of Bitrix, zero‑downtime moves and AI content — from real projects, not theory.
Lead form telemetry: what to measure before an e-commerce campaign
A short checklist for owners and CTOs: which form events, UTM fields and thank-you checks should be visible before paid traffic or a replatform campaign.
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