Rapid Build
From idea to working product — in weeks, not months.
Build something real, fast
Most software projects take too long before anything works. Discovery phases stretch into months, architectural debates delay the first line of code, and by the time a prototype exists, the original idea has been forgotten or the market has moved on.
Lothringer offers a different model: a focused, time-boxed engagement that takes your idea from a brief conversation to a working, deployed product — typically in two to six weeks. Not a wireframe. Not a slide deck. A real, running application you can put in front of users, investors or clients.
This is made possible by 25+ years of engineering and delivery experience, modern tooling, and a delivery approach that eliminates the slow parts — without cutting corners on quality, security or architecture.
What we can build
- Native mobile apps (Android, iOS)
- Web platforms and SaaS products
- Customer-facing portals and dashboards
- Internal tools and admin systems
- Business websites with CMS or booking integration
- AI-integrated applications and workflows
- Expense tracking, scheduling and operational tools
How it works
The process is designed to eliminate the dead time that makes most software projects slow: weeks spent in requirements workshops, architectural debates before a line of code is written, waiting for design sign-off on things that could be validated in a working prototype. Instead, we move from a shared understanding of the problem to working code within days — iterating frequently so you see real progress throughout rather than waiting for a big reveal at the end. The first conversation is free. If the scope and budget work for both parties, we start building the following week.
1 Scope
We start with a focused conversation — typically half a day — to understand your idea, the problem it solves, who it is for, and what "done" looks like. We define a realistic MVP scope: the smallest version of the product that delivers genuine value and can be demonstrated to real users.
Deliverable: written scope, tech stack recommendation, timeline and cost estimate.
2 Build
Rapid, iterative development using modern stacks — Node.js, Flutter, React, Python. You receive frequent updates and can see the product evolving in real time. No big-bang deliveries, no surprises.
Deliverable: working application, source code, basic documentation.
3 Deploy
The product is deployed to a production environment — cloud-hosted, properly configured, with a domain, SSL and basic monitoring in place. You end the engagement with something live that real people can use, not a local demo that lives on a developer's laptop.
Deliverable: live deployed application, hosting handover, post-launch support options.
Real examples
The in-house products below were all built using the same approach — each taken from initial concept to a live, deployed product. They serve as working demonstrations of what is possible and at what speed.
lothringer.co.uk
Bilingual consultancy website — Node.js, Express, Azure, reCAPTCHA, AdSense. Built and deployed in days.
Let's Split It
Group expense splitting SaaS — full user auth, JWT, SQLite, greedy settlement algorithm. Live at letssplititapp.com.
Adages
Full-stack web and mobile app — REST API, role-based auth, cross-platform mobile client. Concept to live in weeks.
List Manager
Native Android app — Flutter, SQLite, offline-first, typeahead suggestions. Built for Google Play.
A worked example: Let's Split It
Here is how a typical Rapid Build engagement plays out — from the initial conversation to a live, deployed product.
Let's Split It — group expense splitting web application
Node.js · Express · SQLite · JWT · Bootstrap 5 · Azure · roughly three weeks from concept to live
The brief
The problem was familiar: after a group trip, working out who owes whom is either a spreadsheet, a messy message thread, or someone quietly getting short-changed. The ask was a web application that lets a group log expenses as they happen and calculates the cleanest settlement at the end — no app install required, accessible from any device.
The scoping conversation
In a half-day scoping session, two things became clear quickly. First, the naive approach to debt calculation — having everyone pay everyone else directly — produces far too many transactions for any group larger than three. We identified and scoped a greedy settlement algorithm upfront: rather than the full n×(n-1)/2 pairwise payments, the algorithm always pairs the largest creditor with the largest debtor until all balances reach zero, minimising total transaction count. This was a deliberate technical decision made in the scoping conversation, not during the build.
Second, not everyone in a group would want to create an account. The app needed to support named guest companions alongside registered users — a scope addition that made the product genuinely usable for real trips rather than only for tech-comfortable participants willing to sign up.
The build
Development ran for just over three weeks. The backend is Node.js and Express with SQLite and JWT authentication; the frontend is a server-rendered Bootstrap 5 interface — no separate SPA, which kept complexity manageable and performance fast. Email invitations were added in week two after testing revealed that manually sharing a link was the real friction point in the invite flow. An admin dashboard for trip oversight and user management came at the end of week three, once the core functionality was stable and tested.
The outcome
The application is live at letssplititapp.com and has been used on real group trips. The codebase is around 3,000 lines of production-quality JavaScript, fully documented, with a clear architecture that a development team could pick up and extend without a lengthy handover. Total elapsed time from first conversation to live deployment: three weeks.
Engagement models
Rapid Build engagements are scoped and priced per project rather than on a day rate, so you know exactly what you are getting and what it will cost before work begins. Typical engagements run from two to six weeks depending on scope.
- MVP Sprint — a tightly scoped prototype or proof of concept, typically two weeks. Ideal for validating an idea before committing to a full build.
- Full Rapid Build — a complete, production-ready product built and deployed end-to-end. Typically four to six weeks for a well-scoped web or mobile application.
- Prototype + Handover — we build the MVP and then hand over to your internal team with documentation, architecture notes and a structured knowledge transfer session.
- Ongoing iteration — post-launch feature development on a rolling monthly basis, with a fixed scope agreed at the start of each month.
All engagements include a free scoping conversation. No obligation to proceed.
Got an idea? Let's scope it.
Tell us what you want to build. We will tell you how long it will take and what it will cost — no sales pitch, no vague estimates.
Start the Conversation