Workbook 1 · Printable PDF
Identify your biggest software roadblock.
Turn “our software is a mess” into a one-page problem brief you can hand to any vendor. This workbook walks you through the questions a good software firm would ask, so your next vendor conversation starts with clarity instead of hope.
$30 through December 31, 2026, then $50. Secure checkout by Stripe.
Each section builds on the last. A fictional company, Valley Supply, works through every exercise alongside you, so you can see what a good answer looks like before you write your own.
Section 1 · 15 to 20 minutes
Map the work that happens every day, where it gets stuck or repeated, and what it costs when it breaks. Then pull out your top three to five roadblocks.
Section 2 · 5 to 10 minutes
Three triage questions show where you lose the most money, burn the most hours, and make the most costly mistakes. You write that one obstacle down in a single paragraph.
Section 3 · 5 to 10 minutes
Learn the difference between “our reporting is a mess” and a description a vendor can act on, then estimate the cost in hours, dollars, and stress.
Section 4 · 5 to 10 minutes
Write down your budget, the systems that must stay, who has to approve, your timeline, and your deal-breakers, plus one sentence that says what better looks like in 30 to 90 days.
Section 5 · 5 minutes
Copy your answers onto a single page you can share with your team and hand to any vendor you talk to.
$30 launch price, then $50. PDF delivered instantly.
When a vendor skips discovery and jumps to a solution, they are guessing. When you can’t clearly explain the problem, you have no way to tell whether their guess is right.
The same information is retyped from one system into the next, and every copy is another chance for a mistake.
People ask each other over and over whether something changed, because no system can be trusted to say.
Numbers get assembled and cross-referenced by hand before anyone is willing to act on them.
The real process lives in someone’s head, so nobody can cover for them when they are out.
The workbook turns those frustrations into one clear page a vendor can act on.
The workbook is for business owners and the folks operating within their businesses who deal with the software every day, for anyone getting ready for a first conversation with a software vendor, and for anyone who would rather fix one problem well than try to fix everything at once.
Pilot West Studios builds custom software for established businesses. Our first conversation with an owner is about what is wrong, not what to build, and we often recommend options that do not involve hiring us. This workbook is that first conversation, written down, so you can have it before you talk to anyone, including us. To learn more about how we work, visit pilotweststudios.com.
Nothing ships. After you pay, you land on a page with a download button, and we email the same link to you from books@pilotweststudios.com so you can come back for it later. The link keeps working, so you can download the PDF again on a new phone or computer.
It is designed to print and fill in by hand, with lines for every answer. If you would rather not print, keep the PDF open and write your answers in a notebook or a document as you go.
Email books@pilotweststudios.com within 30 days of buying and we will refund you in full. You don’t need to explain why, though we’d love your feedback so we can improve it.
No. Every exercise asks about your business, not about software. If you can describe how an order moves through your company, you can finish this workbook.
No. The brief you finish belongs to you, and it works with any vendor. The workbook even helps you tell when your problem is a workflow problem that no software will fix.
Yes. Print copies for the people in your business, and share your finished brief with them so everyone agrees on the problem. We only ask that you don’t post the workbook publicly or resell it.
Check your spam folder for a message from books@pilotweststudios.com. If it isn’t there, email us from the address you used at checkout and we will send the link again.
In less time than a single sales call, you can name your biggest software problem, put a number on what it costs, and write it down on one page any vendor can act on.
