Question 1

What does Studio Phoenix do?

Accepted Answer

We design, build, and run software end to end - mobile apps, web platforms, and the internal systems a business runs on. We're also building automation for the land: remote livestock monitoring, native wildlife trackers, and a harvesting robot we're proving in simulation. Most of that's still in trials. One senior team takes a project from first idea to launch, and looks after it long after.

Question 2

Where are you based, and who do you work with?

Accepted Answer

We're a New Zealand team based in the Bay of Plenty, working with clients here and around the world. We're happy to travel to meet you in person - anywhere in New Zealand, and overseas when a project needs it. Every project is built in house by senior people - nothing offshored.

Question 3

Is Studio Phoenix Māori-owned?

Accepted Answer

Yes - we're 100% Māori-owned. Our founders whakapapa to iwi, and kaitiakitanga - caring for people and place for the long term - shapes how we work and who we build for.

Question 4

What kinds of organisations do you work with?

Accepted Answer

Companies, iwi, foundations, councils, and government, alongside community and member-based groups. What they have in common is that they answer to people, and being Māori-owned, kaitiakitanga shapes how we work: we look after the people and the place behind a project for the long term, not just the launch. There's more on our partnerships page.

Question 5

Why you and not a bigger agency?

Accepted Answer

Because you get the people who actually build it. We're a small senior team, so the person you talk to is the person writing the code. Decisions get made in one conversation instead of travelling through an account manager, and the work stays in house rather than going to a subcontractor or offshore. The trade-off is that we only take a selected amount of engagements a year and pick them on fit. If what you need sits outside what we do well, we'll tell you.

Question 6

How do engagements work, and what does it cost?

Accepted Answer

Every project starts with a straight conversation about the problem, whether that's over a coffee at a cafe or virtually. Once we've defined a clear scope we agree upon, we'll provide a quote. We don't quote off a price list - what it costs depends on what you actually need, and we're upfront about it before any work begins. From there we'll handle the rest. You can see how we work, step by step, on the about page.

Question 7

What does working with you look like, start to finish?

Accepted Answer

It runs in clear stages, the same way whether you're a large organisation or a small business. Scope: a sales lead, or co-founder Anna, sits down with you to understand the problem and shape an initial plan. Quote: once we agree on a viable solution, we tailor the right tool around it and quote it, so the scope and cost are clear before anything is built. Build: with that signed off, development begins and a dedicated product owner runs it day to day. Milestones: you get a working demo at each agreed milestone, so you can see progress and steer it. Delivery: we hand it over properly, with everything you need to run it. Support: the same team looks after it well past launch.

Question 8

How long does a project take?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the scope, and we'll give you a realistic timeline as part of the quote rather than a guess up front. A smaller tool can be a few weeks; a full platform takes longer. Either way the work is broken into milestones with a demo at each one, so progress is visible the whole way and there are no surprises at the end.

Question 9

What don't you do?

Accepted Answer

We don't stitch together third-party platforms and call it a solution. If the answer to your problem is configuring someone else's SaaS, you don't need us for that. What we do is build proprietary software - our own code, owned and understood by the team that wrote it - and integrate it with whatever you already run. So you get a system built around your business rather than your business reshaped around a product someone else designed.

Question 10

What support and SLAs do you offer once we're live?

Accepted Answer

Whatever the system needs. For business-critical platforms we set up a support agreement with agreed response times, uptime targets, and monitoring, so problems are caught and handled to a standard you can rely on. Lighter tools get lighter cover. We size the support to how critical the system is to you, and put the specifics in writing rather than leaving them vague.

Question 11

Do we own the code and the IP?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the agreement, and we set that out clearly before any work starts. For most bespoke client builds, you own the code and the intellectual property we create for you - yours to keep and build on, with no lock-in. Where a project extends one of our own products or reusable components, we keep those parts and license them to you instead. Either way, you'll know exactly what you own before you sign.

Question 12

Can you work with our existing systems?

Accepted Answer

Usually, yes. Most businesses already run on a mix of tools, and we build to fit alongside them - connecting to the systems and data you already use rather than forcing a rip-and-replace. If something genuinely needs replacing, we'll tell you, and why.

Question 13

Can I use your products directly, or do you only build custom?

Accepted Answer

Both. Some of what we make is our own and ready to use now - FlowSign, our document-signing platform, and our apps on the App Store and Google Play. The rest is custom: platforms and tools we build around how a particular business works. If you're not sure which fits your situation, talk to us.

Question 14

Do you offer white labelling?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We can build an app or platform that runs fully under your brand rather than ours - your name and design, on your own app-store listing or domain - so to your customers it's your product. It's a common setup for businesses that want a polished tool to put their name on without building one from the ground up.

Question 15

Can I use your apps as they are, or do you build them from scratch?

Accepted Answer

Both. The apps on the App Store and Google Play are ours and free to download today, so you can try one before you talk to us. If one of them is close to what you need, we can put your brand on it as a white label app. If it isn't, we build a custom app on the same foundations. Not sure which fits? Talk to us and we'll tell you straight.

Question 16

Whose App Store and Google Play accounts is the app published under?

Accepted Answer

Either ours or yours. Publishing under the Studio Phoenix developer accounts is the quickest route, and we handle the review process, releases, and updates from there. If you'd rather own the listings outright, we'll set the accounts up alongside you or hand you a step-by-step guide to do it yourself, then publish into your account and keep shipping updates the same way. Apps can usually be transferred between accounts later, so starting on ours doesn't lock you in.

Question 17

What kind of work do you do?

Accepted Answer

Three kinds of work. Web apps and platforms: the system a business runs on day to day, from a quarry management system and a health and safety tracker to map-based tooling, a project workspace and a sales CRM. Mobile apps: five of ours are live on the App Store and Google Play - Beep, Invoice Studio, Audit Base, Habit Spark and Luna - alongside apps we've built for clients under their own name. Labs: where we prove new ideas out, including our automation work for the land, which is still in trials. FlowSign, our document-signing platform, is our own product and the clearest example of what the web side can do.

Question 18

Do you build hardware and automation?

Accepted Answer

Yes - they sit together as one practice. Our agritech and conservation work (remote livestock health, wildlife tracking, kinetic-powered trackers) is fully scoped and heading toward field trials. The robotics side is earlier: we've built the AI vision and path planning for an orchard harvesting robot and proven them in 3D simulation. If you're a farmer, agritech team, or conservation group, it's a good time to talk.

Question 19

Where is our data hosted?

Accepted Answer

On secure, reputable cloud infrastructure, set up around your requirements. If you need your data to stay in New Zealand - for data sovereignty, sector rules, or your own policy - we can host it on NZ-based infrastructure. The hosting and region aren't fixed: we adapt them to what your organisation needs, and confirm the specifics for your project before anything goes live.

Question 20

Do you build to accessibility and compliance standards?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We build to recognised accessibility standards, with WCAG as the usual benchmark, so what we make works for people using screen readers, keyboard navigation, and other assistive tech. If your organisation or sector needs a specific conformance level, such as WCAG 2.2 AA, tell us up front and we'll build and test to it. On compliance, we work to the privacy and regulatory rules your sector operates under and confirm the specifics for your project.

Question 21

How do you handle security and data?

Accepted Answer

Security is built in from the start, not bolted on at the end. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, access is role-based and kept to least privilege, and we stay on top of dependency patches and backups. Each build is matched to the privacy and compliance rules your sector works under - for New Zealand that means aligning with the Privacy Act, with stricter standards layered on where your industry needs them. We're upfront about what we do and don't have: if your sector requires a specific certification, we'll tell you where we stand, and walk through exactly how your project would be secured.

Question 22

How do we get started, and how fast will you reply?

Accepted Answer

Send a message through the contact page, or email sales@studiophoenix.io. We reply within 48 hours. The first step is a straight conversation about the problem.

Common questions

About Studio Phoenix

What we build

Working with us

After launch & ownership

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