ESMA
Network
An FMCG trade network founded in 1976. We built ESMA one custom platform: public site, member directory, member dashboard and iOS and Android apps, with one back office behind all of it.
Bespoke systems that
replace the manual work.
Loco Digital designs and builds custom software in Dublin for ambitious businesses across Ireland, from the first consult to a system running in production. Dashboards, internal tools and systems built around how your business runs, replacing spreadsheets, hand-offs and duct-taped processes with software you own.
The problem
Off-the-shelf makes you fit it.
Ours fits you.
As the business grows, spreadsheets, hand-offs and rented tools stop fitting how you work. You bend your process around the software, pay per seat forever, and still can’t get the one report or workflow you need.
What we build
Software that fits
how you work.
Where bespoke software earns its keep: the manual, fragile, repetitive work. A smaller job may only need business process automation or CRM integration; for a full build, read about custom software development in Ireland.
How we work
Consult. Design. Build.
We work from The Digital Hub in Dublin 8 with companies across Ireland, mostly remotely, with a few sessions in person.
01
Consult
We find where the work pays back: scoped, costed and honest about trade-offs.
02
Design
The system and the experience, around how your business works. You see it before it’s built.
03
Build
Engineered and shipped, led by one senior team. Working software in production, and you own the code.
Recent work
Custom software we have built, live and in use.
ESMA
ERP
HEADtoHEAD
The ERP HEADtoHEAD event site for Lumenia Consulting, rebuilt with a booking and payments engine on WooCommerce and Stripe set up to bill each event from its own company.
STIHL dealer
locators
Two dealer locators from one codebase for Origo, STIHL’s importer in Ireland and Northern Ireland: Eircode and postcode search, nearest first, no cookies and no framework.
IPAV
A custom Laravel membership platform for the Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers: a public member directory, a thirteen-step online application paid by Stripe, member accounts, and the rebuilt ipav.ie website.
FAQs
Custom software, answered.
What people ask us before a project like this starts.
What does an internal tool cost to build?
Custom software projects at Loco Digital start from €10,000 ex VAT, and the consult states the full figure before anything is built. That floor buys a dashboard or an internal tool built around a single workflow you already run. What moves the number is the count of workflows, the systems it has to talk to, and how much of the process the software owns.
How is this different from off-the-shelf software?
It is built around your process, and you own the code and the data. Off-the-shelf costs less to start but leaves your team working around its gaps: the spreadsheet beside the system, the re-keying, the report nobody can produce.
Should we build this or buy something off the shelf?
Buy it where the process is standard and a product already does it well. Build it where the process is the thing you compete on, where no product fits without heavy workarounds, or where licence costs grow faster than the work does. We will say which applies to you, including when the honest answer is to buy.
Will it integrate with what we already use?
Usually, and that is normally the point of the build. Custom software at Loco Digital connects to the systems you already run: CRMs, payment providers, accounting and booking systems, spreadsheets and internal tools, through documented APIs rather than manual re-keying. We confirm each integration is possible, and what the provider allows, before it is quoted rather than after. Two common jobs have pages of their own: CRM integration and accounting automation.
What if requirements change mid-build?
Requirements always change, so the build is structured to absorb it. We ship in working increments and show you real software as we go, which means priorities are visible early and the expensive decisions are made while they are still cheap. Anything that moves the scope materially is repriced in writing before it is built, so no invoice arrives unannounced.
Is the software ours to keep?
Yes, all of it, and the data. Where we host it for you, the repository and hosting transfer to you on request, and the documentation lets another developer pick the system up.
How do you handle security?
Security is designed in from the first architecture conversation rather than bolted on before launch. That means least-privilege access, sensible data handling and auditing from day one. Secrets stay out of the codebase and dependencies are kept current. Anything holding personal data is designed against your GDPR obligations, including what is stored, where it lives and how long it is kept.
Can you maintain it after launch?
Yes. A retainer from €2,000 a month covers development hours, priority fixes, hosting, monitoring and backups. It is optional: a project can end at launch, and you keep the code, the data and the documentation.
Funding
Know what a grant
will and will not cover.
The Local Enterprise Office Grow Digital Voucher pays 50% of eligible digital adoption costs, up to €5,000: off-the-shelf software subscriptions, their configuration and training. It does not cover bespoke website development or custom software, and you need a completed Digital for Business project first. We scope which parts of your project qualify before you spend a euro.
Let’s talk
Let’s replace
the manual work.
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