Checklist
Agency or vendor handover checklist
Use this when you move work from a previous agency or developer, whether to us or anyone else. Tick items off as you go; nothing here is a download.
4 sections, 16 items
For growing businesses
A senior team for the roadmap your staff can't get to
You have a product, a website and customers, and a backlog that keeps growing. We add design and engineering capacity on a monthly plan, working inside your tools and alongside your staff.
Where growing teams get stuck
Usually the problem isn't ideas. It's that the people who could build them are busy keeping the lights on.
- The backlog only grows
- Your developers spend their week on support and fixes, so planned features slip quarter after quarter.
- A website marketing can't edit
- Every new landing page or blog post waits on a developer, and the site falls behind the business.
- One person holds all the knowledge
- A single developer or former agency knows how everything works, and nothing is written down.
- Hiring takes months
- Recruiting a senior engineer and designer is slow and expensive, and the work can't wait.
Typical challenges in detail
How each of these problems usually shows up, and what we change in response.
ChallengeWhat it looks likeWhat we do about it
- The backlog only grows
- What it looks likePlanned features slip every quarter because your developers spend most of the week on support, fixes and keeping integrations running.
- What we do about itWe take a defined slice of the roadmap, such as a feature area, the mobile app or maintenance, so your team's priorities stay intact and nothing is half-owned by two groups.
- A website marketing can't edit
- What it looks likeNew landing pages, job posts and announcements wait on a developer, and the site drifts away from how the business actually sells.
- What we do about itWe rebuild or move the site onto Papel Sites with a section library, so marketing publishes pages and posts themselves, with approvals where you want them.
- One person holds all the knowledge
- What it looks likeOne developer or a former agency knows how deploys, integrations and the database work. Vacations and resignations become business risks.
- What we do about itRunbooks, architecture notes and an access inventory are written in the first ten weeks and kept current, so knowledge lives in your repositories rather than in one person.
- Hiring takes months
- What it looks likeRecruiting a senior engineer and a product designer takes a quarter or more, and the roadmap can't wait that long.
- What we do about itSenior capacity starts within the first week of onboarding, and the plan can move up or down month to month as your own hiring catches up.
Your first 90 days
Joining an existing business takes care. This is how the first three months usually go.
- 01
Weeks 1 to 2
Onboarding and review
We get access to your repositories, tools and infrastructure, review the codebase and website, and agree on how we'll work with your staff.
- 02
Weeks 3 to 6
First releases
We start on a mix of quick wins and one meaningful feature, so your team sees results while we learn the system.
- 03
Weeks 6 to 10
Documentation and stability
Runbooks, architecture notes, monitoring and tests where they're missing, so knowledge isn't held by one person.
- 04
From week 10
Steady roadmap delivery
A regular weekly rhythm against your roadmap, with a demo call, written release notes and quarterly planning.
How plans map to stages
Most teams change plans as they go. This is the usual path; you can move up or down at the end of any billing period.
StageTypical planWhat's in scopeMove on when
Catching up on the backlog
Typical planGrowth
$790 per month
What's in scopeTwo requests in parallel with a named lead engineer and design support, starting with quick wins and one meaningful feature.
Move on whenThe backlog is under control and roadmap work dominates the queue.
Website and app together
Typical planGrowth
$790 per month
What's in scopeA website rebuild on Papel Sites running alongside product work, with Papel Cloud and Papel Monitor included.
Move on whenSeveral product areas need to move at the same time.
Roadmap at pace
Typical planScale
$1,490 per month
What's in scopeFour parallel requests, AI integration, an uptime SLA and a quarterly architecture and cost review.
Move on whenYour in-house team grows enough to own more of the roadmap.
Bringing work in-house
Typical planStarter
$390 per month
What's in scopeA single slot for maintenance and handover support while your new hires take ownership.
Move on whenHandover is complete; cancel, or keep Starter as a backstop.
Illustrative example, not a client case study
Example engagement
A distributor with a small IT team adds design and engineering capacity
Imagine a regional distributor whose two-person IT team runs the ERP, the network and a customer ordering portal. Portal improvements have waited for a year, and the marketing site hasn't changed since it launched.
Weeks 1 to 2
Onboard into their tools
We join their GitHub, Jira and Slack through accounts they create, review the portal code and agree which requests the IT team will approve.
Weeks 3 to 6
Quick wins and one feature
A handful of long-requested fixes ship alongside reorder-from-history, the feature customers ask the sales team about most.
Weeks 6 to 10
Write it down
Runbooks for deploys and the ERP sync, monitoring on the portal and tests around order submission are added.
From week 10
Website in parallel
The marketing site is rebuilt on Papel Sites while portal work continues in the second request slot.
Where it ends up
The IT team focuses on the ERP and internal systems, portal improvements ship every week, documentation no longer depends on one person, and marketing publishes on the new site themselves.
Websites are part of the work
For many growing businesses, the company website is as important as the app. We design and build business websites under the same development plan, then run them on Papel Sites, where your team edits pages, the blog, forms and SEO, with a Claude writing assistant for drafts and translations.
How we fit in with your staff
We work as an extension of your team, not a separate vendor you have to manage.
Your tools
We work in your GitHub, Jira or Linear, Slack and Figma. No separate portal to learn.
Shared code review
Your developers can review our pull requests, and we'll review theirs if you want a second opinion.
A website your team can edit
We rebuild or move your marketing site onto Papel Sites, so marketing publishes pages and posts without waiting on developers.
Clear ownership of requests
Every request has an owner on our side and an approver on yours, so nothing falls between the teams.
Written handover at any time
Documentation stays current, so you can bring work in-house whenever you're ready.
Recommended plans
All work is delivered under a monthly development subscription. These plans suit most teams in your position.
PlanWhy it fitsLink
Growth
$790 per month, best fit
Two requests in parallel, a named lead engineer with design support, and Papel Cloud and Monitor included.
Start with GrowthScale
$1,490 per month
Four parallel requests, AI integration, an uptime SLA and quarterly architecture and cost reviews.
Start with Scale
Common questions
Anything else, ask us on a call.
We already have developers. Why add you?
Most clients in this position use us for capacity and range: design, mobile, infrastructure or AI work their team doesn't have time or experience for. Your developers keep ownership of the core system, and we take on clearly defined requests.
Can you take over from our current agency?
Yes. We run a structured handover: access, documentation, a risk review and a plan for the first month. We'll ask your current agency for a short overlap if possible.
Can you rebuild our company website too?
Yes. Business websites are one of our services. We design and build the site under your development plan and launch it on Papel Sites, so your team can maintain it afterward.
How do you work with our developers day to day?
In the same repositories, tickets and channels. Each request has an owner on our side and an approver on yours, pull requests can be reviewed by either team, and the weekly call covers anything that crosses between them.
Can we change plan size as priorities shift?
Yes. You can move between plans as your needs change, for example up to Scale for a busy quarter and back down to Growth afterward.
What hours do you work?
Our support hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Releases, reviews and the weekly call are scheduled within them, and Scale plans add 24/7 response for critical incidents on hosted apps.
Services you'll likely use
All services
Business websites
Company and marketing websites your team can edit without a developer.
Web applications
Customer portals, dashboards and SaaS products built on Next.js and TypeScript.
Mobile apps
iOS and Android apps in React Native or native Swift and Kotlin.
Maintenance and support
Dependency upgrades, bug fixes and on-call coverage for live apps.
Looking for something else?
Tell us what you're building.
A 30-minute call with an engineer, not a sales script. You'll leave with a scope, a plan recommendation and a start date.