Database Creation

Dear readers

I am looking for someone to create a database for my business. I am not sure which the ideal database system would be so I am open to suggestions.

We are a service business so we don’t sell products. We provide services to our clients. They book as to do jobs.

There is certain information about each job that we need to keep mainly in order to invoice the client. However, we also need to keep information for future queries. While providing our services, we will normally pay for fees (reimbursable expenses/disbursements) on behalf of our clients. We need to keep track of these fees so that we can recover them from our clients.

We want to be able to enter all data relating to a job while we are doing the job. This means that we might not have a laptop with us. We want to be able to access the database (enter, modify and search for information) using a smart phone or a tablet like the iPad. There will be around 3 users accessing the database.

Ideally we would also be able to send emails to the clients directly from the database. For example, if we are dealing with a job for Mr X, once we complete the job we would send Mr X an email telling him that the job has been completed successfully – the email could have a standard subject or body text so that we wouldn’t need to manually write each email. Of course the information have to be editable so that we can alter it if the standard text is not relevant. We would also have the option to send the invoice as an attachment at the same time.

Some of the fields in the database will have data automatically entered based on values entered into previous fields. For example, fees will be calculated automatically depending on certain job data.

I think the best way of accessing the DB would be through a browser, but I’m open to suggestions. Maybe a smartphone/tablet application?

I would like you to quote per hour or per day, and give me a rough estimate of the amount of time you reckon you would spend on this job. However, more important than your rate is your experience, so please let me know of your experience with this type of work. Real and specific examples of past work/projects will definitely count, but please be specific about your participation in the project.

Ideally you would be based in or near London so that we could meet in person. In our meeting I will explain my requirements in detail. You will then put everything in writing (our service agreement) detailing precisely the work to be done, how much time it will take and your fee. I will pay you via PPH.

If you are not local or cannot travel, we can do the above on the phone/Skype, but I need to be certain that before you start working you know precisely what the requirements are (what the DB is supposed to do) and you will need to put this in writing.

I am looking to establish a long-term business relationship with you. You will need to be accessible and available for queries once the project is ‘finished’ as I am pretty sure the database will need tweaking, expanding, maintenance etc.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks