App development plan example: a booking app for a mobile dog groomer

What is a Technical plan?

A Technical plan is the written app development plan Well Coded Solutions delivers before any code gets written. It says what to build, what it costs and in what order. It costs $1,500, fixed, and comes off the build if we build it. If you’re looking for an app planning document or a software project plan sample, this page shows every part of ours, filled in for a made-up business called Sagebrush Suds.

Sagebrush Suds is a mobile dog groomer in Las Vegas with two vans. Customers book by phone and text today. The owner wants an app for booking, reminders and repeat customers.

What does Sagebrush Suds need the app to do?

The Sagebrush Suds app needs to let customers book a groom without a phone call, remind them before the van arrives, and make the next booking take a few taps. Today, booking by phone and text takes the owner’s time every day, missed visits leave gaps in the vans’ schedules, and regulars have to ask each time to rebook.

The plan sets three ways to tell whether the first version worked, three months after launch:

• Most bookings come through the app, not by phone or text.
• Fewer missed visits, because every customer gets a reminder the day before.
• More customers book their next groom before the van leaves.

Who will use the Sagebrush Suds app?

Three kinds of people use the Sagebrush Suds app, and each needs different things from it.

Who	What they need to do
Customers	Book a groom at their address, save their dogs’ details, get reminders, rebook in a few taps
Groomers	See the day’s visits in order, with each address and each dog’s notes, and mark a visit done
The owner	Set services, prices and working hours, see every booking, and block off days

Which features go in the first version?

The first version of the Sagebrush Suds app has five features: booking, reminders, dog profiles, the groomers’ day view and quick rebooking. Every feature in a Technical plan is ranked by value, so the first version holds only what the app needs to do its main job. The rest waits until real customers are using it.

Must-have for version 1

Feature	Why it’s in version 1
Book a groom: pick a service, a dog, an address and a time	The app’s main job. It replaces the phone calls and texts.
Reminders the day before and when the van is on its way	A reminder the day before is the simplest fix for missed visits.
Customer accounts with dog profiles: size, coat, temperament, notes	Groomers arrive ready, and customers don’t repeat themselves.
The groomers’ day view, one list per van	Groomers need their visits, addresses and notes in one place.
Rebook in a few taps after a visit	Repeat customers are what the business runs on.

Next, once version 1 is in use

Feature	Why it waits
Pay in the app, with a card on file	Customers pay at the van today, and that works. Paying in the app adds fees and work, so it waits until booking works.
Deposits for new customers	A deposit cuts no-shows further, but only matters if reminders alone don’t.
Before-and-after photos sent to the customer	Customers like them, but the app works without them.

Later

Feature	Why it’s later
A reward for regular customers	Worth building once there’s data on who comes back.
Gift cards	Useful around the holidays. Not needed to take a booking.
A waitlist for cancelled slots	Only matters once the schedule is full.

What will the Sagebrush Suds app be built with?

The Sagebrush Suds app is built with React Native and Expo. One codebase runs on iPhone, Android and the web, so the business doesn’t pay to build the same app three times. Customers download it from the App Store or Google Play, or book on the web without installing anything. Groomers use the same app, signed in as staff.

The parts behind the app:

• Where bookings and accounts are stored: Supabase, a hosted database with customer sign-in built in.
• Reminders in the app: Expo push notifications, which come with Expo and cost nothing to send.
• Reminders by text: Twilio, for customers who book on the web and don’t have the app.
• Payments, when they’re added after version 1: Stripe. A groom is a service done in person, so customers pay by card through Stripe, not through Apple’s or Google’s in-app purchases.

What will the Sagebrush Suds app cost to build and run?

The first version of the Sagebrush Suds app is estimated at $9,000 to $12,000 to build. Well Coded builds start from $4,500, and booking, accounts, reminders and a staff view put this app above that. The fixed quote comes from the plan, so the owner knows the price before any code gets written. The $1,500 for the plan comes off the build.

Running the app has its own costs:

Running cost	Price	Paid to
Apple Developer Program, for the App Store	$99 a year	Apple
Google Play developer account	$25, once	Google
Full care: updates, monitoring, small changes the same week	From $250 a month	Well Coded
Database and customer sign-in	$25 a month	Supabase
Reminders in the app	Free	Expo
Reminders by text	About $10 to $30 a month, depending on how many texts go out	Twilio
Card payments, once they’re added	2.9% plus 30 cents a payment	Stripe

Prices for Apple, Google, Supabase, Expo, Twilio and Stripe were checked in October 2026, and they can change.

In what order will the app be built, and how long will it take?

The Sagebrush Suds app takes about 14 weeks from the first call to launch: two weeks for the plan, ten weeks of design and build, and two weeks of testing and app store review.

When	What happens
Weeks 1–2	The free call, then the Technical plan and a fixed quote
Weeks 3–6	Design, with a preview to click through every week. Booking and dog profiles come first.
Weeks 7–12	Build: reminders, the groomers’ day view and rebooking, still with weekly previews
Weeks 13–14	Testing on iPhone, Android and the web, then App Store and Google Play submission, managed for you

Booking comes first because every other feature depends on it. Features from the “next” list are planned and priced after launch, once the first version is in use.

What happens after the plan?

A Technical plan is yours to keep, whoever builds the app. If Well Coded Solutions builds it, the $1,500 comes off the build, and the fixed quote comes from the plan. If you take it to another developer, they get the same features, stack and order of work to quote against.

Every real plan is written for your business after a free first call. See what’s in an app development plan and what it costs, or tell us about your idea.