One build. Fixed scope, fixed price, four to eight weeks.

Let us solve your most pressing problem,
specified in writing before we start.

Book a brainstorm Start with a 15-minute chat

stoa / first-build

Price: $7,500 fixed
Time: 4 to 8 weeks
Payments: 3 × $2,500
Spec: In writing, first

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What you get

Four things, all of them yours.

Your information, where you can use it
We copy your customers, jobs and invoices into a database you fully own. It updates itself every day. Your software keeps working as it does today.
A safe place for it to run
We set up a server, secure it, and put your systems on your own web addresses. We document how it works. You own it.
The one thing you told us was missing
We ask what you have tried to make your software do and could not. We build that. One thing, in production, used by your staff.
Your team, able to run it
You get written instructions and a training session with the people who use it every day. You do not need us to operate it.

What a First Build can be

One capability. Here are four among the many we could build.

Pick the one thing your software refuses to do. That is the build.

Example 1 · Reports
Reports your team pulls themselves, instead of waiting on one person.
Example 2 · Check-in
A tablet check-in that captures pricing and add-ons at the counter.
Example 3 · Invoicing
Every finished job becomes a correct draft invoice, so work that was done never goes unbilled.
Example 4 · Field tool
A tool that runs on a tablet in the field, built the way your business works.

How you pay

Three payments, each tied to something you can see.

01
On signature
$2,500
Covers the server and the connection.
02
At demo
$2,500
The capability, fully working.
03
At handover
$2,500
Instructions and training.

If we can't connect

Some systems will not connect cleanly, and that cannot always be known in advance. A system may need a vendor-specific connector, a support ticket with whoever hosts it, or browser automation for fields the vendor does not expose. If the connection cannot be made, we stop after the first stage and nothing further is owed.

How it works

From one call to a system your staff use.

01
A 45-minute brainstorm.
Free. We look at your systems together and see what we could improve. You tell us what your software won't do. We find out what it costs you today and how your data can be reached. No price on the call.
02
A written spec within 48 hours.
Numbered outcomes, what is out of scope, which systems get touched, the timeline and the price.
03
You sign. We measure first.
Before we build anything, we measure where you are today. You sign off on those numbers.
04
We build.
Weeks 1 to 2: the connection and the server. Weeks 3 to 5: the capability. Weeks 6 to 8: handover, instructions and training.
05
We test every outcome on your real data.
One at a time, at handover. If one does not pass, we keep working at no extra charge until it does.

Illustration of two people mapping a workflow on a table — Scoped together, in writing

The spec comes first

You get the spec before you get a price.

We don't quote prices in meetings. You get a written spec with the price, in the same ten sections every client gets. Here is a sample.

Written spec · Sample

Finished jobs become draft invoices

Price valid 30 days

1. What you told us

The system everything depends on: QuickBooks Online, plus a project tracker for jobs.

What it won't do: "QuickBooks can’t see when a job is finished in the other tool. Invoices go out late and extra work gets missed."

What that costs today: measured in section 6.

2. What we will build

Every finished job becomes a correct draft invoice in QuickBooks, built from the work that was recorded.

3. Outcomes, tested on your data at handover

When a job is marked complete in the project tracker, a draft invoice exists in QuickBooks within one business day, with lines taken from the recorded work, not from memory.
Time or items that were done but never billed are listed before the invoice is sent, not found at year end.
Work that was not on the original quote is not invoiced until it is agreed in writing.
Monday morning, a one-page list of who owes what is in the owner's inbox. The owner does not open QuickBooks to get it.

4. Out of scope

QuickBooks reminders, aging reports and payment recording. QuickBooks already does these.
Replacing QuickBooks
Collections past 45 days (handed to the owner)
Cleaning up invoices from before the go-live date
A second capability
Running it afterwards (that is ongoing support)

5. Systems touched

Project tracker: read only, via its API
QuickBooks Online: written to, draft invoices only
Email: the Monday list

We do not change how QuickBooks or the tracker work.

6. Baseline, measured before work starts

Days to collection: [current value]
Hours a week chasing invoices, and by whom: [current value]
Invoices a month: [current value]
Open receivables: [current value]

You sign off on these numbers before we build.

7. Timeline

Week 1 to 2: connection and server
Week 3 to 5: the capability
Week 6 to 8: handover, instructions, training

8. Price

$7,500 fixed.

On signature: $2,500
At demo: $2,500
At handover: $2,500

9. If we cannot connect

Some systems will not connect cleanly and this cannot always be known in advance. If the connection cannot be made, the engagement stops after stage one and nothing further is owed.

10. Acceptance

Every outcome in section 3 is tested one at a time on your real data at handover. If one does not pass, we keep working at no additional charge until it does.

Ongoing support

When it's done, your team runs it. If you want us to keep it running and keep building, that is $3,500 a month. It is a separate decision, made after handover.

How ongoing support works

Fractional CTO

Need a technology lead without a build? That is Fractional CTO.

How Fractional CTO works

Next step

Bring the thing your software won't do.

You get a written spec and a price within 48 hours.

Book a 45-minute brainstorm Not sure yet? Book a 15-minute chat.

One build. Fixed scope, fixed price, four to eight weeks.

Four things, all of them yours.

Your information, where you can use it

A safe place for it to run

The one thing you told us was missing

Your team, able to run it

One capability. Here are four among the many we could build.

Three payments, each tied to something you can see.

On signature

At demo

At handover