A new front door.
A working assistant.
A decided architecture.
Six weeks to new business email, a rebuilt website with structured quote intake and a private AI pilot — plus the written architecture finding that decides what comes next.
Prepared by Steadfast Consulting · joel@wearesteadfast.ca · wearesteadfast.ca
Human-led. AI-operated.
The tools are fine.
The handling between them isn't.
Battista has run on capable software since long before this conversation. STACK does takeoffs. PropertyIntel measures. Word assembles the estimate. Sage 50 carries the ledger. Each does its own job well — and the same customer and job information is handled, turned into a document, re-entered and carried between them by a person.
How a job moves today
- An enquiry lands in an inbox — and its details live in that thread until someone moves them.
- Measurement happens in STACK or PropertyIntel — then the numbers are carried across by hand.
- The estimate is assembled in Word — a document, not data anything else can read.
- The invoice is typed into Sage 50 — the same job, entered a third or fourth time.
What the re-handling costs
- Status is hard to see — answering "where does that quote stand" means opening four systems.
- Follow-up slows — an estimate sitting unanswered looks identical to one that's already won.
- Every handoff can drop a detail — the address, the scope, the plan set, the revision.
- Automation has nothing to grip — you cannot automate a Word file or a retyped number.
So this engagement does not begin by adding another database. Steadfast will not introduce a permanent CRM, an accounting bridge or a new platform until the existing Aspire, PropertyIntel, STACK and Sage licences and the desired future workflow have been validated. The objective is the fewest practical systems of record — then connect and automate them.
One path from
enquiry to invoice.
EnquiryThe website creates a structured record: contact, address, service, surface type, size, timing, photos and plan sets.
MeasureThe takeoff stays in STACK or PropertyIntel. The record carries the result forward — not a person.
EstimateA structured digital estimate replaces the Word document. The estimator still sets and approves the price.
WonThe approved job carries its own reference, files and history into production.
InvoicePrepared from what was already approved upstream, and released by a person.
What the customer sees
A site that looks like the company that actually shows up, and a quote request that asks the right questions the first time — so the second conversation is about the work, not the address.
What the office manages
One list of live jobs with an owner, a stage and a next action — reachable from a phone, without opening four systems to answer one question.
Which platform holds the estimate, and which holds the ledger, is the decision Phase 1 answers — not an assumption this proposal makes on Battista's behalf.
Six weeks.
Four deliverables.
- Business email on Google Workspace — mailboxes, aliases and shared addresses inventoried; mail, contacts and calendars migrated; SPF, DKIM and DMARC configured so outbound mail is trusted; phones set up with two-factor; shared drives structured for company, estimating, jobs and admin.
- The website and quote intake — the chosen direction built out, conversion copy rewritten from Battista's own material, separate commercial and residential paths, SEO foundations, analytics and pixel tracking, domain, SSL and launch.
- Systems architecture and technical validation — the actual Aspire, PropertyIntel, STACK and Sage licences confirmed, the accounting decision assessed with Battista's bookkeeper, and a written finding recording what to build, what's conditional, what's blocked and what should not be built.
- Automation foundation and a private AI pilot — website enquiries captured as structured records, inbox triage, replies drafted for a named approver, plan sets filed against the job, and a daily brief. Nothing sends itself.
- Training, written handover, and thirty days of tuning in live use after go-live.
Why architecture sits inside Phase 1
Battista already pays for Aspire, PropertyIntel and STACK. Before we recommend a CRM or build an accounting bridge, we confirm what those licences already do. The cheapest system is usually the one you are already paying for.
Why email comes first
The assistant reads and drafts from the company's own mail. Until that sits on a modern platform nothing can be built on top of it — and it is the change staff feel in week one.
Phase 2 — the full lead-to-cash automation and the Battista AI Operations Agent — is quoted at fixed scope from the Phase 1 finding, not guessed at now.
Five decisions, before
a dollar of it is built.
Phase 1 produces a written architecture finding. Until it lands, Steadfast does not commit Battista to a new CRM, an accounting migration or a custom bridge.
| Decision | What Phase 1 has to answer |
|---|---|
| Operational system of record | Does Battista have the full Aspire business-management platform, or mainly PropertyIntel measurement? If Aspire already covers CRM, estimating, jobs and invoicing, we configure and connect it rather than duplicate it. If it doesn't, we recommend an appropriate cloud platform. |
| Accounting | Does Sage 50 Desktop stay, or is there a business case to move to cloud accounting? Assessed with Battista's bookkeeper or accountant, not by us alone. A custom Sage bridge is only proposed if keeping Sage is the better business decision. |
| Estimating | How STACK and PropertyIntel outputs reach a structured estimate without manual re-keying — using whichever APIs, exports or approved workflow methods actually exist at Battista's plan level. |
| Data ownership | Which system owns the customer, the property, the opportunity, the estimate, the job and the accounting record — so duplicate masters are never created. |
| AI access | What the assistant may read, what it may prepare, and which actions require a named human approval before they happen. |
The finding records what is recommended, what is conditional, what is blocked and what should not be built at all. Phase 2 is then quoted at fixed scope against it.
Three directions.
One recommendation.
All three are built and clickable, in Battista's own colours and using Battista's photography. Same brand — three ways of carrying it. One is built out as the live site.
Site Lines
Motion-led and photography-first. A scrolling gallery that opens full screen, and the quote request built into the page.
Does both jobs at once — shows the work, then captures the enquiry properly without a phone call.
Open ↗ 02Built Ground
Heritage-industrial. The 1953 story told in chapters, with full-bleed job photography and a timeline through the work.
The strongest choice if the goal is to look like the most established paver in the room.
Open ↗ 03Street Standard
A field journal. Oversized project plates and a draggable before-and-after that shows the surface change.
The most expressive — best if residential work is the growth priority.
Open ↗Whichever is chosen is built out with reworked page structure and conversion copy, separate commercial and residential enquiry paths, on-page SEO, analytics and conversion tracking. Concepts use Battista's public photography; final imagery and project claims are confirmed before publication. Changing direction after the build has begun is quoted as new work.
It works the inbox,
not the business.
Tuesday, 6:40am. A property manager emails about a lot that needs resurfacing before the season. By the time the office opens, the enquiry already exists as a record, the address is confirmed, the plan set is filed against it, and a reply is drafted and waiting for someone to press send.
- It never sends without approval — every outbound message is a draft until a person releases it.
- It never sets a price — it assembles what the estimator needs and stops there.
- It never commits a date — scheduling proposals go to a person.
- It never posts to accounting — invoices are prepared, then approved by hand.
- It escalates anything unclear — to a named person, not into a queue nobody reads.
Three levels of permission
Read / analyse — retrieve approved information, search, summarise and report.
Prepare — draft a reply, an estimate description, a project summary or an invoice step for a named human to review.
Execute — carry out an approved action, only where Battista has explicitly authorised that action in writing and the underlying system supports it safely.
Reached from a phone. Starts on Telegram — free, immediate and secure, limited to Battista's own approved user list. Material actions are audit-logged where the underlying systems support it.
Sage 50 is a desktop ledger.
The question is whether it stays.
What desktop actually costs
Sage 50 Canadian is a desktop product. Zapier, Make and similar services connect only to Sage's cloud accounting line — not to this. Anyone promising a quick connector is describing different software.
Writing directly into the Sage database is also off the table. It risks the ledger and voids Sage's support. That constraint is real, and it limits how far cloud-native automation can reach.
So it's a business decision, not a technical one
Phase 1 assesses the case for moving to a cloud accounting platform — QuickBooks Online or comparable — with Battista's bookkeeper or accountant in the room, not decided by us alone.
If keeping Sage is the better answer for the business, we scope the safest supported handoff into it from the operational system, and quote that separately.
No custom accounting bridge is built and no migration is started until that decision is made. Any migration requires Battista's accounting representative to validate balances, tax settings, open items and cutover. Steadfast does not provide accounting advice, and will not write directly to the Sage database.
What the foundation unlocks.
Quoted at fixed scope from the Phase 1 architecture finding, and started only on Battista's approval. Accepting this proposal does not commit Battista to it.
Lead → opportunityIntake, qualification, ownership, missing-information requests and next-action creation.
Opportunity → estimateMeasurement and takeoff routing, estimate preparation tasks, internal approval.
Estimate → won / lostFollow-up reminders, response routing, accepted-quote handoff, lost-reason capture.
Won → productionProject folder, document filing, tasks, operations notification, scheduling handoff.
Completion → paidBilling preparation, approval, accounting sync, receivables visibility and approved follow-up.
The Battista AI Operations Agent
A secured private interface for authorised Battista users, connected to approved parts of Google Workspace, the operational platform, STACK, PropertyIntel and accounting data where vendor access permits. Natural-language lookup of jobs, customers, estimates, email, documents and receivables. Drafts communications for approval, prepares management briefs and follow-up lists, and triggers approved automations within its permission level. Daily and weekly management summaries of new leads, outstanding estimates, stalled opportunities and receivables.
And what stays out
- Buying the platforms — any new CRM, ERP, accounting or field-service licence is paid by Battista.
- Automatic takeoffs from AI — plan-drawing interpretation and quantity verification stay with the estimator and the tools built for it.
- Autonomous commitments — pricing, schedule dates, consequential customer messages and unreviewed accounting entries.
- Brand work, photography, long-form SEO, a customer portal or a custom dashboard.
- Hardware, device management, network remediation, and legal, tax or accounting advice.
Six weeks to Phase 1 live.
Assumes a signed Statement of Work and deposit received, with Battista materials supplied as set out in the Client Responsibilities. The schedule below applies to Phase 1 and Phase 2. Dates are established when their scopes are approved, and a more detailed workback schedule will be provided.
| Stage | Activity | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Kickoff | Materials supplied; kickoff session held; workflow map started | Week 1 |
| Google Workspace migration, authentication, shared drives; cutover outside working hours | Week 1 | |
| Website | Website, conversion copy and structured quote intake built | Weeks 2–3 |
| Architecture | Systems validation, architecture finding and baseline measured | Week 4 |
| Pilot | AI / automation pilot configured privately; drafts and read-only workflows | Weeks 4–5 |
| Launch | Phase 1 launch, training, written handover and Phase 2 / 3 proposal | Week 6 |
| Tuning | Thirty days of adjustment in live use; later phases may begin by separate approval | Weeks 7–10 |
Delays in client-supplied materials or third-party access move the launch date accordingly. Steadfast will flag any slippage in writing at the time it occurs.
Phase 1, priced in full.
Phase 2 only once it's decided.
| Phase 1 | What it covers | Investment |
|---|---|---|
| Website and intake with Google Workspace migration | Selected direction built, revised conversion copy, structured quote intake, SEO and tracking. Google Workspace migration, authentication, shared drives, devices and training. | $1,500 |
| Architecture and automation foundation | Systems architecture, technical validation, the written finding, intake automation and the private AI pilot. | $6,525 |
| Subtotal | $8,025 | |
| Founding-client credit (30% discount) | −$2,525 | |
| Total Investment | 50% on signature · 25% on Phase 1 delivery · 25% on Phase 2 delivery | $5,617.50 |
Quote valid until 17 October 2026. Three rounds of revision are included on the website and on assistant configuration — a round being one consolidated set of feedback from the named approver. Further revisions and out-of-scope work are $85/hour, or quoted as a fixed change approved in writing first. Phase 2 is quoted at fixed scope from the Phase 1 architecture finding.
Paid directly by Battista: Google Workspace licences, any Aspire, PropertyIntel or STACK plan change, domain, hosting and any Phase 2 platform subscription. All amounts CAD, exclusive of applicable taxes. Pricing here is confidential.
The founding-client credit
Battista is the first paving contractor for whom Steadfast is applying this model — 30% off an already discounted introductory price, in exchange for the following after go-live:
- Permission to publish the work as a case study, using the Battista name and logo.
- A short recorded testimonial from the owner or an approved representative.
- A reference call for up to two prospective Steadfast clients.
- Two introductions to other contractors, where possible.
Applied on signature and conditional on the above. Customer names and financial detail are never published without Battista's prior written approval.
Three things,
then we start.
Nothing here changes how the work gets done — only how it gets carried, and what it gets carried into.
Pick a directionSite Lines, Built Ground or Street Standard.
Sign the Statement of WorkScope, schedule and price, finalized and issued alongside this deck.
KickoffMaterials within five business days, the 90-minute session, week one begins.
Joel Vitorino · joel@wearesteadfast.ca · wearesteadfast.ca
Prepared for Battista Paving · September 2026 · Confidential — not for distribution
Contents
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