TOLEDO APPS — SELECTIVE CUSTOM BUSINESS SOFTWARE
Internal tools, client portals, reviewed document processing, and custom operational software — for teams whose existing tools cannot carry the job.
One problem, one approver, a named data boundary, and an acceptance test before a build is quoted. Completed proposal-defined deliverables transfer on final payment; support is a separate written scope.
DISCOVERY $3.5K–$15KBUILDS $15K–$750K+IP TERMS IN WRITING
02 — ILLUSTRATIVE OPERATION TRACE · NO CLIENT DATA
A dispatch team receives service requests in email and a spreadsheet. The bounded tool validates each request, prepares the next action, requires a named approval, and records exceptions instead of silently guessing.
Required account, address, due date, and source record are checked before the request enters the queue. Duplicate submissions resolve to one work item.
The tool applies the agreed service-area and scheduling rules, attaches the supporting record, and drafts a dispatch packet without sending it.
The named dispatcher reviews the packet and authorizes the customer-facing message and schedule update. Every write records who approved it and when.
A missing address, conflicting assignment, or unavailable destination moves to a review queue with the source preserved. Recovery is tested as part of acceptance.
03 — THE WORK
Not every problem wants the same software. We forge in four shapes — each with its own rhythm, scope, and price band, each quoted in writing before anything is built.
LANE 01 — INTERNAL TOOLS
Replaces the spreadsheet, the Notion table, the half-Airtable. Real validation, real audit logs, real exports — built around the actual workflow, not bent to whatever a no-code form allows.
$15K–$45K3–10 WEEKS
Read the laneLANE 02 — CLIENT PORTALS
A branded surface where your customers see their orders, files, invoices, requests, and status — without a phone call to you. Plugged into Stripe, your CRM, your ops database.
$45K–$90K10–16 WEEKS
Read the laneLANE 03 — CUSTOM APPS
Shaped to your operation, scaled to your traffic, structured for the next ten years. Modern stack, real source, cloud-portable — with deliverable ownership and reusable-component carve-outs defined before the build is signed.
$75K–$175K+4–8 MONTHS
Read the laneLANE 04 — SAAS, END-TO-END
Discovery, MVP, launch, growth — one senior team, one runway, one accountable build. Auth, billing, permissions, observability, audit: production from day one.
$60K–$750K+12 WEEKS – 18 MONTHS
Read the lane04 — THE SPECIFICATION
We don't compete with no-code, offshore agencies, or your future in-house team. The difference is what each path puts on paper before money moves — and what you hold when the engagement ends.
| Vector | No-code stack | Offshore agency | In-house hire | Freelancer | Toledo Apps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speed | Fast to start, slow to scale | Cheap, uncertain | 3–6 months to hire and ramp | Variable, often slow | Senior cadence from day one |
| Ownership | You rent the platform | Repo handed off, no context | Yours, by employment | Yours, usually | Proposal-defined deliverables transfer on final payment |
| Audit | "Export" if you're lucky | Build it yourself later | Depends on the hire | Rarely built in | Living Ledger by default |
| Who builds it | You, plus vendor templates | A team you'll never meet | Your hire, eventually | One person, no review | The principal designs and ships |
| All-in cost · year one | $10–60K plus per-user fees | $40–120K plus risk | $180–280K loaded | $60–200K | $15K–$750K+ · fixed band |
| What you keep | Per-user fees, locked in | A repo and unread docs | A hire and salary obligations | A repo, sometimes docs | Proposal-defined code · repo · deploy · runbook after final payment |
05 — COMMITMENTS
Non-negotiable, at every band, on every engagement. If these sound like upgrades, we're not your shop.
Architecture your team can deploy and audit. The signed agreement defines account control and deliverable ownership; completed proposal-defined deliverables transfer on final payment, while reusable methods, components, and internal tools remain Toledo property unless that agreement says otherwise.
No offshoring, no junior leads, no team you'll never meet. The principal designs and writes the foundational code. Always.
Every action is an event, every event is auditable, every audit is one query away. Compliance becomes a side effect, not a project. See the architecture.
06 — PROVENANCE
07 — BEGIN
Send the problem in writing first. If existing tools or a narrow workflow setup can support it, we will say so. Custom discovery is for larger software whose users, data, permissions, and acceptance tests need to be specified before a build quote.
DELPHI APP DISCOVERY MOST COMMON
A short engagement to scope the build before you commit to it — the shape of the work, on paper, with a number you can plan around.
DELPHI PRODUCT STRATEGY SAAS & MVP
A deeper engagement to validate, scope, and architect the product — before the first sprint is bought.
CREDIT RULE — 50% OF THE DISCOVERY FEE CREDITS TOWARD YOUR KICKOFF PROJECT RETAINER WITHIN 30 DAYS, CAPPED AT THAT PROJECT RETAINER. UNUSED CREDIT LAPSES WITH NO ROLL-FORWARD.