This isn't a software delivery with a training session at the end. It's six months of operational leadership — Jason inside your building, averaging 2–3 days per week on-site at the Charlotte location (scheduled weekly with Michelle around what's actually happening), running the meetings, installing the disciplines, and owning adoption of every tool. Month 6, he exits. DEC runs without him. That's the design.
Build fee is broken out separately — same scope as Option B at a 15% bundle discount, because regular on-site presence during the build (2–3 days per week, averaged across the engagement) cuts communication overhead vs. delivering remotely. Schedule is set weekly with Michelle to match real demand, not a fixed calendar. Infrastructure on DEC-owned Azure/Supabase accounts (~$150/mo passthrough, not marked up). The $1,650/mo support retainer begins month 7, after Jason's engagement ends. Year 1 total: ~$122,500. Year 2 run-rate: ~$21,600.
Option B builds the system. Option C makes sure the system gets used.
"Every tool migration DEC has attempted has stalled — not because the tools were wrong, but because there was nobody accountable for making 20 people change how they work. The Sunday Word doc is still the Sunday Word doc because no software subscription ever showed up Friday afternoon to sit with Mike and make the new system feel like his system. Option C is that person."
The cadence Michelle asked for two years ago. These don't require the dashboard to start — they start week one.
Status across every active project — one blocker named and assigned before anyone leaves the room. The meeting Michelle asked for two years ago.
Twenty minutes Mike doesn't have to spend on his Sunday. Walk through next week's priorities and the judgment calls behind them — captured in his words, in the system by Monday so the team runs on his thinking, not just his presence.
Walk the full board — quoted, awarded, design, install, closeout. What's aging, what's at risk, what needs a decision this week.
Revenue forecast vs. actuals, job margin by project, cash positioned 30/60/90 days out. Tiffany's specific ask from the May 6 call, finally answered.
Pulse check, surface what's not reaching the all-hands, build trust with the people who aren't the loudest voice in the room.
Working sessions with Mike to put the playbook on paper — top 20 customers and what makes each one tick, the quote situations that always go sideways, the fabricators he trusts and why. Mike's words, Mike's name on it.
These go in before the software is live. Process first, then tools. Not the other way around.
Mike has built the way DEC quotes, sells, and installs. This is about putting that playbook on paper — collaboratively, on Mike's terms — so the next generation of DEC inherits the methods, not just the company name. Mark Ridenhour's drawings are still in your files thirty years on; the goal is to make sure Mike's operational playbook lives the same way.
Not a training manual. Not a login. Eight operating realities DEC didn't have in May.
Every project visible to Michelle and Tiffany in real time — they can answer their own questions, freeing Mike to focus on the calls only he can make.
Troy and Greg have apprenticed under Mike for six months and run solo projects start to finish. The next generation of DEC project management, trained the Mike Poole way.
Six months of working sessions with Mike, captured as a living document with his name on it. The methods that built a $19M business — now structured for whoever inherits them.
Top 20 accounts documented through Mike's eyes — the history, the personality, what each one needs from DEC. Built with Mike, durable beyond him.
Quote → drawing → order checked automatically. Melissa flags it same day. The Westminster mistake is no longer possible.
All-Hands, pipeline review, financial forecast — meeting rhythms the team owns, not ones that require Jason to show up.
Revenue, margin, and cash positioned 30/60/90 days — from data the team already enters. Not a spreadsheet Tiffany maintains alone.
Admin access, documentation, and the training to run it. One internal owner. No dependency on a vendor for day-to-day operation.
Option C starts the first week of June. The six months end in November with DEC running the system — not depending on it.