How Founding Engagements work.

Every StayOps build starts with a senior consulting engagement led by the lead architect personally. This page is the long version — the philosophy, the process, the scope, and what to expect.

Why we price like a practice, not a product.

Most STR tools are built by engineers who've never run a property, or by operators who can't ship software. The lead architect on every StayOps build does both — 30 years of software development and product management, while actively managing a Forbes-featured 9-bedroom luxury estate near Universal Orlando.

A Founding Engagement isn't a “setup fee.” It's a strategic engagement where you're hiring a senior operator-technologist to look at your business, design the system around it, and deliver working software at the end. The platform is the byproduct of the engagement, not the other way around.

That's why every engagement is led personally by a senior practitioner. No junior implementation team, no offshored delivery, no handoff after sales close. The lead architect runs your discovery call, designs your architecture, and stays available throughout your build.

What scopes your engagement.

Founding Engagements are scoped, not flat-priced. Here are the five variables that move the number — all of which we walk through on your audit call.

  1. Portfolio sizeContent authoring scales linearly with the number of properties. A 4-property engagement involves authoring 4 guidebooks, 4 turnover guides, and 4 sets of comms sequences. A 25-property engagement involves 25 of each. Per-property authoring time is the largest variable in most engagements.
  2. Number of brandsA single-brand portfolio uses one design system, one voice, one set of templates. Sub-brands for different markets (luxury vs. budget, themed vs. general) each need their own visual identity, brand voice, and content structure. Each additional brand is roughly 20–30 hours of design and content work.
  3. PMS and integration complexityOwnerRez today is a clean API integration with full webhook support. Hostaway is moderate. Some PMSs require custom bridging via webhook + iCal hybrid approaches. Custom data migration from a previous tool stack also adds engineering hours.
  4. Content stateSome operators have polished house manuals, turnover SOPs, and brand voice guidelines we can digitize and structure. Others have nothing — content is authored from scratch through property visits, photo audits, and operator interviews. The delta between these two starting points can add 40–80 hours to a Boutique engagement.
  5. Custom features or compressed timelineA standard engagement runs 3 weeks. A PM who needs to launch in 10 days for a peak season is paying for compressed delivery. Likewise, any feature outside the standard scope (a specific upsell flow, a unique IoT integration, a custom reporting requirement) adds scoped engineering hours to the engagement.

Most Solo engagements land at $7,500 flat. Boutique engagements typically run $18,000–$24,000. Portfolio engagements vary more widely based on portfolio size and brand complexity.

The audit call is free. You'll get a fixed quote before any commitment — no scope creep, no surprise invoices.

Why this is the cheapest option, not the most expensive.

Most boutique PMs compare a $15K Founding Engagement against their last website cost. That's the wrong comparison. Here's the right one.

  • Offshore VA: ~$40K/year, no strategy, no shipping
  • Upwork developer: ~$16K for 200 hours, you manage them
  • Real fractional CTO: $300/hr × 50 hours/month = ~$15K/month, no platform deliverable
  • DIY for 18 months: incalculable opportunity cost

StayOps Founding Engagement: $7.5K–$75K one-time, working platform delivered, lead architect access included

The process.

From audit call to launch, every Founding Engagement follows the same 4-step structure.

Step 1

Audit call (free, 30 min)

The lead architect reviews your current direct booking site, guest experience, and turnover ops. You leave with a fixed quote for your engagement and a clear sense of what we’d build.

Step 2

Onboarding (Week 1–2)

We pull listings from your PMS, configure your brand, and customize guidebook and turnover content for your portfolio. Strategic planning sessions are scheduled for Boutique and Portfolio engagements.

Step 3

Build & Review (Week 2–3)

We build your direct booking site, guidebook, turnover system, and comms sequences. You review every word and pixel. The lead architect is directly available throughout.

Step 4

Launch (Week 3)

Everything goes live under your domain, under your brand. Post-launch lead-architect access continues for 30, 90, or 365 days depending on tier.

Engagement questions.

Ready to scope your engagement?

The audit call is free, takes 30 minutes, and produces a fixed quote with no commitment. The lead architect runs every audit personally.

Schedule the audit call