Now booking 1–2 spots · introductory rates

Software tailored to your business —
not the other way around. Custom tools, hand-stitched to fit how your team actually works.

Most software gets shipped to you and asks your team to adapt. I tailor the other way around. Every tool is shaped through close collaboration with the people whose work it'll change — measured, fitted, and adjusted until it sits right. 14 years of leading teams at scale — 7 in the military, 7 in enterprise tech. What can we build together?

What's possible

Enterprise-grade tools, small business price.

14 years of leading complex operations — military logistics, Big Four consulting, Fortune 50 product delivery — applied to the kinds of problems small and medium businesses actually face. Modern AI tools make this possible at a fraction of what agencies charge. Here's the kind of work I deliver.

Built with you · Production-ready

A working tool, in weeks not months — shaped around your team.

Most agencies sell you a discovery phase, a design phase, a build phase, a hand-off phase. That's how a six-month engagement gets to $80k. I work differently. Working software in front of your team within the first sprint. Real feedback every week. Course correction built in — not budgeted as a separate project.

Modern AI-assisted development means I can deliver the kind of polish, security, and integration depth that used to require a team of five — at a price that works for businesses doing $1M to $25M in revenue, not just enterprises.

React Node.js Python Claude AI SSO API integrations Cloud deployed
Live
Working software
Sprint 1
Team feedback
Every week
Iterate together
Every sprint
Built with you · Owned by you
14
years experience
leading at scale
4–14
weeks typical
build timeline
1
direct partner
not an agency layer
iterations included
in every project
The kinds of tools I build for SMBs.

Every project starts with your specific problem — but here are the categories of work where modern AI-assisted development genuinely changes what's possible at SMB budgets.

Custom AI assistants
Specialised tools that handle specific workflows for your team — drafting proposals, processing customer inquiries, answering questions from your own knowledge base.
📊
Operational dashboards
Multi-page admin platforms with real-time data, role-based access, and the kind of polish you'd expect from enterprise software — without the enterprise price tag.
🔌
Tool integrations
Connect the tools your team already uses — Slack, Google Workspace, Salesforce, QuickBooks, HubSpot. Stop copy-pasting between systems.
🔐
Secure by default
SSO, role-based permissions, encrypted data, audit logging, dependency scanning, secrets management. Built to enterprise standards from day one — not bolted on later when you're trying to win bigger clients.
📝
Document automation
Auto-generate proposals, status reports, client deliverables, and PDFs from your data. Produced in seconds, not hours of manual work.
🎯
Process automation
Replace manual swivel-chair workflows with smart automation. Capture the steps your team does the same way every day, and let software handle them.
My methodology

Active feedback loops, not finished-product reveals.

Most software projects fail at the same point — the team building the tool never actually sat with the people who'd use it. They built from a spec, not from observation. The result is software that technically works but nobody wants to use.

My delivery method puts end users at the centre of every iteration. Working sessions with the people whose work the tool will change. Demos every sprint. We don't ship features — we ship what your team actually needs. That's the discipline I learned shipping at enterprise scale, and it's what I bring to every SMB engagement.

User-centred Weekly demos Iterative Team-owned outcome
Most agencies
6mo+
to first working software
Demosend
Feedbacklate
Iterationextra
My approach
1–2
weeks to first working demo
Demosweekly
Feedbackalways
Iterationbuilt-in
Military operations
discipline applied
7y
enterprise software
delivery experience
MBA
strategy & operations
formally trained
1:1
direct collaboration
no agency middlemen
A method that scales across different problem types.

The same active-feedback approach applies whether we're automating a back-office workflow, building a customer-facing tool, or training an AI assistant on your domain knowledge.

Internal tools
AI assistants
Customer apps
Dashboards
Automation
Integrations
Migrations
Audits
How it works

A cycle, not a
handoff.

From first conversation to handover — every phase is collaborative. You're never waiting months to find out if we're on track, and you're never handed a deliverable you didn't help shape.

01
Listen first
A 30-minute conversation about what you're trying to fix and the people whose work it'll change. No pitch. No pressure. Just understanding.
02
Co-design the scope
A clear proposal: what we'll build together, when, for how much. Built with input from the people who'll actually use the tool — not just whoever signs the contract.
03
Build & iterate
Working demos every sprint, real feedback every week. Every iteration responds to your team's voice. Course correction is built in.
04
Hand it back to you
Full docs, team walkthrough, warranty period. The goal is that your team owns and runs it independently — not that you depend on me forever.
The whole project is a feedback loop, not a waterfall.
You see real progress every week — not just at the end. Your team's input shapes every iteration. And by the time we hand it over, the tool already feels like theirs because they helped build it.
About

One person.
14 years of leading teams
and building solutions.

Hi — I'm Alex, the human behind Craig Creative. After 14 years across military operations, Big Four technology consulting, and Fortune 50 enterprise product delivery, I started Craig Creative for one simple reason: most growing businesses can't access the software talent they actually need.

Big agencies cost $50k+ and treat you like account #847. Junior freelancers ship code that breaks in six months. There's a gap in the middle — and that gap is where I work.

I bring military execution discipline, consulting-trained strategy, and enterprise-grade product delivery standards — applied to whatever your actual business problem is. Not what's technically interesting. What actually moves your needle.

Modern AI tools like Claude make this possible at a price that makes sense for SMBs. That's the whole pitch.

U.S. Military7 yrs
Logistics Officer
Commissioned officer leading teams and operations across multiple countries. Complex planning, team leadership, no excuses. The foundation of how I run every project.
Big Four ConsultingTech Strategy
Technology Strategy & Advisory
Used data analytics to drive process improvement and digital transformations across enterprise clients. Learned what tech actually moves a business — not what's flashy.
Fortune 50 EnterpriseSenior PO
Senior Product Owner — Enterprise Platforms
Led Agile teams shipping enterprise software at scale. Worked alongside the engineers and operators who'd use what we built — the methodology that taught me how to deliver software people actually want to use, not just software that technically works.
★ 7 yrs enterprise
EducationMBA
Master of Business Administration
Formal training in finance, operations, and strategy. The lens that connects tech decisions to business outcomes.
TodayNow
Founder, Craig Creative
Bringing all of that to small and medium businesses — using Claude AI and modern tools to ship enterprise-grade work in weeks, not months.
In every engagement

Built to enterprise standards — at SMB prices.

Most freelance shops cut security and quality corners to keep prices low. I don't. The operational discipline I learned in the military and the engineering rigour I learned shipping software at Fortune 50 scale come standard on every project, regardless of tier.

Secure auth — SSO, RBAC, audit logs
Encrypted — data at rest and in transit
Secrets management — no credentials in code
Input validation — SQL injection prevention
Dependency scanning — known CVEs caught early
HTTPS + HSTS — proper TLS configuration
Code review — every change reviewed before ship
Full source code — you own everything we build
Pricing

Fixed price.
No surprises.

Every project is scoped and priced upfront. If something changes, we talk about it — you're never hit with unexpected costs.

Introductory pricing in effect. Taking on the first 1–2 clients at reduced rates in exchange for honest feedback and a testimonial. A real chance to get enterprise-calibre work at well below market rates. Prices increase once case studies are live.
// tier 01 — start here
Discovery Sprint
$750–1.2k
2–3 days · 100% credited to your build
  • Working sessions with your team
  • Honest tech opportunity assessment
  • Prioritised AI roadmap
  • Plain-English write-up
  • Credit applied to any project
Book Discovery →
★ Most common
// tier 02 — focused build
Focused AI Build
$2,500–4.5k
4–6 weeks · One well-scoped tool
  • One AI tool, dashboard, or automation
  • Co-created with your team — weekly demos
  • Claude AI integrated into your workflow
  • Full source code — you own it all
  • 30-day warranty + onboarding session
Start a project →
// tier 03 — bigger scope
Full Platform Build
$5k–12k
8–14 weeks · Scoped after discovery
  • Multi-feature web app or platform
  • Multiple AI integrations
  • Database + third-party APIs
  • Admin tools + reporting built-in
  • 60-day support warranty
Discuss project →
advisory
$125–$150 / hour
Tech advisory sessions, audits, and one-off guidance. Expert input on a decision or second opinion on a proposal. 2-hour minimum booking.
Book a session →
Now booking · 1–2 spots

Got an idea?
Let's build it together.

A 30-minute conversation costs nothing and tells us everything. Worst case, you walk away with a clearer plan than you came in with.

Get in touch

Tell me about
your business.

The best way to find out if I can help is a real conversation. Tell me what's frustrating you and what you wish was easier — I'll give you an honest answer, not a sales pitch.

There's zero obligation after the call. If I'm not the right fit, I'll tell you that too.

Email
[email protected]
📅
Discovery call
Free 30-min · Book on Calendly
Response time
Within 24 hours
🌍
Location
Remote-first · global