The Growth You Want (And What Comes With It)
You've got Sunbelt connections. You're about to make your first delivery. The network is there. Growth isn't the question, and that's a beautiful thing. But the risk of overwhelm (and possibly operational collapse) is the biggest threat.
Operational Challenges on the Horizon
The Problem: At 30+ deliveries/week, manual invoicing in QuickBooks takes 15-20 hours weekly. Invoices go out late. Customers pay slow. Your DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) balloons from 30 to 60+ days.
The Cost: $50,000-75,000 tied up in unpaid invoices. You're making sales but can't pay fuel suppliers. Cash flow crisis is the precursor to revenue crisis.
The Fix: Automated invoicing from BizSpeed → QuickBooks. Auto-reminders. Payment portal. DSO drops back to 35 days.
Real Companies That Didn't See It Coming
The pattern repeats itself across every failed fuel delivery startup
Alamo Fuel Delivery (Houston, TX)
Collapsed Year 2
What happened: Started 2019. Great network. Grew to 120 deliveries/week by month 9. Used spreadsheets and text messages. Hired admin staff to keep up. Still couldn't scale billing and dispatching.
The breaking point: Month 18, customer complaints about late deliveries and billing errors spiked. Two major clients (30% of revenue) cancelled. Couldn't recover. Shut down month 24.
What killed them: No CRM, no automated invoicing, no route optimization. Manual operations broke at scale.
Gulf Coast Fuels
Acquired at 40% Valuation
What happened: Strong year 1. Hit $2M revenue year 2. But DSO hit 75 days. Cash flow crisis. Couldn't pay fuel suppliers. Had to take emergency high-interest loan.
The breaking point: Owner burnt out. Working 80-hour weeks just keeping operations alive. Sold to competitor for 40% of fair value.
What killed them: No automated invoicing/collections. No financial dashboards. Didn't see cash flow crisis until it was too late.
The Failure Pattern
Every fuel delivery startup that fails follows the same predictable arc:
Everything works manually. You're hustling, making deliveries, customers are happy. Growth feels manageable. The network is there. No obvious problems yet.
The Critical Window
Months 3-9 is when you can still fix this. After that, you're firefighting instead of building. The companies that survive build systems early.
The Six-Month Math
Here’s the comparison most founders avoid doing: building now vs waiting until you’re underwater.
Month 1-2: Setup
Core systems built (Foundation tier)
Month 3-6: Operations Running
Automation delivering efficiency gains
Capacity Included
Foundation availability is scheduled as 5 days/week × 8 hours/day (≈ 172 hours/month using the 4.3-week average).
If you hire me now
$31,194
Foundation retainer for 6 months
What you buy: time + systems before volume makes decisions for you.
What changes: invoicing, dispatch workflows, CRM, reporting, and automation get built while you still have bandwidth.
If you wait 6 months
$175K–$280K
Typical “delay tax” once orders ramp
Where that range comes from:
The difference
$143,806–$248,806
in the first 6 months alone
Plus one avoidable “oh no” event: a single HAZMAT/compliance failure can be a six‑figure penalty.
The Point
This is the “buy time back” decision. You either build the boring systems early, or you build them later while customers are leaving.
What Your Competitors Already Have
You're not competing against other startups. You're competing against 10-year-old fuel companies with:
✅ Automated invoicing → QuickBooks
Invoices go out same-day. Customers pay fast.
✅ Route-optimized dispatching
Lower fuel costs. Drivers make more stops per day.
✅ Tank monitoring systems
They deliver before customer notices they're low.
✅ CRM with customer intelligence
They know who's profitable and who's about to churn.
✅ Real-time profitability dashboards
They know their margins per route, per customer.
✅ AI-powered lead generation
Marketing automation brings them new customers while they sleep.
The question isn't whether you need these systems. It's whether you build them now while you have time, or scramble to build them later when you're drowning.
The Proposal: What We Build Together
Mario will build Texas Five Fueling's complete tech stack—from BizSpeed optimization to custom web apps, CRM integration, and AI-powered automation. Here's what's included:
Core Deliverables (All Tiers)
- BizSpeed configuration & optimization
- SMARTank (SkyBitz) integration strategy
- QuickBooks automation (invoicing/billing)
- CRM implementation (HubSpot/Salesforce)
- Custom web app (customer portal + dashboards)
- Workflow automation (AI-powered)
- Lead generation & marketing systems
- AI-powered proposal/invoice generation
Foundation
$30/hr baseline • 5 days/week • 8 hrs/day • ~172 hrs/month • 5 project hrs/month
What You Get:
- Dedicated local machine (Mac/Windows) + TeamViewer access
- BizSpeed + QuickBooks + SMARTank integration
- CRM setup GoHighLevel, HubSpot, or Pipedrive
- Basic AI-powered automation (invoicing, reminders, reports)
- Payment method access for service setup
- Bi-weekly strategy calls (2 hours)
- Email/Slack support (48-hour response)
- Availability: 5 days/week • 8 hours/day (PST schedule)
- Remote only
- AI-powered development (10x faster implementation)
Limitations:
- No custom web apps or portals
- No marketing/lead generation
- No on-site visits
- Limited to 5 project hours/month
Prefer ACH? Email Mario to set up GoCardless
Growth
$35/hr baseline • 6 days/week • 8 hrs/day • ~206 hrs/month • 15 project hrs/month
What You Get:
- Everything in Foundation, PLUS:
- Custom customer portal (Next.js): delivery history, tank levels, invoices
- Internal analytics dashboard (real-time metrics, profitability)
- AI instant proposal generation (details → PDF in seconds)
- SEO-optimized website on AWS (99.9% uptime, same as Netflix)
- Automated blog content (2-4 posts/week via AI)
- Local SEO + lead capture + email campaigns
- VALUE: $1,695-$3,500/mo if purchased separately
- 15 project hours/month (3x Foundation)
- Priority support (24-hour response)
- Quarterly on-site visits (T5F covers airfare for 2)
- No on-camera work (scripts, AI voice, stock footage, posting included)
Prefer ACH? Email Mario to set up GoCardless
Partner
$40/hr baseline • 6 days/week • 10 hrs/day • ~258 hrs/month • 25 project hrs/month
What You Get:
- Everything in Growth, PLUS:
- Paid ad campaign management (Google + Meta Ads)
- Minimum $1,000/mo ad spend (T5F pays platforms directly)
- Content marketing at scale (4+ blog posts/week)
- Advanced SEO (VALUE: $3,000-$5,000/mo if separate)
- Email A/B testing + advanced segmentation
- Custom API integrations (if available)
- Multi-location expansion planning
- 25 project hours/month (5x Foundation)
- Same-day response (vs 24hr)
- Emergency support outside business hours (critical failures only)
- Monthly on-site visits (T5F covers airfare for 2)
- Executive partnership + major decision involvement
Prefer ACH? Email Mario to set up GoCardless
Contract Terms
- • 12-month initial commitment (monthly payments via auto-pay or ETF required)
- • After year 1, contract defaults to month-to-month with 60-day cancellation notice
- • Pricing renegotiated at month 12 based on scope and market rates
- • All pricing locked for initial 12 months
- • Payment via Stripe (credit card) or ACH via GoCardless (email to set up)
- • Client pays Stripe processing fees (~2.9% + $0.30); Catalyst covers ACH fees
- • View full Terms & Conditions →
The Window
Here's the reality: most fuel delivery startups have about 90 days to build proper systems before operational chaos sets in. The transition from "we're managing" to "we're struggling" happens faster than you'd expect.
Right now, you've got time. You're pre-revenue. You can build the right systems before the chaos hits. In 6 months, when you're at 60 deliveries/week and scrambling, you won't have the time or the mental bandwidth.
The companies that survive are the ones that build the boring operational systems early. The ones that fail are the ones that think they can "figure it out later."
If you sign by midnight February 9, 2026 (PST), we start building in February. By the time you hit 50 deliveries/week, your systems are ready. You scale smoothly.
If you wait, we're building systems in crisis mode. It's harder, more expensive, and you'll bleed customers while we fix it.
Ready to Build?
Let's talk about which tier makes sense for Texas Five Fueling. I'm here to answer questions and walk through the proposal.
Call/Text: (661) 535-9927
All proposals leverage AI and modern automation tools for maximum efficiency. I'm transparent about my methods and tools.
Catalyst Digital Solutions
Fractional CTO/CMO Services for Fuel Delivery & Logistics Startups
Built with AI-powered development tools • Transparent • Efficient • Scalable