Adaptive Systems Group
About
We build custom software for small and medium businesses. Tools that take a complicated process and make it simple, for the business and its customers.
Most small businesses are underserved by technology. The good tools get built for venture-backed startups and big enterprises, while the businesses that actually run our towns, the shops, the trades, the local operators, get left with generic software that doesn't fit how they work. We think that's backwards. These businesses have the most to gain from the right tool, and almost nobody is building it for them.
Approach
What motivates us to build better small business software
We're obsessive about building software that's genuinely intuitive and useful, for the person using it and the business running it. Not software that looks impressive in a demo, software that removes a real, daily pain point. We start with the problem, understand it properly, and build the solution around it.
Background
Experience on both sides of the problems we solve
ASG was founded by Greg, whose background is the reason we understand these problems from both sides. Before ever writing software, Greg worked with his hands: landscaping, construction, landscape supply, helping build custom homes, building decks for a reputable local company, and working in restaurants. That's the kind of work a lot of our clients do, so we know what it's like to run a job, deal with customers, and watch time get eaten by things that should be simpler.
Then came a decade on the technology side. Greg worked as a UX designer and in digital marketing, at agencies focused entirely on small business clients, at Whitespark in local SEO, at SnapPea doing product design inside the startup world, alongside dozens of companies at the Accelerator Centre, and at Levitate, a fast-growing company building AI-powered marketing for small businesses across North America.
That combination is why ASG exists. We've seen these problems from every angle. We know how the polished startups build, and we know how a real small business actually operates day to day. Most technology is built for the first group. We build for the second.
Before software
In software
How it works
How we work with you
You work directly with us, the people who build your software. Not an account manager, not an offshore team you never meet. For larger projects, we bring in trusted partners we've worked with and vouch for. Either way, you deal with the builder.
You own everything. The code and the IP are yours. Nothing is outsourced overseas. And if a custom tool isn't actually the right answer for your business, we'll tell you that honestly rather than sell you something you don't need.
Location
Local roots, accessible from anywhere
Based in Waterloo, Ontario, working with businesses across Canada and the United States. Local roots, and happy to work with you wherever you are.
FAQ
Common questions
Every project is scoped individually, since a custom tool depends entirely on what you need. Most work is a fixed project fee we agree up front, so you know the cost before anything starts. If an ongoing arrangement makes more sense, we can structure it that way. No surprises.
You do. The code and the intellectual property are yours, full stop. You are never locked into us to keep using or changing what we build. It is your tool, built for your business.
No. You work directly with us, the people who build it. For larger projects we sometimes bring in trusted partners we know and vouch for, but nothing is shipped off to an anonymous offshore team. You always deal with the builder.
We'll tell you. If an off-the-shelf product already solves your problem, or the thing you do relies on genuine human judgment rather than a repeatable process, a custom tool won't help, and we would rather say so than sell you something you don't need.
The easiest first step is the short diagnostic on the site. It asks a few questions about your business and gives you an honest read on whether a custom tool could help. If it says a tool is not the right fit, or you would just rather talk, you can reach out directly instead.
See if a custom tool could help your business.
A few quick questions, an honest answer. No pressure.
Get started