Every new client gets a private portal on day one
How I start every engagement: a questionnaire written for the client, a private portal, a filed folder and drafted welcome emails.
What changed
The situation
The first week is where a client decides whether you are worth the money, and where small firms most often look disorganized.
What I built
A questionnaire written for each client
A mortgage broker and a retail shop get different questions. Copying the last client’s form tells the new one you didn’t listen.
A private portal page
One per client, password-protected, where they answer and upload.
Automatic filing
A folder per engagement, questionnaire answers filed there as a document, and a notice to me whenever an answer or an upload arrives.
One admin page
Every client and their portal in one list.
Two welcome emails, drafted
Nothing goes to a client until I have read and sent it.
Why it matters for your business
Any firm that starts work by collecting information (accountants, agencies, contractors, clinics) can run the same pattern. It makes a one-person business look like a well-run firm from the first email.
How it fits together
Set up once per client by a script, then everything the client sends files itself.
Colors group the parts by kind: setup, client side, filing. Grey is a person. Swipe the diagram sideways.
Step by step
- A short interview captures what the client does and what I want to learn.
- A setup script builds the questionnaire, the client folder, the private portal page and the admin entry.
- The welcome emails are drafted with the portal link. I read and send them myself.
- The client opens the portal on any device.
- Questionnaire answers are saved as a document in the client’s folder, and the client gets a confirmation.
- Each answer and upload sends me a notice, and the admin index shows every client in one place.
Technical details
For your IT person: components, trade-offs and security. Open any section.
Components
| Layer | Service | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| Questionnaire | Google Forms | Built per client from the interview, never from a template. |
| Automation | Google Apps Script | Creates the folder structure and the form, turns each set of answers into a document, and sends branded confirmations and notices. |
| Files | Google Drive | One folder per client and engagement, with a consistent naming scheme. |
| Portal | Password-protected web page | One page per client with the questionnaire link and an upload form that marks each item as sent. Kept out of search engines. |
| Index | Private admin page | Every client, their engagement and their portal on one page. |
| Drafts in the business inbox | Branded welcome emails, drafted and never sent automatically. |
Design decisions and trade-offs
Want every new client to start like this?
Intake and onboarding setups are quoted at a fixed price. Book a free 30-minute fit call.