There are lots of what I call "kitchen sink" tools on the market at the moment, all promising to run your whole business. Since AI arrived, more seem to appear every day. They promise you the world: proposals, contracts, invoicing, forms, scheduling, projects and client portals, all for one monthly price that's usually low, at least to begin with.
I understand the appeal. We're all looking for ways to streamline how we work, and we all want to look more professional to our clients. Something that does everything seems like the sensible option. But for most freelancers and small agencies, I think it's the wrong decision, and it can leave you in a bit of a tangle.
The real cost is leaving
The problem with these tools is that things will change. Prices go up, sometimes steeply. The company gets bought and heads in a direction that no longer suits you. Features you rely on get moved to a higher plan.
At that point you have two choices. You move everything somewhere else, which takes time and money, or you stay and keep paying for a product that no longer fits.
That's why so many of these tools are cheap to get into. Getting in isn't where they make their money.
Your unicorn tool doesn't exist
The other problem is that it's very unlikely one tool will suit your needs perfectly. Every business is different. You might need a form tool that does one thing, and someone else might need something completely different. Generally, the more a tool tries to do, the more mediocre it gets at each job.
Building your own stack of dedicated tools takes more time at the start, and it might cost a little more. But you get a workflow that suits you, and you're far less likely to end up tied to a product that becomes unusable or too expensive.
But how do your clients cope with all those tools?
If you're thinking your clients won't want to dig through five different tools to find an invoice, you're right.
That's the problem I built Client Portal to solve. It sits on your own WordPress site and brings the tools you already use into one branded place. You don't have to compromise on your tools, and you're not locked into anything.
Because it runs on your site, the content lives with you, not on our servers.
I think tools should be hard to leave because they're good, not because you're trapped in them. That's the standard I hold Client Portal to.
