Scope and Platform Fit Screen (Onboarding)

Scope and Platform Fit Screen (Onboarding)

1. 01

   Classify the requested build before anyone opens a visual editor

   Sort the request into one of four buckets: internal tool, client portal, data collection form, or customer-facing product. The bucket determines which platforms are even eligible, because a portal that needs per-client permissions behaves nothing like a one-off tracker.

2. 02

   Write down the three requirements that would force a conventional build

   Typical disqualifiers include offline use, sub-second response on large datasets, and deep two-way sync with an ERP. If two or more apply, price the conventional path first and treat the visual platform as a prototype tool only.

3. 03

   Check whether the client's data can legally sit in the platform's hosting region

   Confirm data residency, retention, and export terms against the client's own compliance obligations. A portal holding customer PII carries different obligations than an internal ops dashboard, and the answer changes which vendors are viable.

4. 04

   Test the integration depth the project actually needs, not the integration list

   A vendor page that names Slack, Google Drive, and Salesforce tells you nothing about rate limits, webhook reliability, or whether writes are bidirectional. Build a throwaway connection to the client's real system and push 100 records through it before quoting.

5. 05

   Score white-label and resale terms against the retainer model

   If the deliverable will be resold or branded, confirm whether the platform permits full white-label, partial white-label, or none, and whether per-seat pricing passes through to the client or lands on the agency's margin.

6. 06

   Estimate the migration exit before signing the SOW

   Ask what the client takes with them if the relationship ends: schema export, data export, or nothing usable. Platforms that store logic in a proprietary runtime make the exit expensive, and that cost belongs in the proposal.

7. 07

   Log the decision and the rejected options in the project file

   Record which platforms were considered and why each was ruled out. When the client asks for a change in month three, the original constraints are the fastest way to explain what the change actually costs.