FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Kaizen
Direct answers about what Kaizen does, who it is for, how Kai works and what it costs. If your question is not here, ask us and we will answer it properly and probably add it.
The basics
Kaizen is an all-in-one business portal that helps freelancers, agencies, consultants, small teams and students manage clients, leads, invoices, proposals, questionnaires, documents and project information in one place, with an AI assistant called Kai that creates and updates them through conversation. It replaces the usual scatter of spreadsheets, email threads, document folders and separate apps with one organised system.
An all-in-one business portal for service businesses is a single system holding clients, invoices, proposals, questionnaires, documents and project information together, with the records connected to each other. It differs from a project management tool by covering the commercial side too, and from accounting software by covering the client relationship. Kaizen is organised around clients and projects rather than products and stock, which is what makes it fit service work.
The best client management software for agencies and freelancers keeps client records, invoices, proposals and questionnaires connected in one system rather than spread across separate tools. Agencies get shared visibility across every client and project, freelancers get a professional operation without needing an operations person, and both get Kai that creates and updates records on request. Judge any system on whether the records connect to one another, because that connection is where the time saving comes from.
Yes, Kaizen is client management software built and run from Belfast and used by service businesses across the UK, Ireland and internationally. It runs in the browser, so there is nothing to install, and invoices follow your own terms and currency.
Kai
Yes, Kaizen includes an AI assistant that creates invoices and proposals from plain language instructions inside your own portal. You can say something like “invoice Harbour Coffee £2,400 plus VAT on thirty day terms” or “draft a three phase proposal for a brand identity, similar to the Redwood one”, and it builds the record for you to review and send. It can also create questionnaires, add clients and update existing records.
Beyond creating records, Kai can update anything in your portal and report on what is happening across clients, projects, invoices, proposals, tasks and forms. Asking “what is outstanding this week?” or “which proposals have not been signed?” returns a direct answer without you opening anything. This is the part most people underestimate before they use it.
Yes, ask Kai to summarise the responses to a questionnaire and it reads every answer to give you a written analysis: the themes that came up most, where opinion was split, and what is worth acting on. It works whether the form went to one client or fifty people.
No, Kai drafts and creates but never sends to a client without you approving it. Everything it produces is a normal, fully editable record in your portal.
No, everything in Kaizen can be done through the normal interface, and Kai is there for whenever describing something is faster than clicking it. Most people end up using both, depending on the task.
Features and fit
You manage clients, invoices and proposals in one place by using a single business portal that links them, so every invoice knows its client and the proposal it came from. In Kaizen, an approved proposal becomes a billed project without re-entering anything, and questionnaire answers stay attached to the client record. The practical route in is to move onboarding first, then invoicing, then proposals, then the client-facing portal.
Yes, Kaizen is built specifically as an alternative to spreadsheets and email for client admin. Spreadsheets hold data but not the relationships between it, and email delivers information in the order it was sent rather than the order you need it. Kaizen keeps every invoice, proposal, form and document attached to the client and project it belongs to, so retrieval takes one search rather than a memory test.
Each client gets their own portal showing their invoices, contracts, projects and questionnaires, with outstanding actions at the top. They never see drafts, internal notes, margins, or anything belonging to another client. An invoice appears only once it is sent, and a contract only once it is out for signature.
Yes, turn on file uploads for any client and they get a Files area in their portal to send you documents, images and anything else you need, straight into your own Google Drive. Kaizen never stores the files itself.
Yes, a questionnaire can go to a single client for onboarding, or to a whole list at once if you're gathering wider feedback, with everybody answering exactly the same questions in one send.
No, clients do not create an account or manage a login. The client sets their own password after you send them a link or email invite and send them their portal link; they enter their email address and that password and stay signed in for 30 days.
No, Kaizen creates, sends and tracks invoices but is a business portal rather than a full accounting package, so most people keep their accounting software for reconciliation and filing. If you are within Making Tax Digital, continue using your compatible accounting software for submissions.
Yes, teams can share a portal with visibility across clients, projects, invoices and proposals, and each extra team member is £3.99 a month on top of the first person in your plan. For agencies this is usually the main draw, because it removes the daily round of asking colleagues where something is.
Practicalities
Yes, Kaizen has a permanently free plan with no time limit and no card required, covering client management, leads, lead forms and up to 10 invoices a calendar month. Companion is £14.99 a month.
Kaizen is free for clients, leads and up to 10 invoices a month, and £14.99 a month for everything else. The paid plan adds proposals, questionnaires, project information and tracking, business documents, project sharing and Kai. There is one paid plan and no tiers above it.
No, there are no AI features on the Kaizen free plan. Kai is only available on Companion.
Most businesses are usefully running within a day and fully moved over within about two weeks, because the sensible approach is one process at a time rather than a full migration. Starting with onboarding questionnaires is the fastest way to feel the difference, since it requires no historical data at all.
Your data stays in your portal, it remains yours, and you can export it if you leave. If you handle client information you have obligations under UK data protection law, and keeping that information in one controlled system is considerably easier to manage than spreading it across inboxes and shared drives.
Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning continuous improvement, describing small steady changes that compound into significant gains over time. We chose it because that is how we recommend adopting the portal: one messy process at a time. Kaizen the business portal is independent and not affiliated with Kaizen Institute or any lean manufacturing organisation.
Still stuck? We will answer honestly, including telling you if Kaizen is not the right fit.
