Supplier Onboarding · the 90 minutes that change everything

Here is a question worth sitting with: when was the last time you spent 90 minutes on your business — not running it, not rescuing it, not even growing it — but on someone really understanding it?

For most founders, the honest answer is somewhere between "rarely" and "never." Time is the scarcest commodity in growth. Reflection feels like a luxury. And so we sprint year after year carrying assumptions about our own business that nobody has ever rigorously questioned.

Supplier Onboarding is the rare 90-minute container designed to fix that. Seven stages. Built around you, not a template. Each one captures something specific, something useful, something that will be referenced again and again by the people you want on your side.

The investment is 90 minutes. The return — if you commit to the answers honestly — is a year of compounding clarity. That is the trade we are asking you to make. The rest of this guide shows you exactly how to make it well.

Sixty seconds. That is all you need before you open the journey. Gather these five things and you will move three times faster:

• A one-line elevator pitch for your business · rough draft is fine
• Your honest current revenue stage · pre-revenue · under £100k · £100k–£500k · £500k–£1M · £1M–£5M · £5M+
• Your 12-month commercial goal in a single sentence
• Logo URL and brand colour hex for Stage 3 — "the shopfront"
• Your preferred contact channel and best time of day

That is the prep. Not a strategy off-site. Not a board pack. Five small things you almost certainly already know off the top of your head. Have them ready · the journey flows from there.

Notice the asymmetry · 60 seconds of preparation unlocks 90 minutes of momentum. That ratio repeats all the way through the journey · small efforts triggering large compounding returns. Keep your eye on it.

You can enter the journey three ways · and they all lead to the same room:

• From the profile dropdown · click your avatar (top-right) · pick Supplier Onboarding
• From the left sidebar · second item from the top on every /account page
• Directly via /supplier-onboarding · bookmark it

Your dashboard also has an accent-highlighted 🚀 Supplier Onboarding quick-link tile that pulls focus deliberately. Designed that way · because this is the most important link on your dashboard for the next 90 minutes.

You arrive. What you see matters · so we engineered it intentionally. Top to bottom, four zones:

1. The hero· "This is not onboarding · it is the start of your transformation." That is not marketing copy. It is the contract of the next 90 minutes.
2. The snapshot card · three columns · overall percentage · current tier · your next-best move. One glance tells you where you are and what to do next.
3. The tier ladder · five tiers across · your current rung scaled up and highlighted · the rungs ahead faintly visible. You are not climbing in the dark.
4. The 7 stage cards · each one a chapter of your transformation · clickable · with status, progress, time estimate, and a CTA that adapts to where you are.

Most dashboards show you data. This one shows you a path. That is the design principle.

Two numbers on this page deserve your attention before you click anything · because they tell you a story that no spreadsheet will:

The big percentage is the simple average of all 7 stage percentages, rounded. Finish one stage and your overall climbs roughly 14 percent. There are no penalties for pace · only momentum for completion.

The tier moves at fixed thresholds · 0% · 40% · 70% · 90% · 100%. Cross a threshold and the badge updates in real time. The next tier on the ladder lights up. You feel it. The system rewards progression visibly · because progress that nobody sees is progress that nobody sustains.

The "Your next move" CTA always points at the lowest-numbered stage you have not yet completed. You never need to wonder where to go next · the system always tells you.

A question you might ask: why does Stage 2 lock until Stage 1 is done? Why can't I jump around?

Because each stage is a foundation for the next. Stage 2 pre-fills from Stage 1. Stage 4's KPIs reference Stage 2's ambitions. Stage 7's handover document summarises everything that came before. Skip ahead and you break the foundation that makes the rest of the work valuable.

So you click Stage 1 first. Always. And from there the sequence carries you · each unlock earned, each transition felt, each completion a small win compounding into the next.

Onboarding is not a checklist. It is a structure. And structure rewards order.

Open any stage and you meet the same friend · the accordion. A vertical stack of sections, one open at a time. Read the section, fill the fields, mark complete · the section collapses · the next one auto-opens. Rhythm is built into the interface.

This is the loop · five steps:

1. Read the section's one-line purpose blurb
2. Fill in the fields · text · dropdown · multi-select
3. Click Mark section complete
4. The next section auto-opens · momentum carried for you
5. Repeat until you arrive at "Confirm"

On the final section of every stage you see the big celebratory green CTA · 🎉 Complete stage N. Click it · the stage flips to COMPLETED · the next one unlocks · the tier might bump · and you are one step further than you were a few minutes ago.

Progress feels best when you can see it accumulate. The accordion is designed for that single experience.

Stage 1 begins with a deceptively simple question · who are you, really?

Not your tagline. Not your pitch deck. The actual contours of your business · age, size, sector, market focus, ambition, mindset, readiness. Eight sections · about eight minutes. Almost all of it dropdowns and one-line answers · designed to move fast.

What we capture:

• Business identity · company name · sector · business age (under 1yr through 15+) · team size band
• Market focus · ideal customer in 2-3 sentences · geographic focus · customer type (B2B / B2C / Both)
• Ambition signal · most important 12-month goal · what 3-year success looks like
• Partnership mindset · openness rating · a past collaboration you are proud of
• Resource readiness · could you handle 5 qualified leads next month? · core systems you run
• Authority potential · case-study volume · self-rated brand strength 1-10
• Commercial maturity · revenue stage band · typical contract size · readiness to invest in growth
• Confirmation · final review and submit

Why we capture it: these answers produce your fit-score. Fit-score drives where your supplier card surfaces in matchmaking. Business age plus revenue stage plus team size also calibrate how aggressive we make the rest of the journey · we adapt KPI suggestions, partnership types, even event recommendations based on what you tell us here.

Be honest about constraints. The system does not penalise limitations · it works around them. Hidden constraints are the only ones that cost you support.

Stage 2 is the moment the journey gets serious. Most platforms never go this deep · which is precisely why most platforms produce mediocre outcomes.

Six sections. Eighteen minutes. Long-form text. Think before you type · because the answers you give here become the foundation of every recommendation, every introduction, every piece of strategic advice you receive for the next 12 months.

What we capture:

• Current position · revenue stage · market visibility · existing partnerships and how well they work · operational bottlenecks · the single biggest growth blocker
• Desired future state · 12-month commercial goal in numbers · 3-year authority ambition · partnership wishlist (named companies welcome) · revenue target · legacy aspiration
• Three quick wins · three specific opportunities we could unlock in the next 90 days
• Strategic themes · the top 3 themes the ecosystem should help with · these guide every future intro
• Risk signals · what could derail growth · what you are consciously avoiding
• Confirmation · submit · unlock Stage 3

Why we capture it: this is the data your account manager will study before they ever pick up the phone. The matchmaking engine maps your quick-wins and themes against every other supplier and buyer in the network · within 14 days of completing this stage, candidate intros start surfacing.

Specificity wins. "5 enterprise intros in fintech ops" will get you 5 enterprise intros in fintech ops. "More clients" will get you nothing the system can act on. Choose your words like they matter · because inside this ecosystem, they do.

Imagine a high street. Every shop has a window. Some windows stop you · most do not. Stage 3 is where you design your window.

Six sections · about fifteen minutes · a mix of medium-length text and a touch of visual identity. The moment you complete this stage, your supplier card goes live in the marketplace.

What we capture:

• Positioning statement· a one-line elevator pitch (under 15 words) · a 2-3 sentence full positioning using the "For [who] · who need [what] · we [outcome] · unlike [alternative]" format
• Audience clarity · primary audience in plain English · optional secondary audience
• Categories · ecosystem category (where you sit) · partnership category (who suits you)
• Authority signals · authority category · 3-5 keywords the ecosystem tags you with
• Visual identity · logo URL · brand colour hex
• Confirmation · submit · marketplace visibility activates

Why we capture it: the moment Stage 3 hits 100%, your card goes live with your positioning, categories and keywords. Matchmaking surfaces you to buyers and partners whose wishlist overlaps with yours. Authority keywords drive panel and speaker shortlists. Logo and brand colour keep your card on-brand · a generic placeholder gets less click-through than a real logo.

A weak shopfront sells nothing. A precise one sells without you in the room. Spend the time here.

Stage 4 is the numbers stage. And here is the truth that changes the way you should think about it · what gets measured gets multiplied.

Six sections · twelve minutes · mostly numeric inputs and dropdowns. The numbers you commit to here become the contract of your transformation.

What we capture:

• Commercial KPIs (annual) · qualified leads · strategic partnerships · revenue target in £ · new clients
• Visibility KPIs (annual) · speaking slots · content pieces · industry awards or shortlists
• Engagement KPIs (annual) · ecosystem events attended · introductions received · referrals you commit to give
• 12-month roadmap · one concrete measurable milestone per quarter
• Review cadence · frequency · preferred format
• Confirmation · submit · KPIs lock into your transformation contract

Why we capture it: the numbers drive every monthly success report your account manager produces. They are what we protect together · what we celebrate together · what we flag together when something drifts.

Stretch but do not fantasise. Suppliers who set realistic KPIs and beat them by 20 percent dramatically outperform suppliers who set inflated KPIs and miss by 50 percent. The scoreboard always rewards consistency over ambition theatre.

Up to this point the journey has been thinking. Stage 5 is where the engine starts.

Six sections · ten minutes · action-heavy. Two of the sections fire real ecosystem actions when you click their buttons · meaning by the time you finish Stage 5, your calendar already has events on it.

What we capture:

• Profile badge activation · single confirm tick · marketplace card goes fully live with your tier badge
• Account manager introduction · click 📅 Book my intro call · a 30-min meeting appears on your My Calendar two working days out at 10:00 London · reminder fires 60 minutes before
• First event · name and date of your first ecosystem event · click 📅 Add to my calendar · 24-hour reminder attaches
• Community channels · LinkedIn group · supplier WhatsApp · ecosystem newsletter · tick when joined
• Introductions wishlist · name 3 specific partner types you want matched with first
• Confirmation · click 🚀 Light the launchpad · matchmaking queue activates · welcome announcement goes out

Why we capture it: the first 30 days determine retention. Suppliers who feel visibility, introductions and structured activity in those first 30 days stay for years. Suppliers who passively wait usually drift within 90.

Momentum is not magic. It is engineered. Stage 5 engineers it for you · all you have to do is click.

Stage 6 is the stage most platforms skip · which is exactly why most platforms underperform. Education is the lever that quietly separates passive members from active ones.

Four sections · about twenty-five minutes if you read every module carefully. This is the only stage that asks you to read external guides.

What we capture:

• Five learning modules· each links to a dedicated how-to · tick "I've read this" after each one · How the ecosystem works · How partnerships happen · How visibility is earned · How the commercial flow works · How My Calendar drives momentum
• Engagement style · High · Balanced · Light · plus multi-select commitments (attend events · give referrals · publish content · apply for speaking slots · run a workshop · etc.)
• Questions for your account manager · optional free-text · queued for your AM
• Confirmation · submit · Stage 7 unlocks

Why we capture it: educated suppliers earn roughly four times more from the ecosystem than passive ones. The five modules hand you the cheat sheet · which lever to pull, when to pull it, and how to measure the result.

Knowledge does not create activity. Activity creates results. But knowledge tells you what activity to choose · and that is the difference between a year of busy work and a year of compounding wins.

And then comes the moment. Stage 7. The handover.

Four sections · eight minutes. You confirm how you want to be reached · you attest that you are ready to be held to the numbers you set · you preview the brief that is about to go to your account manager · and then you click the big gradient button.

What we capture:

• Communication preferences· channel · frequency · best time of day · how you like to work (e.g. "async-first · Loom over live calls")
• Final readiness check · a single tick · you attest you are ready to be held to your KPIs
• Summary preview · read-only view of the 9-section intelligence brief about to go to your AM
• Handover · 🤝 Hand over to my account manager · everything ships

Why we capture it: the handover is where most onboarding programmes lose their suppliers. The supplier arrives at the finish line and the team arrives cold. We engineer continuity here on purpose · so you walk into your first ongoing-partnership meeting and your account manager already understands your goals, your risks, your wishlist, and your communication preferences.

You will press a button. A document will travel. A person will be waiting. And from that moment on · the work changes shape entirely.

Two buttons appear at the bottom of every section panel:

• Save draft · persists whatever you have typed so far · stays in IN_PROGRESS · percentage reflects sections completed. Use this any time you need to step away.
• 🎉 Complete stage N · only enabled on the final Confirm section · only once every prior section is marked complete. Flips the stage to COMPLETED · sets percent to 100 · unlocks the next stage · writes an audit row.

Save draft fires every time, even mid-typing. You can leave mid-sentence and your text comes back when you return.

One button asks for a promise to come back. The other asks for a commitment to move forward. Both have their moment.

Close the tab. Log out. Switch devices. Sleep on it. The system does not penalise you for time · it rewards you for completion. When you return:

• The dashboard remembers your overall and tier
• The "Your next move" CTA still points at the stage you were on
• When you click in, the accordion auto-opens at the first section you have not marked complete · saved answers pre-filled
• A small note at the bottom reads "Picked up where you left off · N% saved"

Most suppliers complete the journey across five to seven sittings over a week. There is no penalty for pace. The only deadline is the one you give yourself.

Here is a quiet truth · nothing in this journey is permanent.

Click any completed stage and you land back inside it with all your answers loaded. Edit any field, re-tick any section, change any answer. The stage stays COMPLETED · the underlying data updates · the next intelligence refresh to your account manager reflects the change.

Use this for positioning tweaks when you sharpen your elevator pitch · for KPI updates at quarterly reviews · for adding new wishlist items as you discover what you actually need.

Your business evolves. Your record should too. The system is built to keep up.

Two buttons in Stage 5 are not data buttons · they are action buttons. They fire real things into the world.

• "📅 Book my intro call" · creates a 30-min MEETING two working days out at 10:00 London · 60 minute reminder · linked to your account manager
• "📅 Add to my calendar" · creates a MEETING for the first ecosystem event you named · 24-hour reminder · sits next to everything else in your week

Both fire POST /api/calendar/events · the same endpoint your sales rep uses. Reminders go through the five-minute cron and land in your inbox precisely.

By the time Stage 5 closes, your calendar already shows the shape of your first month in the ecosystem. That is not a coincidence.

You click 🤝 Hand over to my account manager · and five things happen in sequence:

1. A 9-section intelligence brief is composed from every stage you completed · business snapshot · strategic goals · KPIs · roadmap · positioning · opportunities · risks · engagement commitments · communication preferences
2. The brief is emailed to your assigned account manager (or to the onboarding desk if no manager is assigned yet)
3. Stage 7 is stamped COMPLETED · overall jumps to 100% · your final tier locks in
4. The linked lead status flips to HANDED_OVER_TO_ONBOARDING · timestamped
5. A final audit row is written to your lead status history with the delivery confirmation

The success state on screen says "🤝 Handover complete · you are now a [tier] supplier · summary delivered to [manager name]." A two-second countdown bounces you back to the dashboard · where the next-move CTA has been replaced by a celebratory "🎉 All 7 stages complete · transformation begins."

You finished. Now what?

Within 24 hours your account manager reaches out via the channel you chose in Stage 7. They reference your strategic goals, your KPI targets, your partnership wishlist directly · you should not have to repeat any of what you captured.

Separately · once your manager grants My Supplier Dashboard access via their internal CTA, the dashboard menu item appears in your profile dropdown and sidebar automatically. Until then, the dashboard at /my-supply stays locked and a friendly banner explains why.

The 90 minutes you just invested produced something that normally takes 6 months of relationship-building to surface · genuine understanding from the other side of the table. Use it well.

What works well on mobile:

• The dashboard landing page · stages render in a single column
• Stage 1 · short text · dropdowns · checkboxes
• Stage 5 · all action buttons fire normally
• Stage 6 · the reading experience is comfortable
• Stage 7 · the handover · works on a phone

What is more comfortable on a wider screen:

• Stage 2 · long-form discovery textareas
• Stage 3 · crafting the positioning statement
• Stage 4 · entering 10+ KPIs across 4 sections

Start on mobile · switch to laptop · everything saves on your draft so you can pick up seamlessly.

I clicked Save draft but the page didn't change. Save fires silently · look for the "✓ Saved · N%" line just under the section buttons · it appears for around two seconds. Refresh the page · your answers are still there.

I marked a section complete by mistake. Click the section header to reopen · edit the fields · click Save draft. The completion mark stays · which means the stage's percentage stays · which is usually what you want anyway.

I completed Stage 1 but Stage 2 still shows locked. Refresh the page · the lock state is computed from server data · stale local state can lag for a second.

The dashboard says 0% but I've answered things. You captured data but never clicked "Mark section complete." The percentage tracks completed sections, not filled fields. Reopen and tick them.

I want to skip a section permanently.Not currently supported · the system always requires marking all sections complete to finish a stage. If a question genuinely does not apply, leave the field blank and mark the section complete · blank means "not applicable."

I get an error page when I open /supplier-onboarding. The database schema may not be migrated on this environment · ask an admin to hit /api/admin/db-sync in their browser. The migration is idempotent and safe to re-run.

Most platforms are built around the idea that suppliers will figure it out on their own. They will read the welcome email. They will explore the dashboard. They will eventually find the features that matter to them. Eventually.

We do not believe in "eventually." We believe the first 90 minutes of any partnership decide its trajectory · and we have engineered those 90 minutes with the same care that other companies reserve for their flagship product.

You will not finish this journey the same way you started it. You will be clearer · about what you offer, who you serve, where you are going. You will be more visible · with a card live, intros queued, a calendar populated. You will be more accountable · because the KPIs you wrote down are protected by an account manager who arrives understanding them.

And you will be inside a system designed not to manage you · but to multiply you.

The next click is yours. Begin the journey →