Coming aboard: how Vela onboarding works, step by step
Last updated
From “how much?” to your first deliverable, here's the whole onboarding (timelines included, nothing hidden). The short version: one email starts it, a short call and (for websites) a prototype come next, a written scope precedes any billing, and the first deliverable arrives within your first month.
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STEP 1 · HAIL US
Today
You get in touch
By email: the quote page pre-fills the message, including the handful of questions we need answered to scope the work. We reply within two business days to set up a short call, where we work out what you actually need. For a website build, we then send a working prototype and revise it until you like it.
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STEP 2 · CHARTS ON THE TABLE
After the call
You get it in writing
The quote (for a website build, after you have approved the prototype) comes with a plain-language agreement: what's delivered each month, what it costs, how your data is handled and consented to, and how to cancel (30 days' notice, no penalty). Nothing is billed until you've agreed to a written scope.
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STEP 3 · RIGGING
Days 1–3
A short setup (about three days)
We set up your monthly channel: the email format your data arrives in (a pasted CSV or Drive link, memo column included), a subject-line convention so nothing gets lost, and, if your scope covers SEO or a website, an editor invite to your website platform, which you can revoke anytime. Website work adds one content-gathering pass: your services, your story, your photos.
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STEP 4 · SHAKEDOWN CRUISE
First month
The first month runs honestly
Expect the first deliverable to come with more flagged questions than any month after: mystery transactions, voice checks, unverified details. That's by design: we ask rather than guess, and every answer you give becomes a standing rule. Month three needs a fraction of the back-and-forth month one does.
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STEP 5 · CRUISING RHYTHM
Ongoing
The monthly rhythm settles in
One email from you, finished work back within five business days, a person reviewing everything before it ships. Scope changes at any month boundary (up, down, or out) with a revised figure agreed first, and your data and website remain yours, always.
What we'll ask you for
The whole list, upfront. Expect under an hour of gathering:
If we handle your month-end reporting
- Bank or software export as CSV (memo column included)
- A note on any e-transfer that lacks a description
- Last month's totals, if you have them (variance notes start sooner)
If we handle your search visibility
- Your website address and this month's focus
- An editor/collaborator invite to your website platform, or tell us you'd rather paste changes yourself
- One or two links to writing that sounds like you
If we are building your website
- What you do, for whom, and in what area; rough notes are fine
- Logo and photos if you have them; honest placeholders if you don't
- Your domain name, or we'll help you register one
A founding-client honesty note
Vela is young, and early clients shape this process; if a step above feels clumsy for your business, we change the step, not you. What never changes: written scope before billing, a person reviewing every deliverable, and your right to leave with 30 days' notice and all your data.
Curious what happens after onboarding? The monthly loop is documented too, and the sample report shows what lands in your inbox at the end of it.