.png)
The Challenge: Drowning in Disconnected Tools
Haydon Power, a growing Shopify agency specializing in e-commerce development, design, and growth services, was struggling with a fragmented tech stack that was hindering their ability to scale efficiently. Like many agencies, the team was juggling several disconnected platforms:
• Asana for project management
• Float for resource scheduling and time tracking
• PandaDoc for contracts and proposals
• Google Sheets for manual time tracking and budget calculations
"We were using different programs for everything. You have to always go to different places, and then obviously individual fees for each of those stack up without you really knowing."
— Elliott Haydon, Co-Founder of Haydon Power
Running into Operational Inefficiencies
Manual time tracking inefficiencies: the team was manually reconciling time tracking at the end of each week, transferring data from various sources into Google Sheets before creating invoices.
Onboarding challenges: training new hires across multiple platforms proved costly.
"You bring on a new team member, then it's a whole debacle getting them into every system."
Limited project visibility: without centralized reporting, getting profitability insights required manual computation across different systems.
Fragmented communication: information was spread across tools and hard to find.
"There's definitely an element of, oh, where's the time tracking sheet? Where's this? How do I do that? Where did we put those notes between client relationships?"
The Solution: Consolidating Everything in Bonsai
What immediately caught their attention was Bonsai's promise to consolidate their entire workflow into a single platform.
"When I saw this, it seemed to have time tracking, client portals, contracts, all dealt with. For us to just go to one place and one place alone felt like it would solve a lot of problems."
The agency was particularly drawn to several key factors:
1. All-in-One Platform
Rather than managing multiple subscriptions and learning curves, Bonsai offers project management, time tracking, client portals, contracts, and invoicing in one integrated system.
2. Real-Time Budget Insights
The ability to see project profitability and budget tracking in real-time, within the same platform where work is being managed, was a game-changer.
3. Simplified Onboarding
With custom permission levels and a single platform to learn, bringing new team members up to speed has become significantly easier.
4. Professional Client Experience
The integrated client portal provides clients with a professional, centralized way to track project progress, communicate with the team, and manage billing.
The Result: 10x Productivity Improvement
Since implementing Bonsai, Haydon Power has experienced dramatic improvements across all areas of their operations:
Enhanced Task Management
Bonsai's project management system addresses their previous Asana limitations. The team can now track individual subtasks through different stages while maintaining a clear overview of parent tasks. "We like the way that you can do the subtasks individually, move those, because sometimes it's part of the problem knowing at what stage each of those subtasks are," notes Haydon Power.
Integrated Time Tracking
Team members now track time directly within tasks, eliminating the weekly manual reconciliation process. Time tracking happens in real-time, with both timer functionality and manual entry options, ensuring no billable hours are lost.
Instant Budget Insights
Project managers and leadership now have immediate access to project profitability, budget utilization, and margin analysis. The Insights tab provides a clear breakdown of billing status, cost breakdown, and profitability metrics within the same platform where projects are managed.
Automated Resource Management
The team manages staff scheduling, time-off requests, and resource allocation within the same platform. The system automatically accounts for holidays and time off when calculating team capacity.
Automated Invoicing
The team creates invoices directly from tracked time, with the ability to mark entries as billable or non-billable. For retainer clients who exceed their allocated hours, invoices can be generated instantly from unbilled time entries.
Centralized Client Portal
Clients now have a single destination for all project-related activities. They can view project progress, communicate with the team, access documents, and even be assigned tasks when appropriate. The portal is accessible via a simple link without requiring separate login credentials.
Flexible Client Permissions
The team controls exactly what clients can see and do within their portal. They can view all tasks, only assigned tasks, or no tasks at all, depending on the project requirements and client preferences.
Simplified Onboarding
New team members now learn a single platform instead of multiple tools. Custom permission profiles ensure each team member sees only the features relevant to their role - developers don't need to see billing information, while project managers have full access.
Seamless Accounting Integration
With bi-directional QuickBooks integration, invoices and financial data sync automatically, eliminating manual data entry for their accounting team.
The Bottom Line
"We deleted 3 tools—and got 10x more productive. Bonsai didn't just replace our tools, it brought clarity and control to the way we work."
The consolidation has delivered measurable benefits:
• More time with clients due to reduced administrative overhead
• Higher quality work with better project visibility and management
• Improved budget control through real-time profitability insights
• Smoother client experience via the integrated portal
• Faster team onboarding with a single platform to learn
For Haydon Power, Bonsai solved the fundamental challenge of tool sprawl while providing the sophisticated project management, financial tracking, and client communication capabilities needed to scale their Shopify agency effectively.
"Bonsai has been great, we're really happy with the platform and the move has definitely increased productivity, organization and budget tracking—all the things you want to happen! Which means more time spent on clients and quality work."
— Dan Power, Co-Founder of Haydon Power
Ready to streamline your agency operations like Haydon Power? Discover how Bonsai can consolidate your tools and boost your productivity.
.png)
