Employee Portal Makeover

Overview

A mechanical contracting company needed to modernize their employee portal. The old system had no user authentication, required administrators to manually edit database records, and wasn’t mobile-friendly for field crews.

I spent six weeks building a modern Laravel and Vue.js application that worked with their existing database, preserving their data while adding proper security, admin tools, and mobile design.

What Worked Well

The key was building a modern system around their existing database rather than a full rebuild. Using Cursor AI for repetitive work let me focus on properly handling their legacy data and business logic. Six weeks instead of months.

I approached it as a technology partner—regular check-ins, working prototypes, and explaining technical decisions in business terms so they could make informed choices.

Positive Outcomes

• Role-based authentication replaced shared access
• Admin interfaces eliminated manual SQL queries
• Mobile-friendly design for field crews
• CSV import with rollback capabilities for data management

The CSV import system was the standout feature. Upload a spreadsheet instead of writing SQL, with 24-hour rollback for peace of mind. They finally had control over their own data management.

“I have to tell you that you’re excellent at what you do, and you’re going to go far with this. When you start growing your business and need investors, look me up! It’s clear that you put serious thought into everything you build and make it as simple as possible for the end user. Most sincere kudos!”

— Mechanical Contractor

Tech Stack

• Laravel 12
• Vue.js 3
• Inertia.js
• Tailwind CSS
• MySQL
• Redis
• Cursor AI

This project was a great reminder of how the right technology choices can transform a business workflow. Taking a manual, error-prone process and turning it into something that works seamlessly on mobile devices made all the difference for this client’s field operations.