Starting point
die macher is our own venture in Metzingen: one point of contact for everything a house, flat or business premises needs, with businesses from a fixed partner network. Contracts run directly between customer and business; die macher advises, collects quotes and holds everything together.
The problem with any coordination: the state of a project lives in phone calls, WhatsApp photos and email attachments. The owner asks, the business looks for the latest quote, the project lead explains for the third time when the plumber is coming. We wanted one place where everyone sees the same thing, and which a tradesperson can operate from the site.
What we built
The website with an AI entry point. Instead of a form with twenty fields, the hero holds one sentence: "Describe your project in one sentence." By text or voice. Claude breaks the sentence down into trades, the result appears as a trade network and goes straight into the inquiry. Anyone who doesn't want AI skips it and goes to the form.
The AI entry point on the home page. The model produces the classification live.
The portal. Every project has an overview: what's next, which quotes are waiting for a decision, how far the work has come. Below that the site diary, schedule, documents, photos, messages and budget. Access by invitation only, sign-in via magic link.
Project overview from the owner's view. Sample project, no customer data.
Roles instead of accounts. Whether someone may accept a quote, move an appointment or mark an entry as internal depends on their role in the project: project lead, customer, trade or observer. A business only sees its own quotes, an observer reads along, the customer decides. The same person can be a trade in one project and a customer in another.
Site diary from the site. A tradesperson dictates the entry into their phone, attaches two photos, done. The model tidies up the text, the entry is there for everyone entitled to see it. The project lead can mark entries as internal; then the customer doesn't see them.
Site diary with voice entry and photos. Sample project, generated images.
Quotes you can understand. Every quote is explained in plain language next to the original. The project lead can recommend one, the customer accepts or declines. Accepting means commissioning: the click creates the contract between customer and business, with withdrawal notice and confirmation by email to both.
Quotes with the project lead's recommendation and acceptance by the customer. Amounts made up.
Withdrawal in the portal. A consumer can withdraw a commission within the period, under § 356a BGB in two steps, with confirmation of receipt. That belongs to the contract and therefore into the portal, not into an email to support.
The admin area. Inquiries with status and a reply promised within two working days, partner management with agreement and checksum, projects with award status, accounts, references for the project board on the website. Admin accounts need a second factor.
Result
- One place for the project state. Customer, project lead, businesses and observers see the same project, each their part.
- In beta since March 2026 with real projects, open since September 2026.
- Contracts and withdrawal in the flow. Terms of use with consent, partner agreement with version and checksum, commissioning with withdrawal notice, withdrawal in the portal.
- Operations included. Photos in a private blob store with signed upload sessions, bot protection on every form, notifications by email immediately, bundled or urgent only, chosen per account.
Takeaway
A portal that tradespeople don't use isn't one. So the path for the business is the shortest: phone, dictate, photo, done. Everything else, roles, permissions, contracts, withdrawal, sits underneath and has to be right without anyone seeing it. That's the difference between a website and a product that runs day to day.