The 3-Tier Vault

Could you tell someone your bank password right now?

If you can, that is the problem this guide fixes. For most one-person businesses, security looks like passwords saved in a browser, sensitive files in folders named "Important_FINAL," and two-factor codes going to a phone you could drop in a parking lot tomorrow. One phished email, one stolen laptop, one bad afternoon — and you are locked out of your own business, or someone else is in it.

The 3-Tier Vault replaces that with a structure. This is a 13-page field guide that walks you through a one-afternoon build so a phished password, a stolen laptop, or a lost phone never costs you your accounts, your files, or your business.

What you build:

- Tier 1 — a credential vault that holds every login, so you memorize exactly three secrets. Three. Not thirty.

- Tier 2 — an encrypted file container for the documents that would actually hurt if they leaked, with the mount discipline and the 30-second write-test that make it real

- Tier 3 — a hardware security key plus recovery-code discipline that makes your most important accounts un-phishable

- The Emergency Sheet — paper where paper wins, sealed and stored passport-grade, so you can never be locked out of your own life

- Failure drills for the four bad days — lost key, forgotten passphrase, laptop gone, phone gone — read now, executed calmly if they ever come

The tools for Tiers 1 and 2 are free and open-source; the only money in the build is the hardware key ($25–60), and there is a free way to start if money is tight this month. After build day it runs on about five minutes a week — daily is nothing, and that is the design.

Includes a build-day checklist, four printable worksheets, and clickable page links throughout so you never hunt for a reference.

Who this is not for:

- Organisations with a security function, a compliance programme or a formal risk process. This is written for the operation that has none of those and one person doing everything

- Anyone who needs a formal assessment, an audit, or documentation for a third party. This is a working guide

- Anyone looking for a tool comparison. The architecture outlives whatever you are using this year

What this is not: it is not a certification, an assessment, or documentation of conformance to any standard or framework. It does not claim that following it makes you compliant with anything. And it is not a guarantee — no architecture removes risk. This one makes sure that when something goes wrong, the damage stops at a boundary instead of running through everything you have.

Three secrets in your head, everything else in the system.

Instant download. 13 pages, PDF. One-time purchase — no subscription.

Built by a solo operator, for solo operators.

The 3-Tier Vault is the second of a small set of practical field guides for solo operators. Nothing Lost ($19) covers the backup structure that sits underneath it.

Questions after purchase: support@daxxisflow.com