What do you mean by a 'Separate App'? A separate instance of Laravel?

If you mean create modules in the more standard way, then there are a heap of options you can use.

We use Cartalyst https://cartalyst.com/ - Its freakin' awesome and a great starting point for any app. You create modules that can be reused. Platform is a base CMS which you can build off. Authentication etc is built-in.

There are other options if the above is what you are looking for.

http://orchestraplatform.com/ Is one. I've not used it, but it is very popular.

Basically, you can either create your own modular structure yourself, or use the base others in the community have constructed.

In terms of separating users into different packages, then, personally I don't think this is a good approach. You might be better looking setting 'Roles' for users. A user can be in 'Admin' role or 'manager' role and each would get a set of permissions.

I'm not sure if that has answered your question. I might have got the wrong end of the stick!