The Concept
A CRM built specifically for small consultants managing fewer than 10 clients. The core value proposition: automatically sync contacts from Gmail, parse conversation history into summaries, and use AI to detect when a client relationship is cooling off—“ghost detection” before you lose the account.
Learning Objectives
- Building a Gmail connector to parse email data into a structured database
- AI-driven sentiment analysis to detect relationship health
- Predicting optimal follow-up timing for additional work
- Mobile app development with notification-driven UX
- Implementing freemium monetization (ad-supported free tier, paid upgrades)
Considerations
| Criticism | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| Small consultants rarely pay for tools | Target freelancers billing $150+/hr who feel the pain of lost clients |
| Gmail API compliance is a nightmare | Budget 2-3x expected time for Google’s verification process |
| CRM for small users is a graveyard | Focus ruthlessly on “ghost detection” as the single killer feature |
| Mobile-first CRM is awkward UX | Make it notification/alert driven, not data-entry driven |
| Competitors have deeper pockets | Stay niche—“CRM for solo consultants” not “CRM for SMB” |