6 months in. Time for honest update. THE NUMBERS: Active clients: 5 Monthly recurring revenue: $3,200 Setup revenue (total): $8,400 Hours per week: 20 Hourly rate: $40/hour (ongoing) Not quitting my day job yet. But real progress. THE BREAKDOWN: Client 1: $200/month (invoice automation) Client 2: $300/month (invoice + form automation) Client 3: $250/month (invoice automation) Client 4: $400/month (invoice + data sync) Client 5: $300/month (invoice automation) Plus scattered one-time setup projects. THE TIMELINE: Month 1: Built samples, no clients Month 2: First client closed ($1,200) Month 3: Clients 2 & 3 ($2,600 total) Month 4: Client 4 ($1,400) Month 5: Client 5 ($1,500) Month 6: Focus on delivery, no new clients THE WINS: ✅ Proven I can get clients ✅ All 5 clients still active ✅ Built template library ✅ Positive cash flow ✅ Learning constantly THE MISTAKES: ❌ Overbuilt first 2 clients (wasted time) ❌ Undercharged clients 1 & 3 ❌ Didn't ask for referrals early enough ❌ No systematic outreach (inconsistent pipeline) ❌ Said yes to one bad client (fired them) THE HONEST STRUGGLES: Some weeks: No new leads, scared Some clients: Unclear needs, frustrating Some builds: Took 3x longer than quoted Imposter syndrome: Still hitting hard THE UNEXPECTED POSITIVES: Client relationships: Actually enjoy them Problem solving: So satisfying when it works Learning curve: Faster than expected Flexibility: Work when/where I want THE TOOL COSTS: Make.com: $47/month PDF Vector: $97/month (Pro plan for all clients) Airtable: Free tier Notion: Free tier Total: $144/month Margin: $3,056/month (after tools) THE HOURLY REALITY: $3,200/month ÷ 80 hours = $40/hour Not amazing. But: - Working 20 hours/week (not 40) - Learning valuable skills - Building asset (recurring revenue) - Room to scale THE NEXT 6 MONTHS: Goal: 10 clients, $6,000 MRR Strategy: Systematic LinkedIn outreach, referrals Pricing: Increase to $1,800-2,200 setups Second service: Add data syncing to upsell existing clients

Started general "automation consultant." Ended up "the document processing guy." Best accident ever. THE ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY: Client #1: Dental forms Client #2: Dental forms Client #3: Legal contracts Client #4: More dental forms Client #5: Insurance claims Pattern emerged: Document-heavy industries LOVE automation. THE REVELATION: Every industry processes documents differently. But the underlying problem is identical. Data trapped in PDFs. Humans copying it manually. Massive time waste. MY CURRENT NICHE BREAKDOWN: Healthcare: 6 clients ($1,200/month) Legal: 4 clients ($900/month) Real Estate: 3 clients ($650/month) Construction: 3 clients ($750/month) Accounting: 4 clients ($700/month) Total: 20 clients, $4,200/month recurring THE NICHE ADVANTAGES: Same core automation, different field mapping Instant credibility with similar businesses Referrals within industries Higher pricing due to specialization Faster deployment with templates THE DOCUMENT TYPES BY INDUSTRY: HEALTHCARE: - Patient intake forms - Insurance verification - Medical records transfer - Billing statements LEGAL: - Contract data extraction - Case document analysis - Billing time sheets - Client intake forms REAL ESTATE: - Lease agreements - Property applications - Inspection reports - Commission calculations CONSTRUCTION: - Permit applications - Change orders - Material invoices - Safety reports THE TECH STACK THAT SCALES: Core: PDF Vector + Make.com/n8n/zapier Healthcare: Integration with Epic/Cerner Legal: Connection to LexisNexis Real Estate: MLS system links Construction: Project management tools Average setup per industry: $1,850 Average monthly recurring: $210 My cost per client: $47/month Net profit: $163/month per client THE REFERRAL MACHINE: Dental practice refers 3 other practices Law firm partners share my contact Real estate office tells whole network Construction company recommends to subs Industry referrals convert at 67% General referrals convert at 23%

Invoices. Every business gets them. Every business hates processing them. Every business will pay to automate them. THE INVOICE AUTOMATION GOLDMINE: Universal pain point (every business) Clear ROI calculation (time vs cost) Immediate results (works day one) Recurring revenue (monthly maintenance) High referral potential (everyone talks about good vendors) THE NUMBERS THAT MATTER: Average business: 50 invoices/month Processing time: 12 minutes each Monthly waste: 10 hours Annual cost: $3,000 at $25/hour My automation: Processes in 30 seconds My fee: $1,800 setup + $150/month Their annual savings: $2,400 net THE 10-MINUTE DEMO SCRIPT: MINUTE 1-2: "Show me your typical invoice" MINUTE 3-4: "Watch this happen automatically" MINUTE 5-6: "Here's what just happened" MINUTE 7-8: "This runs 24/7 without you" MINUTE 9-10: "Want to start saving time tomorrow?" THE AUTOMATION BREAKDOWN: Email folder: Invoices-to-process PDF Vector: Extracts all data automatically Make.com: Routes to QuickBooks/Xero/their system Google Drive: Backs up for records Slack: Notifies when complete Setup time: 2 hours Maintenance: 15 minutes/month THE PERFECT CLIENT PROFILE: Receives 20+ invoices monthly Uses accounting software Has dedicated admin time for data entry Values time over money Trusts technology solutions THE INDUSTRIES THAT ALWAYS SAY YES: Construction companies (subcontractor invoices) Restaurants (supplier invoices) Retail stores (vendor invoices) Service businesses (expense processing) Professional firms (vendor management) THE OBJECTION THAT NEVER COMES: "We don't need this" Because everyone processes invoices. Everyone hates the manual work. Everyone can see the immediate value. MY INVOICE AUTOMATION STATS: 32 deployments in 8 months Average deal size: $1,750 Monthly recurring: $147 per client Total MRR: $4,704 from invoices alone Referral rate: 71% THE TEMPLATE VARIATIONS: Basic invoice extraction (small businesses) Multi-vendor processing (medium businesses)