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Oct 29 • Business & Strategy 🧠
Day 1: Your First $1,800 Client is Hiding in Plain Sight (And They Process Documents)
Local dentist. 30 patient intake forms daily. Receptionist spending 15 minutes per form manually typing into their system. 7.5 hours every single day just copying data.
Found them complaining in a Facebook group about being overwhelmed.
Sent a simple message: "I can automate that patient form entry. $1,800 setup, saves you 7.5 hours daily. Interested?"
They replied in 4 minutes.
WHY DOCUMENT AUTOMATION IS PERFECT FOR YOUR FIRST CLIENT:
Every business processes documents. Invoices, forms, receipts, contracts, purchase orders. They ALL hate it. They ALL know it wastes time. They ALL will pay to fix it.
You don't need to explain the problem. They live it daily.
THE EXACT WORKFLOW I BUILT:
Form arrives via email → PDF Vector parses the form and extracts patient data (name, DOB, insurance, medical history) → Structured data flows into their practice management system → Confirmation sent to staff
TOTAL BUILD TIME: 2 hours
THEIR SAVINGS: $3,000 monthly (7.5 hours × $20/hour × 20 days)
MY FEE: $1,800 setup
THEIR ROI: Pays for itself in 18 days
Here's the technical stack I used:
- Gmail (trigger when form arrives)
- Make.com for workflow orchestration
- Their practice software API for data insertion
The form extraction? I used PDF Vector's LLM mode because patient forms have inconsistent layouts. It pulls the data regardless of format.
Cost: $12 in API credits monthly
THE TEMPLATE I REUSED:
Patient Intake Form template from my folder. Contains extraction schema for:
- Personal information
- Insurance details
- Medical history
- Emergency contacts
- Consent signatures
I've deployed this EXACT template 8 times now. Just change the API endpoints for their practice software.
THE DISCOVERY PROCESS:
Don't overcomplicate finding clients. I literally searched Facebook groups for local businesses + "overwhelmed" or "too much paperwork"
Dentists, lawyers, insurance agents, real estate offices - anyone processing forms manually.
My outreach message template:
"Hi [Name], saw your post about [specific pain]. I automate [specific task] for [industry]. Saves about [hours] weekly. Built similar system for [similar business]. Would you be open to a 15-minute call?"
Response rate: About 30%
PRICING FOR YOUR FIRST CLIENT:
Don't charge $500 because you're scared. Don't charge $5,000 because you're greedy.
Calculate THEIR savings:
- Hours saved × Their hourly cost × 12 months = Annual value
- Charge 25-40% of first year's value as setup fee
- Optional: Add $100-300 monthly maintenance
For the dentist:
- 7.5 hours daily × $20/hour × 240 days = $36,000 annual savings
- 30% = $10,800 but I quoted $1,800 for my first client
- Monthly maintenance: $150
MISTAKES I MADE:
First version? I tried to automate EVERYTHING. Appointment reminders, billing, inventory. Scope creep killed me.
Second attempt: I focused on ONE painful process. Patient intake forms. That's it. Shipped in 2 hours, got paid, client happy.
The lesson: Start with the document processing pain point. Master that. Then expand.
WHAT YOU NEED TO GET STARTED:
1. Make.com account (free tier works)
2. PDF Vector account (100 free credits monthly to test)
3. Template for common document types
4. 3-5 hours to build your first workflow
Find a local business processing documents manually. Offer to build it for $1,500-$2,000. Use the template. Deploy. Get testimonial. Repeat.
Document automation isn't complex. It's just: receive document → extract data → send data somewhere → done.
That dentist referred me to 2 other dental practices. Same template. 45 minutes setup each. $1,800 × 2 = $3,600.
THREE DOCUMENT TYPES TO TARGET:
1. INVOICES - Every business gets them, every business hates processing them
2. PATIENT/CLIENT INTAKE FORMS - Healthcare, legal, insurance, real estate
3. RECEIPTS/EXPENSE REPORTS - Businesses drowning in expense reimbursement paperwork
These three cover 80% of small business document pain.
THE COLD TRUTH:
Most of you are waiting to "learn more" before getting your first client. You're watching YouTube tutorials about complex AI agents while businesses 10 minutes from your house are manually typing invoice data.
You don't need another course. You need one template and one client.
Question for the group: What's actually stopping you from reaching out to a local business this week? Drop your honest blocker below and let's solve it together.😊
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Day 1: Your First $1,800 Client is Hiding in Plain Sight (And They Process Documents)
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