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One thing I’ve learned working with startups:
You don’t need expensive tools to start closing deals.
I’ve worked with teams that had no CRM, so I built simple systems using Google Sheets to:
Track leads
Manage follow-ups
Keep the pipeline organized
It’s not about the tools-it’s about having a process that actually works.
Once the system works, then you can scale it.
The network for creativity
Join 1.25M professional creatives like you
Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free
Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started
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My first client hired me five months after first seeing my work.
That changed how I read messages like this.
Someone I recently reached out to replied that his current focus was pipeline generation and outbound.
He mentioned that a side project might need some Webflow support later, but for now, he wanted us to stay connected.
A while ago, I would have read a message like this as a dead end.
I'd probably mark the person as uninterested and move on to the next name on my lead sheet.
But my first client taught me to look at networking differently.
Five months!
That experience changed how I look at professional relationships.
Not every conversation needs to turn into a project immediately.
Sometimes people have other priorities. Sometimes the timing isn't right. Sometimes they simply need to know you and your work a little longer.
I'm not assuming this conversation will become a client. And I'm not going to keep pitching someone who has already explained their priorities.
I'd rather build a genuine relationship, take an interest in what they're doing and reconnect when there's a natural reason to.
Not every conversation belongs in your active lead pipeline. Some belong in your relationship pipeline.
Have you ever had a conversation that turned into a client, collaboration or opportunity months later?
What helped you keep that relationship alive?
We used to dread internal tools.
A client would get their product live, and then ask, “Cool, but how do I see all the users? Or refund an order? Or fix this one record?” And suddenly we were building an admin panel nobody budgeted for.
Now we just use Retool.
Hook it up to Supabase or whatever API the project runs on, and in a day or two the client has a real back office. Tables, filters, buttons that actually do things. When something needs custom logic, we write a bit of JavaScript and move on.
We’ve also started using it for the boring-but-important parts of automation work. A simple screen where someone can see what an AI workflow did, approve it, or retry it when it breaks. Clients love this more than the fancy AI part, honestly.
It’s not magic, and it won’t replace a proper product. But for the stuff only your team will ever see, it’s hard to justify spending weeks on it.
If your ops still run on spreadsheets and “can you check that for me?” messages, that’s usually the sign.
Build automated data collection workflows with n8n & Google Sheets.
