Marcus

How did your SaaS journey begin?

Marcus:
I used to work with life coaches and business mentors as a virtual assistant. One of the biggest problems I saw over and over was clunky onboarding - PDF forms, email chains, calendar confusion. It was a mess and cost them clients.

So I thought, why not automate the whole thing? I mocked up a flow in Notion and used Typeform and Zapier to stitch together an onboarding system. After testing it with a few clients, they started referring me to others.

That’s when I realized this could be a real product, not just a custom service.

What made you decide to turn it into a SaaS?

Marcus:
Honestly, burnout. I didn’t want to keep building one-off automations. I wanted something scalable. I turned the workflows I had built into a proper SaaS using Softr and Airtable. The first version was just a client intake form, calendar booking, payment link, and welcome email - all triggered automatically.

I shared a walkthrough video in a few coaching Facebook groups. The post blew up, and I got 20 beta users within a week.

What’s the product and who is it for?

Marcus:
CoachFlow is an all-in-one onboarding system for coaches. It handles intake forms, payments, scheduling, and welcome emails - without needing a VA or complex setup.

It’s built specifically for solo coaches, course creators, and small agencies who want to automate busywork and focus on their clients.

How did you grow your user base?

Marcus:
Facebook groups were key. I joined about 30 groups related to coaching, freelancing, and online education. I didn’t pitch - I just gave advice, answered questions, and occasionally shared what I was building.

When I posted my first demo, I included a free Notion checklist and asked if anyone wanted to test it. That got me early users and testimonials.

I also created short Loom videos showing specific use cases like “How to automate a discovery call funnel.” These did well on Twitter and LinkedIn.

What are your revenue numbers and pricing structure?

Marcus:
I’m making around $5,000/month with 120 paying users. Pricing is simple:

Starter: $15/month (1 workflow)

Pro: $29/month (3 workflows + branding)

Elite: $49/month (unlimited workflows + team access)

Most people start with Starter, but upgrade within 2 months. I offer a 7-day free trial and discounts for annual plans.

What was your startup cost?

Marcus:
Since I used no-code tools and leaned on free plans at the start, the costs were low. Here’s the breakdown:

Softr: $29/month

Airtable: Free initially, now $24/month

Zapier: $19/month

Stripe: Free

Domain + Hosting: $15/month

Loom and Canva: Free plans

Total startup cost: around $80/month, and about $300 for the first 3 months.

What tools are essential for running your solo SaaS?

Marcus:
My stack is 100% no-code:

Softr - Web app builder

Airtable - Backend database

Zapier - Automations

Stripe - Payments

Tally - Intake forms

ConvertKit - Email flows

Loom - Demos and tutorials

Everything runs lean and I can manage it all without hiring anyone.

What’s your biggest win so far?

Marcus:
A coaching agency with 12 team members signed up for the Elite plan and said it cut their admin time in half. That made me realize this wasn’t just for solopreneurs - it could scale to small teams too.

Also, getting my first recurring Stripe payment while out hiking - nothing beats that.

What was your biggest mistake?

Marcus:
Trying to make the onboarding process too customizable at first. I added conditional logic, themes, all kinds of options. Users got overwhelmed. I ended up removing 70% of the settings and built fixed templates instead. Simplicity wins.

What advice would you give to first-time founders?

Marcus:
Build from what you know. If you’ve solved a problem manually, chances are others need the same fix in a packaged way.

Start with no-code. You don’t need a tech cofounder. Just build, talk to users, and share your journey in the open.

Takeaways from Marcus’s Strategy

✔ Solve a recurring client pain you’ve personally seen
✔ Use Facebook groups for early traction and feedback
✔ Launch with no-code tools to save time and money
✔ Keep your product simple and focused
✔ Monetize early and iterate based on real users