Target: the MRR ladder in WHAT-TO-DO-AND-AVOID.md. Realistic month-24 targets for the tested wedge: $5k MRR at ~15 hrs/week, $8k full-time. Tier B ($20k+) is ~1% / ~2%.
Rule: nothing in a later phase starts until the current phase's gate is hit. Gates and kill rules are in WHAT-TO-DO-AND-AVOID.md. Days 1–90 are in 08-90-day-plan.md.
Phase 1: Prove anyone pays (Months 0–3) → Gates: day 14, day 45, day 90
| Track | Work |
|---|
| Research | EMR check (Practo Ray, Eka Care, HealthPlix, DocPulse). 15 clinic conversations in one city. |
| Product | Cloud API spike, then a web v1: two-way templates, unconfirmed list, waitlist refill, Google Calendar or simple diary, monthly report. |
| Customers | Hand-run 30-day pilots at ₹999. Baseline no-show rate measured in every pilot. |
| Pricing | Starter ₹1,499, Clinic ₹2,999, Multi-site ₹5,999. Pilots get founding pricing locked for 12 months. |
| Exit | 20 paying, median no-show rate down ≥25% (relative), ≥80% M1 retention |
Phase 2: Make one city repeatable (Months 4–6) → Gate: month 6
| Track | Work |
|---|
| Product | Self-serve onboarding in 20 minutes. Template library in 3 languages. Number-quality monitoring and alerts. |
| Distribution | 2–3 trade partners (dental-supply reps, labs). One talk at a local IDA branch. Referral: 1 free month per paying referral. |
| Ops | Help pages, onboarding video for receptionists, churn-reason question on cancel. |
| Exit | $1k MRR (~35 clinics), ≥75% M3 retention, ≥1 trade partner sending clinics |
Phase 3: Retention and add-ons (Months 7–12) → Gate: month 12
| Track | Work |
|---|
| Product | Recall reminders (paid, per message, only after confirming Meta's category). Deposit links to the clinic's own Razorpay or UPI. One EMR integration if ≥5 paying clinics share an EMR with an API. |
| Distribution | Quarterly "dental no-show benchmark for [city]" one-pager. Referral share target ≥40%. |
| Exit | $2.5k MRR (~85 clinics), churn ≤4%/month |
Phase 4: Second city or hold (Months 13–24) → Gates: month 18, month 24
| Track | Work |
|---|
| Distribution | Second city only if the first city's referral and partner share is ≥40%. Otherwise, deepen the first city. |
| Team | Full-time path: one field-sales and onboarding person once MRR ≥$4k and CAC payback < 4 months. ~15 hrs/week path: no hires; run for cash. |
| Product | No new verticals. Physio and dermatology only if the day-45 retry was the one that worked. |
| Exit options | Sell the code and customers to a local EMR or dental-supply company if growth stalls between $1k and $3k. |
| Exit | Month 18: $3.5k / $5k. Month 24: $5k (~15 hrs/week) / $8k (full-time) |
Revenue path (illustrative, not a forecast)
At ₹2,600 ($30) blended per clinic.
| Month | Clinics (~15 hrs/week) | MRR (~15 hrs/week) | Clinics (full-time) | MRR (full-time) |
|---|
| 3 | 15 | ~$450 | 20 | ~$600 |
| 6 | 35 | ~$1k | 45 | ~$1.3k |
| 12 | 85 | ~$2.5k | 110 | ~$3.3k |
| 18 | 120 | ~$3.5k | 170 | ~$5k |
| 24 | 170 | ~$5k | 270 | ~$8k |
This assumes monthly churn of ~4% after month 6, ≥40% of new clinics from referrals or trade partners by month 12, and no EMR bundling two-way WhatsApp in your city. If an EMR does bundle it, the ~15 hrs/week path probably stalls near $1.5k.
$10k and above needs ~340+ clinics, a second city and a field-sales team. $20k needs ~690 clinics and a national channel (an EMR or distributor partnership). Neither is planned here, because neither is supported by the evidence.
Budget guardrails (bootstrapped)
- WhatsApp messages + platform + hosting ≤12% of revenue.
- Zero paid acquisition before the month-6 gate. After it, only trade-partner revenue share and referrals.
- No per-clinic custom work below the Multi-site plan.
- If month-12 MRR is under $1.5k, stop or sell. Don't extend the runway on hope.