Target: the MRR ladder in WHAT-TO-DO-AND-AVOID.md. The on-plan path reaches $5k+ MRR by month 24, and $10k is the stretch. Profitable throughout, ≥80% gross margin.
Rule: nothing in a later phase starts until the current phase's gate is hit. Gates and pivot rules are in WHAT-TO-DO-AND-AVOID.md. The detail for days 1–90 is in 08-90-day-plan.md.
The plan is automation-first. Every recurring task (sync monitoring, error emails, dunning, review asks, onboarding) is automated before the next phase starts, so the weekly hours go on product and content.
Phase 1: Prove people pay, and ship safely (Months 0–3) → Gates G1, G2
| Track | Work |
|---|
| Customers | 15 discovery calls. 5 concierge syncs at $39/mo. |
| Product | Airtable OAuth, incremental one-way sync, field mapping, sync log, quota meter, two-way with protected ID, conflict log, soft-delete. |
| Platform | Domain, privacy policy, security page. Google OAuth verification (sensitive scope at most). Marketplace listing. |
| Distribution | 4 YouTube demos, 3 SEO pages, community answers, F5Bot alerts. |
| Pricing | Starter $19, Pro $39, Team $79 (annual 10×). 7-day trial. Concierge teams keep their price for 12 months. |
| Exit | 15 paying, ≥15% trial-to-paid, zero data-loss incidents |
Phase 2: Make the listing rank (Months 4–6) → Gate G3
| Track | Work |
|---|
| Product | 7-day restore. Linked records as names. Scheduled snapshots. Error emails with fix links. |
| Distribution | 2 videos a week (one per use case or field type). 10 SEO pages ("Airtable to Looker Studio", "share Airtable without seats", "Airtable API limit"). A review ask at day 14. |
| Automation | Dunning, trial nurture emails, and a health check that alerts you before customers notice. |
| Metrics | Trials by source, sync success rate, tickets per 100 customers. |
| Exit | $1k MRR, churn ≤7%, ≥70% of trials organic, rating ≥4.5 |
Phase 3: Raise ARPU and add a partner channel (Months 7–12) → Gate G4
| Track | Work |
|---|
| Product | Team tier: webhook near-real-time sync, 3 Google users, audit log, multiple bases per sheet. Looker Studio-ready tab. |
| Distribution | Consultant partner programme (20% recurring, free partner account). 5 active partners. |
| Pricing | Push annual plans. Test Pro at $45 for new signups only. |
| Ops | Help centre from the top 20 tickets. Status page. Runbook for sync incidents. |
| Exit | $2.5k MRR, ≥40% on annual, 5 partners, rating ≥4.7 with 30+ reviews |
Phase 4: Decide: deepen, extend or hold (Months 13–24) → Gate G5
| Track | Work |
|---|
| Product | Consultant console (all client syncs, health). Hardening. P2 items only if tickets demand them. |
| Month 18 decision | $4k MRR. If Airtable trials have been flat for 3 months, build source #2 on the same engine: ClickUp (proven demand, strong incumbent), or an Airtable alternative (SmartSuite, Baserow, NocoDB). Check the Marketplace first. Otherwise keep deepening Airtable. |
| Distribution | Double down on the single best channel from months 1–12. |
| Team | None. Optionally, a part-time support contractor at 5 hrs/week once tickets exceed 4 hrs/week. |
| Decision at month 24 | $5k+ and growing: add or scale source #2. $2–5k: run it profitably, or list it for sale (~3.9× annual profit median). Below $1k: stop. |
| Exit | $5k+ MRR on-plan. $10k stretch. |
Revenue path (illustrative, not a forecast)
| Month | Paying teams | Blended ARPU | MRR | New payers/mo in the preceding period (at 6% churn) |
|---|
| 3 | 15 | ~$30 | ~$450 | ~5 |
| 6 | 35 | ~$30 | ~$1.05k | ~9 |
| 12 | 80 | ~$31 | ~$2.5k | ~11 |
| 18 | 130 | ~$32 | ~$4.2k | ~15 |
| 24 | 160 | ~$32 | ~$5.1k | ~14 |
| 24 (stretch, likely full-time, or with source #2) | 315 | ~$32 | ~$10k | ~40 from month 18 |
This assumes 6% monthly churn and trial-to-paid of 15–20%. The on-plan path needs ~70–95 trials a month from month 12. The stretch path needs ~200+, which is more than Airtable search alone is likely to supply. If Airtable search can't supply ~70+ trials a month, the on-plan path stops near $3–4k. That's the plateau math in WHAT-TO-DO-AND-AVOID.md.
Budget guardrails (bootstrapped)
- Hosting, queue, monitoring, email and tools under $300 a month up to $5k MRR (Sync2Sheets: ~$500 at $9k).
- Payment fees (~5% plus a fixed fee with Paddle; unverified at today's rates) are the largest variable cost.
- Zero paid acquisition before month 12. After that, only with a CAC payback under 3 months, which is unlikely at this ARPU.
- Keep 6 months of costs in reserve for a platform shock (Airtable API change, Google re-verification).