## 1. One-Line Positioning For US freelance designers and developers earning 60k-180k who chase unpaid invoices over email, Automated overdue invoice reminder and payment-link tool for freelancers is a collections workflow SaaS that gets late invoices paid without awkward follow-ups. ## 2. Beachhead ICP - Primary persona: Solo freelance product designer / full-stack contractor; 1-person business. - Trigger event: A client is 14+ days past due on a 2k-15k invoice and cash runway feels tight. - Current workaround: Manual Gmail bumps, spreadsheet tracker, occasional Stripe payment links pasted by hand. - Budget owner: The freelancer; self-serve checkout under $50/mo. - Disqualifiers: Full agencies with AR teams; enterprise Net-60 AP portals; users needing QuickBooks Desktop sync in v1. ## 3. Problem Thesis & JTBD - JTBD: When an invoice goes overdue, help me collect without sounding desperate or forgetting follow-ups. - Top pains: (1) unpaid cash, (2) awkward tone, (3) no visibility into who opened what. - Why tools fail: Accounting suites are heavy; generic CRM email sequences ignore invoice semantics. - 7-day success: At least one overdue invoice receives an automated reminder sequence and a tracked payment-link click. ## 4. Competitive Landscape (honest) | Competitor | What they do well | Gap we exploit | Pricing posture | |---|---|---|---| | FreshBooks | Invoicing brand trust | Weak dedicated collections UX for freelancers | Mid monthly | | Wave | Free invoicing | Limited automation depth | Free / ads | | Stripe Invoicing | Payments reliability | Not a reminder CRM | Pay-as-you-go fees | | Hello Bonsai | Freelance suite | Broad, not collections-obsessed | Mid subscription | | Manual Gmail | Zero cost | No system, high miss rate | Free time cost | | Likely AR SaaS for SMBs | Escalations | Overkill and expensive for solos | High seat price | ## 5. MVP Feature Spec (must-have only) 1. Invoice import — User pastes invoice fields or CSV — Criteria: amount, due date, client email required; duplicates blocked — Event: invoice_imported — 10h 2. Reminder policy — User picks cadence (friendly / firm) — Criteria: 3-step default templates; editable subject/body — Event: policy_saved — 8h 3. Scheduler — Sends on due+3/7/14 — Criteria: timezone aware; skip if paid; retry once on email fail — Event: reminder_sent — 14h 4. Payment link attach — Stripe Payment Link or hosted invoice URL stored per invoice — Criteria: click tracking; mark paid webhook — Event: paylink_clicked — 12h 5. Status board — Open / reminded / clicked / paid — Criteria: filters; bulk pause — Event: board_viewed — 8h 6. Billing gate — Free: 3 active overdue invoices; Pro unlocks unlimited + firm templates — Criteria: Stripe checkout; webhook updates plan — Event: checkout_started — 10h 7. Weekly digest — Email summary of aging AR — Criteria: Monday 9am local; unsubscribe — Event: digest_sent — 6h Kill List: native mobile apps, AI call agents, QuickBooks two-way sync, late-fee interest calculator v2, client portal chat, multi-currency FX hedging, agency multi-seat roles, white-label, Chrome extension, public API, dispute courtroom workflows, WhatsApp sending. ## 6. User Flows A) Activation: signup → connect Stripe test → import sample overdue invoice → schedule first reminder → see timeline. Metric: time_to_first_scheduled_reminder < 8 min. B) Core loop: daily board review → pause/send now → payment webhook marks paid. Metric: weekly_paid_via_link >= 1 for activated users. C) Paywall: 4th active overdue invoice → compare Free vs Pro → checkout. Metric: paywall_conversion >= 10%. ## 7. Information Architecture Screens: Marketing, Signup, Onboarding (Stripe + sample), Board, Invoice detail, Templates, Settings/billing, Empty state, 404. Entities: User, Workspace, Client, Invoice, ReminderJob, EmailEvent, Plan. Permissions: user owns workspace; no anonymous object access. ## 8. Technical Architecture Blueprint Stack: Next.js, TypeScript, Postgres, Stripe, Resend, Vercel - Repo: app/(marketing), app/(app), lib/db, lib/stripe, workers/reminders - Auth: Magic link via Resend; session cookies; workspace_id on all queries - Data: Users—Workspaces; Workspaces—Clients—Invoices; Invoices—ReminderJobs—EmailEvents - API/server actions: createInvoice, pauseReminder, stripeWebhook, listBoard - Jobs: cron every 15m for due reminders; Stripe paid webhook - Env: DATABASE_URL, AUTH_SECRET, STRIPE_SECRET_KEY, STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET, RESEND_API_KEY, APP_URL, CRON_SECRET - Vendors: Stripe, Resend, Vercel Postgres/Neon; alts: Lemon Squeezy, Postmark trial - Security: RLS or workspace filters; signed webhooks; no card data stored; rate-limit auth - Local: neon/docker postgres → prisma migrate → stripe listen → pnpm dev → trigger cron route - Days 1-14: auth → invoice CRUD → templates → scheduler → Stripe links/webhooks → paywall → polish ## 9. Monetization & Pricing Freemium SaaS with usage limits then Pro subscription - Free: 3 active overdue invoices, friendly templates only - Pro: $19/mo or $190/yr — unlimited invoices, firm templates, digest, CSV export - Upgrade trigger: attempting to add 4th active overdue invoice - Trial: 7-day Pro without card optional if Stripe Customer Portal allows; else card-upfront trial - First 10 customers: Indie Hackers + freelancing Discords; offer founding Pro $99/yr; Loom of 90-second collections flow; ask for quote after first collected invoice ## 10. 14-Day Build Plan D1-2 Founder+Claude Code: auth, workspace, seed client. Demo: login works. D3-5: invoice CRUD + board. Demo: 5 invoices filtered by status. D6-7: templates + preview. Demo: send test email to self. D8-10: scheduler + idempotency. Demo: due job fires once. D11-12: Stripe payment link + paid webhook. Demo: mark paid end-to-end. D13-14: paywall, digest, copy, 20-user soft launch. ## 11. Risks & Kill Criteria Risks: email spam classification; Stripe account reviews; freelancers already using FreshBooks; scope creep into full accounting. Week 2 kill: <8 activated users scheduling a reminder. Week 4 kill: <2 Pro conversions OR deliverability bounce rate >8%. ## 12. Copy Starters Hero: Get paid without the awkward follow-up. / Automatic invoice reminders with tracked payment links for freelancers. / CTA: Start free — 3 invoices. Pricing: Free for light chasing. Pro when overdue invoices become a habit. Emails: Welcome+import tip; Day 3 tone guide; Day 6 upgrade after first click tracked. Empty: No overdue invoices. Import one past-due invoice to see the reminder plan.