ProposalPop: Streamlining Freelancer Proposals

Jessica

Welcome back to Micro SaaS Ideas, the spot for one bite-sized, buildable software business idea every week. I’m Jessica, and Tom’s here with me. And today’s SaaS idea - honestly, this is something I wish I’d had when I first setup in business. It’s called ProposalPop. But first, Tom, I want set the scene. If you’ve ever been a freelancer or even run a small agency, you already know how easy it is for proposals to evaporate into thin air, right? Scattered in emails, some Google Doc from last October, maybe never even signed in the end… I’ve seen it so many times.

Tom

Oh, absolutely. I mean, it’s classic, isn’t it? You send that all-important proposal, and then it just, well, disappears. Clients forget about it, you lose track yourself, and sometimes you’re left guessing, did they read it? Did they not? I think a lot of people end up using these Frankenstein systems, just cobbling together Google Docs, PDFs, and, frankly, a big mess.

Jessica

Exactly. And it gets even messier when you look at the tools already out there. Most proposal tools feel either too heavy, or they’re charging twenty pounds a month for something you barely use. And all the steps and bloat make people just fall back to their old routines, very manual, very error-prone. Actually, Tom, can I share a quick story? So, there was this digital agency I knew, absolutely smashing it for months, and then 'poof' lost a huge retainer. All because a key proposal got buried and never signed. Emailed six times, no one could find the right version. It sounds silly, but it basically cost them a year’s worth of revenue, just from one missing signature. That happens more than people realise.

Tom

I believe it. And you know, as we chatted in our first episode about DripCatch and that silent leak of failed payments, it’s kind of the same thing here, just earlier in the journey, opportunities quietly slipping away with no way to recover them. Keeping your pipeline tight isn't just about reminders for payments, it's these moments, like proposals, that fall through the cracks too.

Jessica

Completely. The workflow for proposals is so broken, and finding something lightweight, elegant, and actually built for freelancers... well, that's what ProposalPop’s about. Shall we get into what makes it tick?

Tom

Yeah, let’s. For me, what stands out with ProposalPop, it’s all about speed and clarity. You just wanna fire off a clean, branded proposal in minutes, see when the client opens it, and make it super obvious what happens next. Add those gentle nudges, expiring proposals to give that “oh, I’ve got to do this now” feeling, plus just one click to pay a deposit, all built in. It cuts the faff, doesn’t it?

Jessica

It really does. I think trackability is key, freelancers just need to know, “Was this opened? Did the client sign? Did they ghost me?” All those things are pain points that come up again and again when I talk to freelancers and even micro agencies. And the expiry, people always underestimate the power of a ticking clock. Suddenly your client isn’t dithering for two weeks, they’ve got a deadline. Even those simple notifications help a lot with deal closure rates.

Tom

I had a great chat a while back with a solo founder, she runs her entire process using Canva for visuals, then exports as PDFs, and then sends emails manually. Sometimes she’ll get an answer, but more often, she just forgets to follow up. If she had a tool like ProposalPop, she’d probably close more gigs, or at least stop wondering, “Did I already send that proposal, or was it just in my drafts?” The lack of follow-up is what kills so many deals, not the content of the proposal itself.

Jessica

And you can validate the need for ProposalPop really, really quickly. Like, not even exaggerating, I think you could find ten freelancers, ask them how they do it now, and you’d hear: “emails, Google Docs, crossed fingers.” That’s your first sign you’re onto something. Tom, did you ever see people sending the same proposal ten different ways in your agency days?

Tom

Oh, all the time. And then getting them confused. Or the client signs the wrong version, it’s a mess. I might be wrong, but I reckon a third of proposals just get left in proposal limbo. So ProposalPop is a way to inject a bit of structure, a bit of accountability, and make the whole thing look a heck of a lot more professional, especially for small teams and solo acts.

Jessica

Alright, so if someone listening wants to build this, let’s talk money and then tech. There’s a lot of directions you could go with monetisation. You could go dead simple with a flat monthly fee, say, 9 pounds for solo freelancers, maybe 29 pounds if you want team features. Or, and I like this one, pay-per-proposal, useful for people who only send a couple a month. That pricing flexibility can make all the difference for early adopters.

Tom

Yeah, and then there’s the premium end, a white-label option for small agencies. Let them slap their own brand on it and maybe even charge their own mark-up. I’ve seen that sort of upsell work wonders in other micro SaaS verticals. It’s a good margin play, especially if you’ve already nailed the solo builder use case.

Jessica

Tech-wise, if you want fast prototyping, Laravel plus Livewire is a great combo. Makes you nimble but keeps it robust. For payments, Stripe’s basically the industry standard now, and PDF generation is simple enough, grab Laravel Snappy or DOMPDF, and off you go. Signed URLs so proposals can have proper expiry, easy win. And, honestly, throw in optional templates and forms for clients to fill out at the start, you’re already one step ahead.

Tom

You know, you could even click it up another level. I’m just thinking, if you let users auto-generate a proposal right off a quick client intake form, you save them those thirty minutes every single time. I know in agencies it was always that question: “How do we streamline onboarding?” If you can take what’s in the brief, spit out a ready-to-sign proposal, people are going to pay for that. And, really, that’s where the value multiplies for anyone running lots of small projects.

Jessica

Yep. That little step, turning intake into instant proposal, means you’re not just saving time, you’re making the software pretty much essential for any freelancer who wants to keep things flowing and actually get paid on time. We see these sorts of integrations all the time in other SaaS reports, don’t we? Small tweaks make a huge difference to user stickiness.

Jessica

So, let's think a little further out. If you want to give ProposalPop even more impact, what if it handled more than just sending the document? Imagine if follow-ups and reminders happened automatically. Suddenly your proposal conversion rates climb, and the freelancer doesn’t have to chase down every client with awkward emails.

Tom

Yeah, I can see that being a huge draw. Not everyone needs a mega CRM, but having just enough built-in automation could make freelancers stick around. And analytics—that’s a big one too. Most people send proposals and never find out what actually worked. If ProposalPop could show, say, your open rates and top performing templates, you could refine your pitch, test strategies, maybe even A/B test your copy, without needing to be a marketing wizard.

Jessica

Exactly! Analytics don't have to be intimidating. Even some basic dashboards help people figure out what’s working and, importantly, what’s not, saving loads of time and effort. Plus, there’s always the “next step” angle. Building a community or even a lightweight template marketplace means users share what works, swap advice, and stick around because they’re invested in more than just the tool.

Tom

And if you build that community, you unlock a bit of collaborative growth, a sort of flywheel effect. Like, new feature requests, templates, feedback, all feeding into a product improvement loop. It’s something we’re seeing more in micro SaaS these days: combining product with peer support to create retention that’s actually driven by shared learning, not just by locking features behind a paywall.

Jessica

Well, that about wraps us up for ProposalPop. Honestly, if the proposal struggle sounds relatable, or you just want to build something sticky for freelancers and agencies, this idea’s got mileage. If you liked today’s breakdown, don’t forget to check out our last episode, where we dug into recovering lost revenue with DripCatch. And we’ll be back soon with the next SaaS spark. Tom, always a pleasure!

Tom

Cheers, Jess. And thanks everyone for tuning in. Stick around, more micro ideas dropping next week. See you soon!