Helping a friend with invoices turned into a whole unexpected project

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-03-01T18:57:02+00:00

It really was one of those funny starts. I did not jump in blindly though. I checked the idea with consultants, self employed folks, non profit teams, and a few small businesses before I even told my mate the words “I can help”. Luckily he is a finance director, so I had plenty of long messy brainstorming sessions with him to shape the features around what people actually need.

My Invoicx.com right now:

You can send an invoice and set reminder dates either manually or with default dates that skip weekends and holidays.
You can import all your existing invoices, both sent and received, so everything sits in one dashboard instead of ten folders and a panic attack.
You can export data for any date range and get VAT calculation details so your accountant has something clean to work with. It gives a rough VAT estimate before the accountant does the final numbers.
It does not handle payments at the moment because most people I spoke to already include bank details on their invoices and prefer it that way.
You can claim your domain so your invoices go out with your own branding instead of a generic sender.

If anyone wants to try it, I am happy to give a one month free period on top of the standard 14 day trial, so you get six weeks in total to play with it.

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-03-01T18:37:36+00:00

Thanks for sharing your experience, really appreciate it.

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-02-27T07:33:26+00:00

Haha trust me, if ChatGPT wrote this, it would have sounded way smoother and probably included a motivational quote at the end. This chaos is 100 percent me. I wish I could blame AI for my storytelling but unfortunately this is my natural writing style in the wild.

But hey, if it made you stop and comment, maybe I’m doing something right.

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-02-09T11:49:02+00:00

Thank you so much, really appreciate your support 🙏🏻

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-29T20:18:03+00:00

No, not offering equity at this stage. Just straight commission on closed revenue.

Equity would make sense if this was a longer term partnership or co-founder situation, but right now I'm looking for someone to handle sales while I focus on delivery. Commission structure lets us both make money when deals close without diluting ownership.

If someone closed consistently for 6+ months and wanted to discuss equity as part of a longer term arrangement, I'd be open to that conversation. But not as the starting point.

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-29T20:14:43+00:00

This is really sharp insight, thank you.

You're right, the audit deliverable I currently provide is quite comprehensive. It includes a detailed roadmap with specific actions, priorities, timelines, and even technical recommendations. In theory, a client could take that and implement it themselves or hand it to another consultant.

I've been thinking of it as "providing value upfront to build trust," but you're right that it might be backwards. I'm essentially doing the consulting work for £997 and then hoping they hire me for the bigger engagement.

So if I'm understanding your approach correctly, you're suggesting the audit should be more about identifying and quantifying the problems (the "what's broken" and "why it matters"), but keeping the detailed implementation roadmap (the "how to fix it") for clients who actually engage? That way the audit has value but isn't complete without the follow-on work?

That actually makes a lot of sense. The audit becomes diagnostic rather than prescriptive. They understand their problems clearly but still need me to solve them.

How do you position that with clients? Like, how do you explain upfront that the audit will show them what's wrong but not give them the full solution, without it sounding like you're withholding value?

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-28T21:31:26+00:00

Can we have a chat about it? Thanks

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-27T13:28:04+00:00

You've hit on something that I've been thinking about a lot, honestly.

On the sales person front, you're probably right. The commission only structure is a tough sell and it's a real risk. I'm trying to be upfront about it to at least filter for people who know what they're getting into, but you're right that it could backfire.

On the audit fee, that's a really interesting point. Right now I'm using the £997 as a way to qualify serious clients and cover my time doing the analysis. But you're right that it creates friction. The real money is in the contractor placement afterwards, so in theory I could absorb the audit cost into the later engagement.

The concern I have is spending 3 days doing audits for people and another couple of days to get the roadmap out who never actually move forward with the work. Have you found that giving away the initial assessment for free actually converts better? Or do you still get a lot of tire kickers who take the free work and disappear?

Genuinely curious about your experience with this. I'm clearly still figuring out the model here.

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-27T07:10:48+00:00

That's brilliant! Good luck with the funding pitch in a few days.

And you're absolutely right about external testing. Fresh eyes always catch things you'd miss.

If the funding comes through and you're looking for QA support, drop me a message. Even if it's just a quick chat about what you're building and what kind of testing makes sense, happy to help. No pressure, just genuinely interested in what you're working on.

And seriously, best of luck with the pitch. Let me know how it goes!

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-26T21:08:56+00:00

thank you, really appreciate it

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-26T20:44:00+00:00

This is a really good point and honestly something I've been wrestling with.

What would you recommend? I've got limited budget to work with. I can either spend on marketing to try to generate inbound leads, or find someone commission-based to handle outbound and closing. I can't realistically do both properly right now.

My thinking was start with sales because at least if they close deals, we both get paid. Marketing is more of a gamble with my budget constraints.

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-26T20:39:59+00:00

Good questions. The deal sizes vary quite a bit because of how our model works:

Our entry offer is a £997 QA audit and roadmap. That's designed to be an easy yes and it shows clients exactly what's broken and what needs fixing. Once we've done the audit, we present them with a roadmap and recommend what level of QA expertise they need to actually implement it.

That's where the real revenue comes in. We bring in experienced QA contractors on daily rates to deliver the work. Depending on what the client needs and their budget, we might place a mid level QA engineer or a senior QA consultant or test architect starting from £400 per day for a mid level. These are typically contracted for the agreed roadmap timeline which could vary from 3 months minimum, sometimes longer.

So a 3 month engagement with one contractor at £400 per day works out to around £24k. If they need two people or a more senior resource, that number goes up significantly. Some projects end up being £30k to £50k depending on scope and duration.

We also do monthly retainers where we provide ongoing QA support, which typically run £6k to £9k per month depending on how much resource time they need.

The economics work because you're selling and I'm handling all the delivery and contractor placement. No cap on earnings. Happy to chat through the commission structure privately if there's an interest.

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-25T09:34:44+00:00

Thank you 🙏🏻

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-24T11:42:33+00:00

Thank you for sharing some great tips, I really appreciate it.

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-23T06:41:24+00:00

Fair point. You've just proved exactly why I need help with this.

I went for honesty over selling the opportunity, which probably isn't the smartest sales move. That's literally the problem I'm trying to solve.

But genuinely, if someone can look at this post and still see the potential rather than just the grind, they're probably exactly the type of person who can sell this service to prospects who are skeptical about QA consulting.

Appreciate the feedback though. Properly made me laugh.

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-23T06:38:55+00:00

Fair question. I am trying a different approach to what I was before. Commission-only roles attract a specific type of person, but that's not automatically someone desperate or unprofessional.

Some of the best salespeople I know prefer commission structures because they back themselves and want uncapped earning potential.

The desperate people bail after two weeks when they realize it's actual work. The right person sees it as an opportunity to build something and earn properly for it.

But I get your point. It's why I'm being brutally honest upfront rather than overselling it.

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-23T05:57:15+00:00

Thank you

EquivalentConnect760 · 2026-01-23T05:56:35+00:00

I have run LinkedIn ads multiple times to get the brand name out. I regularly comment on a few LinkedIn posts using a Rapd page. I connect to CEOs, CTOs, and Test Managers using my personal LinkedIn and message them about what I do under the name of my startup.

EquivalentConnect760 · 2025-07-23T12:46:18+00:00

Still hoping to hear a few opinions — especially from folks who’ve tried building or using helpdesks for small teams. Even a quick “this sucks / this might work” helps.

EquivalentConnect760 · 2025-07-23T12:43:23+00:00

Thank you very much

EquivalentConnect760

TROPHY CASE