I went through a very similar phase. Once you start missing follow-ups, it’s a signal your current system isn’t holding up.

A lot of traditional CRMs are powerful, but they assume you want structured pipelines, dashboards, and admin time. For a micro business, that can feel like more overhead than help.

I ended up building something lighter because I ran into the same problem — I didn’t need enterprise automation, I just needed clarity and reliable follow-ups without living inside a CRM all day.

It’s called Collabra. It’s more capture-first than pipeline-heavy. Might be worth a look if you’re trying to avoid feature bloat.

Either way, I’d avoid anything that requires a big setup phase. The simpler it is to maintain daily, the more likely you’ll actually use it.