# Micro-SaaS ideas — "stupid simple deadline tools" shortlist

Researched 2026-09-16. Pattern: **a calendar with teeth** — tool X has no native
expiry/deadline feature + an auditor/law requires it + incumbents are enterprise-
priced → tiny flat-rate SaaS. Buyers are compliance-driven (dates + fines), not
taste-driven — which suits us (no sales channel, but SEO + community distribution).

De-risk protocol per idea: landing page + one community post → measure email
signups for a week → build only if ~30-50 signups. Infra spins landing pages up
in an hour. Billing: Paddle/Stripe (user account, pending).

## Ranked shortlist

### 1. COI (certificate of insurance) / vendor compliance tracking — FLAGSHIP
- Who pays: small general contractors, property managers, agencies.
- Evidence: manual COI tracking costs ~$36,400/yr in labor
  (https://www.bramble.solutions/learn/coi-tracking-software/); enterprise tools
  $500+/mo "prohibitively expensive" for small contractors
  (https://trackmyvendor.com/compare-coi-tracking-software); new self-serve
  entrants price per-vendor $0.95-$20/mo (https://www.getbcs.com/pricing-and-plans)
  → validated demand, SMB gap still open but entrants arriving — wedge is
  FLAT price ($25-30/mo unlimited vendors) + simplicity.
- v1: vendors + policy uploads + expiry reminders (email/SMS) + audit log.
  Days of build. SEO keywords: "coi tracking for small contractors".

### 2. STR / rental permit & license deadline tracking
- Who pays: short-term-rental hosts, small landlords.
- Moat: per-city permit renewal rules (fragmented data nobody maintains well).
- Hosts already pay for tools. Fines for missed renewals are real.
- 1-2 weeks build (data collection is the work).

### 3. DMARC/SPF/DNS watchdog for SMB domains — WARM-UP (shippable this week)
- Who pays: any small business burned by email deliverability breaking.
- $5-10/mo. Very fast build; becomes lead-gen for the rest.

### 4. Equipment inspection logging (fire extinguishers, backflow, AED)
- Small facility managers, churches, schools. Paper logbooks today,
  fire-marshal fines. 1 week build.

### 5. Employee cert / CE expiry tracking (small clinics, trades)
- Office managers; HR platforms are enterprise. 1 week build.

### 6. Access-review evidence generator (user's original postgres idea, generalized)
- Postgres + GitHub + AWS → quarterly access-review PDF for pre-SOC2 startups
  (10-50 people; spreadsheets until ~50 per
  https://www.accessowl.com/blog/detailed-guide-to-soc-2-access-reviews).
- Risk: security buyers demand brand trust; integrations = scope creep. Rank last.

## Why these beat our failed attempts
Compliance pain is a date with a fine attached (deadline-based), not a taste call
(taste-based sells failed twice: ad-tech tools, site audits to cost-averse
publishers).

## Validation status
| # | landing page | signups | build |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | not started | — | — |
| 2 | not started | — | — |
| 3 | not started | — | can ship immediately |

Needs to proceed: product domain(s) (~$10 each, registrar-side), Paddle/Stripe
(user).