Building Simple Custom Internal Tools (trackers, Logs, Booking Sheets) for Small Businesses to Replace Paper or Overpriced Software
Originally published Sep 8, 2026 — Luna Vega
Luna Vega · 5 PROFITABLE Claude AI Side Hustle That Will Make You RICH! ↗
One of 5 ideas covered in this video
Build small, single-purpose internal tools for small businesses under about 20 employees — an employee attendance/clock-in tracker, a cleaning-company job log, a service-appointment booking page, a tutoring-center attendance sheet — using Claude to "vibe code" a simple, tailored system that replaces a paper process or an over-featured, overpriced piece of HR/operations software, then sell samples via cold outreach to businesses matching that specific operational pain point.
The presenter's framing example is an employee attendance tracker sold on Etsy as a simple, color-coded Google Sheet with automated formulas and real reviews from small businesses choosing it over a clipboard or a $100/month HR platform — the broader opportunity being that most small businesses under 20 employees are stuck between manual paper processes and software built for a much bigger company, and Claude can build a scoped-down tool for a specific repetitive task (not a full enterprise dashboard) in an afternoon, which is then demonstrated via cold email with a working sample attached.
Someone comfortable describing a business process clearly enough for Claude to build a working tool without needing to code by hand, and willing to build unsolicited sample tools and do cold outreach to land the first few clients.
The underlying gap — small businesses caught between manual processes and enterprise-priced software — is a real and often-cited market niche, and scoped-down single-purpose tools are a genuinely practical use of AI-assisted ("vibe coded") development. The presenter is upfront this takes real early effort (building unsolicited samples, cold emailing) rather than being a quick, passive listing, and results will vary heavily by how well a given tool actually fits a business's specific workflow.