Why I Built a Custom CRM Instead of Using Salesforce — and How You Can Too

The problem every executive assistant knows

You have 200+ contacts across 3 departments. Some are internal stakeholders, some are clients, some are vendors. Each needs different follow-up cadences, notes, and priorities. And somehow it's all in a spreadsheet that nobody updates.

Why Salesforce was the wrong answer

Salesforce is a $150B company for a reason — they solve enterprise CRM. But for a solo executive assistant managing 200 contacts, Salesforce is like hiring a 50-person IT team to manage your personal inbox.

I needed something that:

What I built

A custom CRM with:

The result

Zero missed follow-ups in 6 months. The executive I support saves 4+ hours per week. Total development time: 3 days.

Want the exact blueprint?

I documented the full build — database schema, API routes, and deployment — in a GitHub repo. DM me if you want the link.