Hey there! I'm Omotayo Sonde, a solo software developer constantly building SaaS tools, WordPress plugins, and little browser extensions (mostly for myself... for now). Like many indie developers, most of my projects are still at $0 MRR, but every once in a while, a real-world client need gives me the perfect excuse to build something useful — and potentially sellable.
This is the story of how one urgent request from a Nigerian oil & gas company led me to create not one, but two custom CRM form builder plugins — and why I finally decided to properly monetize the latest one.
It Started With an Urgent Salesforce Test
A few months ago, a sales rep from a well-known oil company here in Nigeria reached out. They needed a quick way to make contact forms on their WordPress site submit leads directly into a CRM.
At that point, they were just testing Salesforce. They weren’t ready to commit to a paid integration tool or subscription, so buying a premium plugin wasn’t an option.
I said yes (because deadlines and real problems are great motivators), and over a short sprint, I built a custom Salesforce Form Builder WordPress plugin from scratch tailored exactly to their test needs.
It worked. They tested Salesforce, gathered some leads, and... decided it wasn’t the right fit.
Plot Twist: “We’re Switching to Zoho CRM Now”
A few weeks later: “Great news — we’re going with Zoho CRM instead. Can you make the forms work with Zoho?”
I checked the usual suspects — Contact Form 7, WPForms, Gravity Forms, and their Zoho integrations. They’re solid plugins, no doubt. But when I mapped out the exact fields the company needed, I noticed gaps:
- Some text fields weren’t supported out of the box
- They wanted a Product Interest dropdown
- File uploads needed to attach properly in Zoho
- A few extra notes/text areas
Close, but not quite there without hacks or add-ons they didn’t want to buy.
So... I built it again.
Introducing: Zoho CRM Form Builder Plugin
This time, I created a dedicated Zoho CRM Form Builder plugin with everything they asked for (and a bit more):
Supported Fields:
- First Name (text)
- Last Name (text)
- Company (text)
- Email (email)
- Phone (tel)
- Mobile (tel)
- Lead Source (text)
- Description (textarea)
- Additional Notes (textarea)
- Product Interest (select dropdown)
- File Upload (with attachment to Zoho record)
Features:
- Drag-and-drop form builder
- Easy field mapping to Zoho modules (Leads, Contacts, etc.)
- Shortcode embedding
- Secure API connection
- Works with any WordPress theme
The Smart Move: I Monetized It This Time
In the past, I’ve done custom work like this and just... moved on. But this felt different. The plugin was clean, reusable, and solved a specific pain point.
So I decided to productize it properly:
Pricing:
- 💸 $45 one-time license (lifetime updates)
- 💸 $5/month subscription (for hosted license key + priority support)
To reduce risk for the client (in case they switched CRMs again), I gave them a free test license key first. Try it fully, no commitment. If it works — great, they can upgrade. If not — no loss.
Even if this particular client doesn’t convert long-term, I now have a real product I can offer to other businesses running WordPress + Zoho CRM.
Lessons Learned
- Client requests are gold for validation — they show you real problems people will pay to solve.
- Custom work can (and should) become products — don’t just build once and forget.
- Monetize early, but fairly — offer test access to build trust.
- Have fun with it — even underpaid gigs can lead to bigger things if you treat them as investments.
Want to Try It?
I’ve put up a simple landing page where you can see more details here
A proper full-featured page with screenshots, demo video, and documentation is coming soon, but you can grab it now if you need Zoho + WordPress integration with file uploads and custom fields.
If you're interested in early access, have questions, or need custom tweaks (different fields, other CRM modules, etc.) — just DM me on X @sonde_omotayo or reply here.
Also totally open to building similar tools for other CRMs or specific use cases. Freelance/custom dev work welcome 👀
Thanks for reading! If you're an indie dev too, what's the last client request that turned into something bigger for you?
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