Why

Solo operator, <10 inquiries/month across web form, referrals, and LinkedIn — that's two or three live conversations at any time. The risk isn't losing deals in a pipeline; it's a referral sitting unread in LinkedIn for 11 days because you were deep in client delivery. B2B consulting cycles run weeks to months, so what you actually need is a memory system and a reliable follow-up cadence, not a Kanban board.

What you actually need

1. Notion database with kanban view (free) — one table called "Pipeline 2026" with properties: Name, Company, Source (Web/Referral/LinkedIn), Last Touch, Next Touch, Status (Inquiry → Call Booked → Proposal → Won/Lost). Kanban view grouped by Status.
2. Cal.com (free) — one booking link for "30-min intro call" embedded in your web form's thank-you page and pinned to your LinkedIn profile. Kills the email tennis that loses referrals.
3. A habit — Friday 20-minute pipeline sweep — every Friday before you log off, open Notion, sort by "Next Touch" ascending, and send any follow-up older than 7 days. One block, one beer, done.

Do this today

In Notion, hit "+ New page" → "Table" → name it "Pipeline 2026" and add the seven properties above (Status as a Select with the five options, Next Touch as a Date). Then switch to "+ New view" → "Board" → group by Status. Paste in every live conversation you have right now from your inbox, LinkedIn DMs, and web form — you'll almost certainly find one you forgot about, and that one pays for the exercise.

What to ignore

Skip HubSpot Free — looks free, but the upsell pressure to Sales Hub Starter (£15/seat/mo) starts the moment you log a second deal, and the interface is built for SDR teams not solo consultants. Same for Pipedrive (£14/seat/mo) and Folk — both fine products, both overkill at your volume. Anyone on LinkedIn pitching you Apollo or Lemlist "to scale outbound" is solving a different business than yours.

What doing nothing costs you

At <10 inquiries/month, even one forgotten referral per quarter on a typical UK B2B consulting engagement (£8-15k) is £30-60k/year of revenue lost to inattention. For a solo operator, that's not a rounding error — that's a quarter of your book.

Where this leaves you

You've got Notion, Cal.com, and a Friday ritual. The plan would add proposal and follow-up email templates tuned to your three channels (web/referral/LinkedIn each want different opening lines), a routine adapted to your time-zone split across NA/UK/EU clients, and a recovery move for the inevitable Friday you skip the sweep because a client deadline ate the afternoon.

When to revisit this

When you hit 20 inquiries/month or bring on a second person (associate, VA, or partner) who needs to see the same pipeline.