On a December afternoon in Galway in 2010, Michael FitzGerald went out for lunch with a problem on his mind.
He had been running his own small business and, like many business owners, needed a better way to keep track of customers, opportunities and sales. He had tried the available customer relationship management systems, but they seemed to create as much work as they removed. They were complicated, demanded constant data entry and often left salespeople spending more time updating software than talking to customers.
A spreadsheet seemed almost as useful. But there was one important difference. A spreadsheet could store information, but it could not make you act on it.
That distinction became the starting point for OnePageCRM.
When FitzGerald returned to his office that December afternoon, he arrived with a bucket of ice cream for his team—and an idea. On a napkin, he sketched the outline of a different kind of CRM: one that would strip away unnecessary administration and concentrate on the thing that actually moves a sale forward—the next action.
The idea was simple. Every customer or prospect needed a clear next step. A phone call. An email. A meeting. A follow-up. If there was no next action, something was missing.
The philosophy drew on the principles of ‘Getting Things Done’, turning the CRM from a passive database into a daily working tool. Instead of opening the system to stare at charts and lists of old contacts, a salesperson could open it in the morning and immediately see what needed to happen.
That deceptively simple idea became OnePageCRM.
Built in Galway, the company set out to make sales software accessible to small businesses that did not have the time or resources for complicated systems. Its approach was deliberately straightforward: capture the relationship, decide what comes next and get on with the work.
Action Stream
Over time, the product grew considerably, but the original principle remained. The Action Stream became the heart of the platform, while visual sales pipelines made it easier to see where opportunities stood. Email could be synchronised, follow-ups automated and contacts captured directly from the web. Integrations connected sales activity with tools such as accounting and email marketing platforms.
The company has also embraced artificial intelligence without abandoning its original purpose. AI tools can help summarise customer conversations, assist with data entry and support the creation of personalised email sequences. Automated workflows can trigger follow-ups when a deal reaches a particular stage, while mobile tools help salespeople manage relationships when they are away from their desks.
What began with a napkin has therefore become a sophisticated sales platform—but its central idea has hardly changed.
OnePageCRM was never really about collecting more information. It was about doing something with the information already available.
That distinction helped a Galway startup find customers far beyond Galway. Small businesses around the world adopted the platform because they could understand it quickly and put it to work without spending weeks learning a complicated system.
Innovator inspiration
The company's story is also part of the wider story of Galway's emergence as a technology centre. OnePageCRM grew from a city increasingly confident in its ability to produce companies with global ambitions while retaining a strong local identity. FitzGerald himself became involved in Galway's wider startup community, including the development of the PorterShed innovation hub.
Today, OnePageCRM remains headquartered in Galway and continues to serve small businesses internationally. Its technology has moved a long way from the original sketch, incorporating automation, integrations, mobile tools and AI. Yet beneath those developments is the same idea that appeared on that December napkin: technology should help people sell, rather than give them another administrative job.
There is something fitting about the simplicity of the beginning.
No elaborate business plan. No sprawling specification. Just a Galway entrepreneur, a frustrating problem, a lunch break, a bucket of ice cream and a napkin.
From that small moment came a company that built its identity around a powerful proposition: don't just record what happened yesterday. Decide what needs to happen next—and do it.
