Validated Business Idea
Job scheduling and customer texting for solo tradespeople — under 5 minutes to set up.
Flat monthly SaaS subscription: $29/month Starter (1 user, scheduling + automated SMS reminders, up to 50 jobs/month), $59/month Pro (1 user, unlimited jobs, invoicing, review requests, customer portal). No per-SMS fees — bundled Twilio costs ~$3-5/month per user at this volume, leaving 80%+ gross margin. Annual plan at 2 months free to improve LTR. No free tier — 14-day free trial only to filter serious buyers.
Pricing Tiers
Margins: No server costs until >500 active users. Hosting on Render ~$5–15/mo. Gross margins 85%+ once customer base grows.
Solo or 2-person trade businesses (plumbers, electricians, HVAC techs, handymen) earning $60k-$200k/year who currently use pen-and-paper, Google Calendar, or spreadsheets. Pain point: missed appointments, no-shows, chasing payments, and zero time to learn Jobber's 80-feature dashboard. Demand is high now because post-COVID home services boom left a long tail of newly self-employed tradespeople who aged out of enterprise software patience.
Week 1-2 [Setup]: Register LLC and domain. Stand up a Next.js frontend + Supabase backend. Integrate Twilio for SMS. Build core data model: jobs, customers, time slots. Create a Stripe billing integration with the two plan tiers. No mobile app yet — mobile-responsive web only. Week 3-4 [Build Core]: Ship scheduling calendar (drag-drop day view), customer contact list, and automated SMS reminder 24h before job. Week 5-6 [Build Invoicing]: Add one-tap invoice generation with Stripe payment link embedded. Add post-job SMS review request to Google Business Profile. Week 7-8 [Validate]: Recruit 10 beta users via local Facebook trade groups and r/Plumbing, r/HVAC, r/handyman. Offer 60 days free in exchange for weekly 20-min feedback calls. Track activation (did they add 3+ jobs?) and retention. Week 9 [Iterate]: Fix top 3 friction points from beta feedback. Add a simple job status board (Kanban: Booked, In Progress, Done, Invoiced). Week 10-11 [Launch]: Launch on Product Hunt, post case study from one beta user (before/after: missed jobs reduced, time saved). Run $300 Facebook/Instagram ad test targeting self-employed tradespeople aged 28-50 in 3 US metro areas. Week 12 [Scale Signal]: If CAC under $80 and 15+ paying users, double ad spend and begin outreach to trade associations for affiliate deals.
The AI handles everything else. You just approve these 5 decisions — everything between approvals runs autonomously.
Claim "TradeDesk" and set up the domain
Register the domain (~$12/yr) and point it to the platform.
Connect Stripe for payment processing
Create your free Stripe account and enable the Pro ($19/mo) and Enterprise ($79/mo) pricing tiers. Payments go directly to your bank.
Approve landing page + beta launch
AI builds the landing page and sets up the free tier. You approve the copy and design before going live.
Approve Pro tier billing launch
AI enables Stripe billing for the $19/mo Pro tier. First paying customer triggers automated receipt emails.
Approve Enterprise tier and $500 MRR push
AI adds the $79/mo Enterprise tier with team features and priority support. Launch targeting indie hacker communities.
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