Idea & validation guide

1. Start with a real local problem

The best local businesses solve a problem neighbors already have. Before anything else, get specific:

• ✓Who exactly is your customer, and what are they frustrated with today?
• ✓What do they currently do instead — and why is it annoying, slow, or expensive?
• ✓Could you serve them within your city and radius? Local beats broad.

2. Check existing demand on Everything Local

Use the marketplace itself as free market research:

• ✓Search your category on the Search page and see how many businesses already serve it locally.
• ✓Read Local Pages — people literally post what they're looking for and can't find.
• ✓Few or no results in your category is a gap, not a dead end — that's white space you can own.

3. Validate before you build

• ✓Talk to 10 potential local customers. Would they pay? How much? How often?
• ✓Pre-sell if you can — a deposit or a waitlist is the strongest signal there is.
• ✓Post a free listing and measure real interest (views, inquiries) before investing.

4. Green light checklist

• ✓A clear customer and problem you can describe in one sentence.
• ✓At least a handful of locals who said 'yes, I'd buy this.'
• ✓A price that covers your costs and leaves profit.