Guide
From idea to first customer
Five steps, in order. Small enough to start today. Each one comes with a thing to try today and a note from my own tries.
Step 1: Find a gap
Look for something people keep putting up with. A problem that is real is already costing someone.
Try this todayWrite down three small annoyances you met today. Circle the one you would most like gone.
From my own tries
I learned waste from the ground up first: collection, plants, sales and service. Up close, the gaps showed themselves.
Clearing a hurdle from someone's road is a good deed.Sahih al-Bukhari 2989: read the full textSahih Muslim 1009: read the full text
Step 2: Talk to ten people
Ask people who feel the problem how they deal with it now. Listen more than you speak.
Try this todayMessage one person who feels it and ask: "What do you do about this today?"
From my own tries
With cleanlier, growing it taught me more than building it. Customers showed me what they really need.
Step 3: Run the smallest test
Make the cheapest version that could work and put it in front of real people. No big launch.
Try this todaySay your idea in one sentence. Then write the smallest thing you could do this week to test it.
From my own tries
A compost unit for homes worked, house after house. Something small you can hold beats a big plan.
Step 4: Win your first customer
Ask one person to pay for it, even a little. A paying yes tells you more than ten kind words.
Try this todayName one person who might want it badly enough to pay. Ask them this week.
From my own tries
Secure paper taught me trust is the real product. A suit business had nothing to do with waste and everything to do with selling.
Step 5: Learn and repeat
After every try, note what worked, what did not and what you will change. Then go again.
Try this todayWrite three lines: one thing that worked, one that did not, one change for next time.
From my own tries
Every try handed its lessons to the next. Urban Trash carries all of them.
Not sure where to look?
Pick an area, answer three questions and get your first three steps.