A booking app for hairdressers.
- Falls in love with the solution
- Spends five months building it
- Launches to compliments, not bookings
Nobody adopts it.
For non-technical solo founders
A step-by-step guide from idea to your first paying customers. No code, no CTO, and no five months building something nobody wanted.
Already convinced? Buy the paperback.
Real prompts from the book. Brackets are where you add your own details.
The order matters
A booking app for hairdressers.
Nobody adopts it.
A tutoring booking page.
Her first sessions are booked.
Maria and Priya are composite characters. Their figures are illustrative.
Inside the book
Why MVPs fail, the three things yours must prove, and how to find users and test a price.
Turn what you learned into a one-page spec and a reusable build prompt.
System architecture and screens in plain English, before anything is built.
Choose tools by job, run the five-step build loop, and learn what AI should not do alone.
Three rounds of testing: a script, an assistant reviewer and five strangers.
Hosting, UK and EU rules, and a launch day checklist from prompt to Stripe.
Security habits and a maintenance rhythm you can keep up alone.
Your first ten paying users, and how to tell when it is time to hire a developer.
This book is for you if
It is not
What early readers say
Questions
No. The book assumes you have never written code. You describe what you want in plain English, and learn how to check what comes back.
It covers app builders, coding assistants and design tools, and shows how to choose by job rather than brand. Prices and features change, so the tool comparison is dated and points you to each company's own pricing page.
The method works anywhere. One chapter covers UK and EU specifics: GDPR, the ICO data protection fee, forming a limited company and VAT. It is general information, not legal advice.
It can build a working first version quickly. It can also hide serious faults, especially around payments, logins and who can see what. The book shows which parts to rent from specialists and which to have a professional review.
A Validation Scorecard to set pass marks for the three proofs before you build, and a Launch Day Checklist for the day you go live. Both come straight from the book.
Yes, AI assistance was used in drafting, and the book says so. It also teaches you to review AI output before you rely on it.
Paperback
Get the complete guide, with 50 prompts, checklists and templates for the whole journey from idea to launch and beyond.
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Write your pass marks before you test. Decide what counts as success, then measure it.
Condensed from the book's chapter on going live.