A Software Tool That Helps You Discover Businesses Without Websites

🌐 Thousands of local businesses still don’t have a website—and they’re losing customers because of it.

From salons to repair shops, these companies are nearly invisible online.

In this edition of Easy Startup Ideas, you’ll learn how to build a simple tool that finds businesses without websites—so you can turn that data into clients, recurring revenue, or both.

Today’s Idea

A prospecting tool that scans businesses by location and industry to identify which ones don’t have a website or have a weak online presence. Users can search specific business types in a region and instantly get a list of high-potential leads.

This helps freelancers and agencies find their next clients before those businesses even realize they need help.

Ideal Customer

This tool is built for:

• Freelance web designers and developers

• Digital marketing agencies

• SEO consultants and local business marketers

• No-code/low-code builders using platforms like Webflow, Wix, or Framer

• Virtual assistants or SDRs doing lead-gen for consultants

In short, anyone offering services to small businesses who needs a regular source of qualified, early-stage leads.

Why It Will Succeed

• Zero direct competition in this niche. Most lead-gen tools (like Apollo, Hunter, or ZoomInfo) help users contact businesses that already have websites. This tool lets you catch them before they're online, which is a competitive edge.

• Instant, high-perceived value. Instead of manually scouring directories and checking for websites one by one, users get filtered, ranked leads in seconds.

• Evergreen demand. There are always new small businesses opening without a web presence.

• Geographic moat. The more you scrape and store, the more defensible your database becomes.

• Dual-use tool. Even if you don’t want to build the platform as a SaaS, you could run the process manually and use it to sell your own web design or digital services locally.

Getting Started and Building an MVP

Tools & Resources Needed

• Scraping:
  Use Python with BeautifulSoup or Playwright to crawl public directories.
  Yelp Fusion API, Apple Maps, or OpenCorporates can be used for business listings.

• Web presence checker:
  Use the Python requests library to check whether a business has a website, and use WHOIS tools to check domain registration. Optionally run a headless browser like Playwright to verify visual site presence.

• Front-end UI:
  Use Bubble for a quick no-code MVP, or React.js if you’re a developer.

• Database & hosting:
  Firebase, Supabase, or Airtable for storing and displaying leads.

• For non-coders:
  Build MVP logic with Replit using Python, or get AI help from Claude to write your scraping and classification code.

Building the MVP

1. User Input Flow:

   • Allow users to select a city or ZIP code

   • Choose or search an industry: “dentists,” “plumbers,” “caterers”

2. Scrape Listings:

   • Use Yelp or Yellow Pages to collect business names, addresses, phone numbers, and listed URLs (if any)

3. Website Presence Classification:

   • Check each business listing for:

     • No website listed

     • Placeholder or redirect (e.g., Facebook page or Wix default site)

     • Broken/dead link

     • Functional website

4. Display Results:

   • Table format with tags like: “No Site,” “Facebook Only,” “Broken,” or “Live Site”

   • Option to export as CSV or save to a personal dashboard

5. Optionally Add CRM Features:

   • Allow users to add notes, outreach stages, and track follow-ups

Monetization Strategies

1. Freemium:
   Limit number of searches or locations for free users. Unlock full access with a monthly subscription.

2. Subscription Tiers:
   $19/mo for 1 city, $49/mo for 5 cities, $99/mo for national access and CSV export.

3. Pay-per-export:
   Charge $0.50–$2 per lead when users want to export high-quality prospects.

4. Agency Licensing:
   Sell white-labeled versions to agencies and virtual assistant firms to use as their in-house prospecting tool.

5. Outreach automation:
   Upsell automated email campaigns or templates that users can send to leads with no online presence.

6. "Done for you" services:
   Offer your own web design or funnel creation service as an upsell. Or partner with freelancers and take a commission.

Marketing Strategies

1. Reddit + IndieHackers:
   Target freelancer subs and startup founders who offer web services. Share value-led posts showing how to find 100 leads in under 10 minutes.

2. Tutorial YouTube Videos:
   Showcase how to find offline businesses and pitch them using your tool. Add lead-gen scripts and free templates to the description.

3. Direct Outreach to Agencies:
   Email small digital agencies and offer this as a lead-gen tool for their junior SDRs.

4. Partnerships with Course Creators:
   Partner with instructors teaching Webflow, Framer, or cold outreach. Offer your product to their students as a practical tool.

5. Social Proof Campaigns:
   Document case studies of freelancers who landed their first $5,000+ client from leads generated with your tool.

6. Affiliate Program:
   Offer 20–30% recurring revenue to marketers or influencers in the freelance space.

Expanding and Improving

1. AI-Powered Email Drafter:
   Use AI to auto-generate cold outreach emails tailored to the business and the reason they might need help.

2. Contact Info Discovery:
   Use Hunter.io or Snov.io APIs to auto-lookup emails and phone numbers.

3. Lead Warmth Scoring:
   Add metrics like “active on Google reviews” or “no FB page” to indicate urgency or openness.

4. Outreach Automation:
   Let users send cold emails right from within the dashboard.

5. Geo-Personalization:
   Support hyper-local targeting—down to neighborhood level—great for small agencies.

6. Build a Freelancer Marketplace:
   If you capture the supply and demand sides, this could evolve into a service platform like Bark or Thumbtack—but focused on proactive outreach.

Thanks for checking out another edition of Easy Startup Ideas!

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