Right Paddy, let's get you moving.
One simple plan to get you up and running on Claude Code and land your first paying client this month, using local businesses as your training ground. No fluff. Follow the sidebar top to bottom.
What this is
A concrete month-1 plan, made just for you off the back of your answers. The generic guides were grand for context, but this is the actual path: get set up, pick ONE local trade to start with, and send a handful of short videos every day until one says yes. We dug into the numbers on which way to go first, that is the Why local first page, read it before anything else.
This is not the niche you said you want long-term, and that is on purpose. Local businesses are your gym: low stakes, fast cash, and the fastest way to build the one muscle you told me you most need (just taking action and sending the thing). Once it is working and money is coming in, you point the same machine at the coaches and creators you actually care about.
Your first 3 actions
- Fill in the discovery sheet so I can tailor the rest to your real situation. Jump to it below.
- Get set up (VS Code, Claude Code, GitHub, Cloudflare). Setup Guide.
- Send your first practice video to a mate before you go near a real prospect. Outreach.
You reached out and asked for help. That is the hard part and you have already done it. The rest is just following the list.
Step 02 The 30-Day Plan
Your all-in month, starting when you land in Ireland (not now, Brazil is travel + light setup only). Four weeks, one job each. Do the week you are in, not the whole month at once. The win this month is volume and reps and beating the phone-fear, not a signed client, the client falls out of the volume.
How you'll know it's working
- Week 1: your tools work and one site is live.
- Week 2: 5 real videos sent.
- Week 3: 100+ businesses contacted, at least one interested.
- Week 4: one thing built and live, one testimonial in hand.
Step 03 Setup Guide
Do these first. Two full walkthrough guides are already live, no need to copy anything down, just open them.
Open the Startup Guide → Advanced Guide →The week-1 setup checklist
| # | Set up | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | VS Code + Claude Code extension | The workspace everything runs in. |
| 2 | A Claude subscription | Powers your in-chat building. Start on Pro, move to Max when busy. |
| 3 | GitHub account + git | Backup, and the repo you clone your starter kit from. |
| 4 | Cloudflare (free) + wrangler | Host client sites and your own pages for free. |
| 5 | Loom (free) | Record your 2-minute outreach videos. |
You set up your own accounts and keys, I'll walk you through any that stick. Exact steps are in Resources.
Step 04 The Outreach Engine
This is the bit that makes money. Same routine every day. Don't overthink it.
The daily routine
- Pick 5 to 10 local businesses (people you know first, then a list).
- Spend 5 minutes looking at each one's site or Google profile.
- Record a 2-minute Loom: one problem you spotted, how AI fixes it.
- Send it (email, DM, WhatsApp).
- Ring them within 24 hours.
- Log every one in your tracker.
Your 2-minute video script
"Hey [name], Paddy here. I came across [business] while looking at [trade] in [town], quick 2-minute video, not a sales pitch.
I noticed [one specific thing, e.g. you've no way for people to get a quote after hours]. Here's the thing: [one sentence on how a simple AI tool fixes it]. I build these for local businesses.
If it's useful I'll set one up for you, first one's basically free so you can see it works. I'll give you a quick ring tomorrow. Cheers [name]."
The rules: under 2 minutes, ONE problem, no jargon, and always name the business plus a specific detail so it's obviously not spam.
The follow-up call
"Hi [name], it's Paddy, I sent you a short video about [business] yesterday, did you get a chance to look? No bother either way. The reason I reached out: [the one problem]. I can set the fix up for you this week, free, just to show it works, worth a look?"
When you don't want to start (you told me this is the hard bit)
- Same time every day. List ready the night before.
- First video sent by 10am, before the day eats it.
- Feeling spammy? The specific-detail rule fixes it, every message proves you actually looked.
Step 05 Your Questions Sheet Done
You smashed this, all 32 answered, and they were brilliant. Everything on this page (and the Why local first call) came straight out of your answers. Leaving the sheet here so you can add to it any time.
Open your discovery sheet →- The big reads: you do not want local biz long-term (noted, it is the gym not the goal), English market not Portuguese, phone calls are the block, and you work best off a handed checklist.
- That last one is why this plan is a list, not a strategy for you to redesign.
Step 06 One.ie Coming soon
This is your real income, the recurring kind you've been missing.
Tony (my collaborator) is finishing a tool called One.ie: a smart chat assistant under your client's own brand that captures and books their leads round the clock, so enquiries stop slipping through. Ready in about a month. Once it's live, you resell it to the same local businesses you've been talking to, as a monthly product, at a discount I'll sort you out with.
Why it matters: it's recurring and productised, not a fresh custom build every time. It fixes exactly what went wrong with the houses, no carrying all the risk, no one big scary booking a year ahead.
Straight with you: right now it captures and books leads through web chat, it does not answer the actual phone yet, so we sell what it really does, not more. Month 1 you build the muscle with simple sites and the video outreach. When One.ie ships it becomes your recurring paid offer. Terms being finalised, I'll confirm pricing with you before you quote anyone.
Step 07 Resources
Everything in one place. Bookmark this page.
| Thing | Link |
|---|---|
| Startup Guide | claude-code-startup-guide |
| Advanced Guide | claude-code-advanced-guide |
| Your discovery sheet | Open sheet |
| Your starter-kit repo | Donal sets up (you'll clone this and work from it) |
Setting up your own keys
You'll use your own accounts, not mine. Cloudflare is wrangler login, GitHub is gh auth login, both just open a browser. You only need an Anthropic API key later if you write scripts that call the API directly, most of month 1 runs free inside your Claude subscription. I'll walk you through any of it on a call.
One thing at a time, Paddy. Don't jump ahead. Week 1 is just getting set up. That's the whole job this week.