LocalPitch — The Job Board Built for Electricians, Plumbers, and HVAC Techs Who Never Check LinkedIn
LinkedIn is useless for finding a licensed electrician to hire and Indeed buries trade job postings under a mountain of office jobs. LocalPitch is a zip-code-first job board for skilled trades — electricians, plumbers, HVAC techs, and welders — where employers post and workers apply in under 2 minutes from a mobile-first interface built for people who are never at a desk.
Difficulty
beginner
Category
Gig Economy
Market Demand
High
Revenue Score
7/10
Platform
Web App
Vibe Code Friendly
⚡ YesHackathon Score
5/10
What is it?
The skilled trades labor shortage has created a massive hiring gap that generalist job boards are structurally bad at solving — LinkedIn optimizes for resume culture, and Indeed charges per-click CPCs that kill small contractors. LocalPitch is a zip-code-radius job board exclusively for licensed trade workers, where employers post a job in 90 seconds (trade type, hourly rate, license required, zip code) and workers browse within a 25-mile radius on a mobile-first card UI. No resume required — workers create a one-page trade profile with license type, years of experience, and availability. Monetization is $49/month per employer for unlimited postings in one zip code cluster. The worker side is always free. 100% buildable in 2 weeks with Next.js, Supabase, and Mapbox.
Why now?
Supabase added native PostGIS support with zero configuration in 2024, making zip-radius geo-search trivial to build without a custom spatial database — removing the last technical barrier to a solo founder shipping a trade job board in one weekend.
- ▸Zip-code-radius job search using Supabase PostGIS that shows only jobs within the worker's chosen distance on a mobile card UI.
- ▸90-second employer job post form with trade type, license requirement, hourly rate, and zip code — no account required for the first post.
- ▸One-page trade worker profile with license type, years of experience, and SMS-based application (no resume upload required).
- ▸Employer SMS and email alert within 2 minutes when a qualified worker applies, with worker profile link included.
Target Audience
Small electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and welding contractors needing to hire — approximately 700,000 US trade contractors with 1-20 employees who hire seasonally.
Example Use Case
A 5-person electrical contracting company posts a journeyman electrician opening with a $42/hour rate and 25-mile radius — 8 qualified applicants with valid license numbers respond within 48 hours, all without a recruiter or Indeed credit.
User Stories
- ▸As an HVAC contractor, I want to post a licensed tech job in under 2 minutes with a flat monthly fee, so that I stop paying per-click on Indeed for applicants who are unqualified.
- ▸As a journeyman electrician, I want to browse open jobs within 20 miles of my home on my phone without uploading a resume, so that I find local work faster without LinkedIn.
- ▸As an employer, I want an SMS alert within minutes of a qualified worker applying, so that I can contact them before they apply to another posting.
Done When
- ✓Job post: done when employer fills the 5-field form and their job appears on the browse map within 30 seconds without creating an account.
- ✓Geo-browse: done when worker sets a 25-mile radius and sees only jobs within that distance displayed as mobile cards sorted by distance.
- ✓Apply flow: done when worker taps Apply, enters name and phone number, and employer receives an SMS with the worker profile link within 2 minutes.
- ✓Billing: done when employer completes Stripe checkout and their job postings remain visible after the free trial ends.
Is it worth building?
$49/month x 100 employers = $4,900 MRR at month 3. $49/month x 400 employers = $19,600 MRR at month 8. Math assumes 5% conversion of contractors reached via trade association outreach.
Unit Economics
CAC: $30 via in-person supply house outreach and Facebook trade group ads. LTV: $588 (12 months at $49/month). Payback: 1 month. Gross margin: 87%.
Business Model
SaaS subscription
Monetization Path
Workers always free. Employers pay $49/month for unlimited job postings in one metro radius. $99/month for multi-city posting.
Revenue Timeline
First dollar: week 2 via first paid employer subscription. $1k MRR: month 2. $5k MRR: month 5.
Estimated Monthly Cost
Supabase: $25, Vercel: $20, Mapbox: $30 (map tile usage), Twilio: $20, Stripe fees: ~$25. Total: ~$120/month at launch.
Profit Potential
Full-time viable at $8k-$12k MRR. Acqui-hire target for HomeAdvisor or Angi at scale.
Scalability
High — expand to regional trade association partnerships, background check integration, and a worker ratings system.
Success Metrics
Week 1: 20 employer postings live in one metro. Week 3: 100 worker profiles created. Month 2: 30 paid employer subscriptions.
Launch & Validation Plan
Manually post 10 trade job listings scraped from Craigslist into a landing page, buy 3 Facebook ads targeting electricians in one zip code, and measure profile creation rate before building the full product.
Customer Acquisition Strategy
First customer: walk into 5 local electrical and HVAC supply houses and offer free employer listings for 30 days in exchange for a flyer on their bulletin board — trade workers visit these stores weekly. Ongoing: trade association newsletter ads (NECA, PHCC, ACCA), Facebook groups for local tradespeople, Nextdoor for contractor hiring.
What's the competition?
Competition Level
Low
Similar Products
Indeed (generalist, CPC pricing kills small contractors), Craigslist (no license verification, spam-heavy), Thumbtack (lead-gen model, not hiring).
Competitive Advantage
LinkedIn requires a resume culture that trade workers reject, Indeed charges CPCs that drain contractor budgets, Craigslist has no license verification — LocalPitch is mobile-first, license-aware, and flat-fee priced for the exact audience being ignored.
Regulatory Risks
Low regulatory risk. License number display is informational only — LocalPitch does not verify licenses and must include a disclaimer. GDPR compliance required for any EU worker profiles.
What's the roadmap?
Feature Roadmap
V1 (launch): job post form, geo-radius browse, one-tap apply, SMS alert, Stripe billing. V2 (month 2-3): worker ratings, employer dashboard with applicant tracking. V3 (month 4+): background check integration, multi-city employer plans, trade association partner portal.
Milestone Plan
Phase 1 (Week 1-2): job post, geo-search, apply flow, and SMS alert all working end-to-end in one metro. Phase 2 (Week 3-4): Stripe billing live, 20 employer postings seeded, 50 worker profiles created. Phase 3 (Month 2): 30 paying employers, supply house partnership in 2 cities, first hire confirmed.
How do you build it?
Tech Stack
Next.js, Supabase, Mapbox GL JS, Stripe, Resend, Twilio — build with Lovable for mobile-first UI, Cursor for geo-search logic.
Suggested Frameworks
Next.js App Router, Supabase client, Mapbox GL JS
Time to Ship
2 weeks
Required Skills
Supabase geo-search with PostGIS, Mapbox GL JS, Stripe billing, Twilio SMS for application alerts.
Resources
Supabase PostGIS docs, Mapbox GL JS quickstart, Stripe billing docs, Twilio SMS quickstart.
MVP Scope
app/page.tsx (landing + post a job CTA), app/jobs/page.tsx (radius job browse), app/post/page.tsx (employer job form), app/api/jobs/route.ts (create and geo-query jobs), app/api/apply/route.ts (application handler), lib/db/schema.ts (Drizzle schema with PostGIS), components/JobCard.tsx (mobile job card), components/WorkerProfile.tsx (one-page profile), seed.ts (10 demo job listings), .env.example.
Core User Journey
Employer posts job in 90 seconds -> worker browses by zip radius on mobile -> worker taps apply -> employer gets SMS alert -> employer views profile -> hire happens outside the platform.
Architecture Pattern
Employer posts job -> stored in Supabase with PostGIS point geometry -> worker sets radius in profile -> geo-query returns jobs within radius -> worker taps apply -> Twilio SMS fires to employer -> employer views worker one-page profile -> upgrades to paid via Stripe.
Data Model
Employer has many JobPostings. JobPosting has a PostGIS Point geometry and many Applications. Worker has one TradeProfile with license type and location point. Application links JobPosting to TradeProfile.
Integration Points
Supabase PostGIS for geo-search, Mapbox GL JS for radius map visualization, Twilio for application SMS alerts, Resend for email digests, Stripe for employer subscription billing, Vercel for hosting.
V1 Scope Boundaries
V1 excludes: in-platform messaging, background check integration, worker ratings, multi-location employer accounts, and mobile native app.
Success Definition
A trade contractor posts a job, receives three qualified applicants within 48 hours, hires one, and subscribes for the following month without any founder outreach.
Challenges
Cold-start problem: the job board is worthless without both employers posting and workers browsing — must seed one side first, and trade workers are notoriously hard to reach digitally. The real distribution moat is trade association partnerships and HVAC supply house bulletin board flyers, not digital ads.
Avoid These Pitfalls
Do not build license verification before launch — add a disclaimer and let employers verify manually; automated license database APIs are expensive and state-specific. Do not try to own the hiring transaction — be the discovery layer only. First 10 employers will come from in-person supply house outreach, not digital ads.
Security Requirements
Supabase Auth with email magic link. RLS on all user tables scoped to authenticated user. Worker phone numbers hashed before storage. Rate limiting 20 req/min per IP on apply endpoint. GDPR data deletion endpoint for EU worker profiles.
Infrastructure Plan
Vercel for Next.js. Supabase Postgres with PostGIS for geo-data. Sentry for errors. GitHub Actions for CI. Mapbox for geocoding and map tiles. Total: ~$120/month.
Performance Targets
300 DAU and 1,500 req/day at launch. Geo-query under 300ms. Mobile page load under 1.5s. Mapbox tiles served via CDN.
Go-Live Checklist
- ☐Security audit complete.
- ☐Stripe billing tested end-to-end.
- ☐Twilio SMS delivery confirmed.
- ☐Sentry live.
- ☐Custom domain with SSL.
- ☐Privacy policy and license disclaimer published.
- ☐10 real job postings seeded in one metro.
- ☐Rollback plan in README.
- ☐Supply house outreach script drafted.
First Run Experience
On first run: 10 demo trade job postings in a fictional metro area are pre-loaded on the browse map showing electrician, plumber, and HVAC roles with real hourly rates. User can immediately browse, filter by trade type, and view a full job card. No manual config required: PostGIS seed data is pre-loaded and Mapbox renders without account creation.
How to build it, step by step
1. Define Drizzle schema for Employer, JobPosting (with PostGIS geography column), Worker, TradeProfile, and Application in lib/db/schema.ts. 2. Enable PostGIS extension in Supabase and add geo-index on JobPosting location. 3. Scaffold Next.js app with Supabase Auth (email magic link, no password required for workers). 4. Build the 90-second employer job post form in app/post/page.tsx with trade type selector, hourly rate, and zip code geocoded to PostGIS point via Mapbox Geocoding API. 5. Implement geo-query in app/api/jobs/route.ts using ST_DWithin to return jobs within worker's radius. 6. Build mobile-first JobCard component using Lovable showing trade type, rate, distance, and apply button. 7. Build one-tap apply flow in app/api/apply/route.ts that fires Twilio SMS to employer with worker profile link. 8. Add Stripe subscription billing for employers with 30-day free trial and $49/month thereafter. 9. Seed database with 10 realistic demo job postings in one metro area using seed.ts. 10. Verify: create a worker profile, set 25-mile radius, confirm 10 demo jobs appear on the map, tap apply, and confirm Twilio SMS delivers to test employer number.
Generated
May 3, 2026
Model
claude-sonnet-4-6
Disclaimer: Ideas on this site are AI-generated and may contain inaccuracies. Revenue estimates, market demand figures, and financial projections are illustrative assumptions only — not financial advice. Do your own research before making any business or investment decisions. Technology availability, pricing, and market conditions change rapidly; always verify details independently.