I’m a girl, who can’t code. 

This is how I created and launched a tech business in 5 days, for $125

In startup publications, you constantly hear that you can build an MVP (minimum viable product), or at least a landing page to test your idea in a matter of hours. I didn’t believe it was actually that easy.

It is. Here’s how I did it.

1. Strikingly

The best for building a landing page. Use some great imagery and copy and the site essentially takes care of the rest. It’s easy, it’s fast and it’s cheap.

2. Wufoo

Getting the forms right actually took the longest time, in saying that — but by the end of day one I had integrated payments through Stripe with live running total of the invoice. It was a proud moment. I am also using Wufoo for contractor applications and customer surveys following their clean.

3. Olark

I have live chat with any visitors to the site for less than $20 / month that took less than 5 minutes to set up.

4. Google Apps

For email and everything else. Again, cheap and easy to set up and a great way to manage everything from scheduling through Google Sheets to email and calendar.

5. Gumtree

As I am building a two sided marketplace, having an amazing network of professional cleaners is the first port of call. In two days, I’ve had 50 online applications, scheduled 10 interviews and engaged my first three contractors. It cost nothing at all.

I’m not misguided, I know that my site is clunky at best and will only serve it’s purpose for a very limited time. I know that to get the platform to do what I ultimately want it to do is going to take some incredible developers, but I feel excited that I can test my idea now, without having spent all of those hours — and all of the money — to what could ultimately be an absolute failure.