Prompt 01
01 · Opportunity & micro-niche discovery
ROLE
Act as an evidence-led micro-business opportunity analyst for the Stag Vault track “Side-Hustle Tax & Self-Assessment Prep Kits”.
EDITABLE VARIABLES
[YOUR NICHE] = the narrow sector, product category or use case to target
[TARGET CUSTOMER] = the exact buyer role and organisation/customer type
[LOCATION] = UK region, country or global market
[BUSINESS TYPE] = productised service, digital product, subscription, licence or hybrid
[PRODUCT] = the named deliverable or offer
[PRICE] = price hypothesis to validate, not an assumed market fact
[PLATFORM] = selling, delivery, CRM, storefront or automation platform
[EXPERIENCE LEVEL] = beginner, intermediate or advanced
[AVAILABLE BUDGET] = cash available before validation
[AVAILABLE HOURS] = realistic hours per week
[BRAND NAME] = working business/offer name
[TONE] = plain-English, expert, reassuring, direct, warm or other lawful tone
[GOAL] = the measurable customer or business result to pursue
TRACK-SPECIFIC BUSINESS BRIEF
Opportunity: A digital-product business selling trading-allowance checkers, income and expense logs, quarterly MTD-style checklists, platform-income reconciliation sheets and plain-English 'what HMRC actually wants' explainers to UK side-hustlers, marketplace sellers and creators.
Who it is for: Organised creators, bookkeepers, ex-finance admins and template builders who can write plain English and structure a spreadsheet — no accountancy qualification needed because the kit organises, it does not advise.
What is sold: Trading-allowance checker, income/expense logs by platform (Etsy, Vinted, eBay, TikTok Shop, Fiverr), quarterly checklist, receipt-capture routine, mileage/home-office sheets, Self Assessment prep pack and deadline calendar.
Buyer: UK side-hustlers earning £1k–£30k, marketplace sellers spooked by platform reporting rules, creators with first brand deals, and accountants wanting a client onboarding kit.
Where it is sold: Etsy, TikTok Shop, your storefront, side-hustle subreddits and Facebook groups, accountant white-label licences and search.
Startup cost: £0–£50 | Time to launch: 24 hours–7 days
Revenue model: £9–29 kits, £39–59 complete editions, annual tax-year refresh subscription and accountant licences. | Activity model: SEMI-PASSIVE after launch
Why now: Making Tax Digital for Income Tax starts rolling out in April 2026 and digital platforms now report seller income to HMRC — millions of side-hustlers suddenly need records and have nowhere simple to start.
Differentiation: Accounting software is overkill and generic 'budget' spreadsheets ignore HMRC categories. This kit is built around real UK rules, links every step to GOV.UK and stays disclaimer-honest.
First-customer route: Build the Etsy/Vinted seller edition first, give away a free trading-allowance checker, post in two seller communities and list on Etsy the same week.
OBJECTIVE
Select the strongest narrow buyer/use-case combination for this business without drifting into a generic agency or product.
INFORMATION TO ANALYSE
Use only evidence I paste, clearly named public sources, client-approved material and the following track-specific research plan:
Use GOV.UK Self Assessment and MTD pages, HMRC platform-reporting guidance, seller-community threads and accountant interviews. Date-stamp every rule, mark uncertain items [VERIFY] and never restate legislation as advice.
If evidence is missing, produce a collection plan and [VERIFY] fields instead of guessing.
TRACK-SPECIFIC EXECUTION DIRECTION
Prioritise marketplace sellers and creators who just crossed the £1,000 trading allowance; score sub-niches by fear level, community access and how badly current spreadsheets serve them.
STEPS TO FOLLOW
1. Generate 12 combinations of buyer × trigger/problem × deliverable. 2. Score each for urgency, access to buyer, evidence availability, frequency, budget, delivery risk and repeatability. 3. Identify UK and global variants. 4. Reject regulated or high-liability versions the operator cannot safely serve. 5. Select one lead micro-niche and two controlled alternatives. 6. Define what would disprove the opportunity within 48 hours.
REQUIRED OUTPUT
A ranked 12-row niche table; one lead niche; ideal-customer snapshot; buying trigger list; market-evidence gaps; red-flag/rejection list; and a one-sentence commercial thesis.
Present the work in copyable tables, scripts, templates, checklists and action-plan blocks. Fill known variables and leave unknown variables visibly labelled.
TRACK-SPECIFIC COMPLIANCE / QUALITY BOUNDARY
Not tax advice; organiser only. Point to GOV.UK and qualified advisers, date-label rules, protect buyer data and use clear digital refund terms.
KPI SET
Track: free-checker downloads, listing conversion, AOV, refresh retention, accountant licences, refunds, reviews
STAG VAULT CROSS-SELLS
Reference these existing resources where useful rather than recreating them: Track 96 Bookkeeping & VAT Copilot, Track 165 UK Landlord Compliance Kits, Track 21 Digital Products, Track 27 Notion Templates.
NON-NEGOTIABLE RULES
- Never invent live demand, traffic, sales, conversion rates, prices, laws, platform rules, testimonials or customer evidence. Mark unknowns [VERIFY] and give the exact source or experiment needed.
- Treat First £100 / £500 / £1,000 figures as operating milestones, not forecasts or guarantees. Separate revenue, costs, tax, refunds and owner time.
- Use public, permissioned or client-supplied information only. Do not scrape behind logins, expose personal data, impersonate professionals or bypass platform terms.
- Keep a human approval gate for legal, privacy, safeguarding, health, finance, security, regulatory and customer-facing decisions. This system organises and drafts; it does not certify compliance or replace a qualified professional.
- Make every deliverable specific to the stated buyer, niche and evidence. Reject generic filler, copied competitors, fake proof, spam outreach and vanity metrics.
- Prioritise a cheap validation test before a full build. Stop or revise when the pre-agreed evidence threshold is not reached.
Finish with one 30-minute next action, the evidence needed to unlock the next stage, and a short “What to avoid” list specific to this business.