Sound familiar?
Most people don't fail at going solo. They stall.
01
You bought the bundle.
Planners, prompt packs, a dashboard you set up on a Sunday. It looked organized. It never told you what to do on Monday.
02
You guessed the price.
You looked at what others charge and knocked a bit off for nerves. Nobody told you what your life actually costs per sale.
03
You're waiting to be found.
A nice page, a few posts, and silence. Not because the idea is bad, but because nobody asked a real buyer anything.
1 in 5
new US businesses close within their first year. Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The reasons are boringly consistent.
The cash ran out before the income arrived. The demand was a hope, not a fact. The price never covered the real cost of running the thing. None of those show up in week one. All of them can be checked in week one.
Try this now. It's free.
Work out your number.
The revenue your business has to bring in every month to pay for your life, after tax and costs. Most people have never worked it out, so every price they set is a guess.
25% tax is a placeholder, not advice. Nothing you type here leaves your browser.
Your number
$4,330
every month, before you pay yourself a thing.
Now ask the uncomfortable question: can you honestly land that many? If not, the price is the problem, not your effort.
A better way
Gates, not tips.
A gate isn't a step you check off when the work is done. It opens when the evidence shows up: a number, a name, a date, a payment. Five gates, in order, each one guarding against a way solo businesses quietly die.
- 1
Idea
Is this worth 90 days of your life?
Opens when one idea scores 75 or more, with proof of demand and reach.
- 2
Offer
Can you say it in one sentence, and does anyone lean in?
Opens when 3 of 5 real conversations end with a request for a price.
- 3
Price
What do you actually need to charge?
Opens when your price covers your number and your cash holds at twice the time.
- 4
Leads
Where does your next customer come from?
Opens when you hit your weekly targets three weeks running, with nothing overdue.
- 5
Money
Are you actually making a profit?
Opens with three months of records, tax set aside, and a cushion funded.
You'll have your monthly number in the first ten minutes. The five gates take it from there.
Get Proofwork, $19See it in use
One gate at a time, with your own numbers.
A walk through the five gates for a sample user: Priya, a freelance designer. Sample data for a fictional user. Your Desk uses your own.
Is this worth 90 days of your life?
Priya scores her three ideas on demand, reach and her own edge. One clears the bar.
Can you say it in one sentence?
"I redesign pitch decks for early-stage founders in five days." She talks to five real people and records what each one says.
What do you actually need to charge?
Her monthly number comes from her real costs and tax. The price has to cover it, and her cash has to survive a slow start.
Where does your next customer come from?
Weekly targets for outreach, conversations and proposals. The gate opens only when she hits them three weeks running, with nothing overdue.
Are you actually making a profit?
Three months of records, tax set aside and a cushion funded. Then the Proof File shows what happened and what to do next.
Ten minutes to your monthly number. Five gates after that.
Get Proofwork, $19That's why I built Proofwork
The Desk is the product. The rest supports it.
You tell it your name, what you want to sell, your currency and your hours. From then on, every screen talks to you, every example fits your path, and every number is yours. Each gate gets stamped only when the evidence is in.
Day 12 of 90 | Kite Studio
Good morning, Priya.
Your Proofwork Desk The main product
All five gates in one app, with a passport of stamps and numbers that carry from gate to gate. Nothing is typed twice.
The Guide Support
28 pages. One chapter per gate, three worked examples (a service, a product, an audience) and clear rules for when to keep going, change, or stop.
The Template Book Support
Ten ready-to-edit messages: the first invite, the follow-up that gets replies, the one-page proposal, the overdue invoice.
Your Proof File Output
A printable document with your name, offer, price, runway and stamps, plus a 90-day plan dated from your own day one.
Who's behind this
Built by someone who got the order wrong first.
I'm Eddie Gear. I've spent more than 20 years in growth and product, mostly working on other people's businesses.
When I started building my own, I collected tactics and skipped the system that connects them. I was doing the right things in the wrong order. Proofwork is the system I wish I'd had.
Eddie Gear
- No guru claims.No income screenshots and no big promises. It's a planning system that tells you when to keep going, change, or stop.
- Built to be checked.Every gate opens on a number, a name, a date or a payment. If you can't show the evidence, the gate stays shut.
- Nothing to hand over.It runs offline on your computer, and nothing you type into it is sent anywhere.
From the first users
What they did with it.
Less than an hour of your time
One wrong quarter costs more than this.
Proofwork won't do the work for you. It makes sure the work you do is the work that pays: tested with real buyers, priced against your real costs, and tracked until it's proven.
Instant download. Works offline, on your own computer. Nothing you type in it is ever sent anywhere.
Proofwork
By Eddie Gear
Launch price for early buyers.
- Your Proofwork Desk, all five gates
- The Guide, 28 pages
- The Template Book, PDF and editable
- Three standalone tools and two spreadsheets
- Your printable Proof File and 90-day plan
Best for: freelancers, consultants and first-time solo builders testing an idea.
Not for: anyone looking for income promises or a done-for-you business.
Secure checkout through Gumroad. Instant download.
Not ready to buy? Fair.
Get the 5-conversation test, free.
The Gate 2 check that tells you whether your offer has real demand, in one short email. After that, a few plain notes on going solo from Eddie Gear.
Questions
Before you decide.
I don't have an idea yet. Is this for me?
Yes. Choose "Not sure yet" in setup and Gate 1 starts you with a 20-minute exercise that turns your skills into three ideas worth scoring.
How is this different from asking AI?
AI can draft a message. It can't tell you whether five real buyers asked for your price, or whether your savings survive a slow start. Proofwork is built around evidence a prompt can't give you.
What if it's not for me?
Email me within 30 days of buying and I'll refund you in full. No form, no argument.
How much time does it take?
Plan for 8 to 10 hours a week for 90 days. With fewer hours, keep the order and stretch the time. Never skip a gate to catch up.
Does it work in my country and currency?
It works in twelve currencies, with money notes for the US, UK, EU and India. It's a planning system, not tax, legal or financial advice.
What do I need to run it?
A laptop or desktop with Chrome, Edge, Safari or Firefox. No account, no subscription, and no internet needed once it's downloaded.
What exactly do I get?
A zip with your Proofwork Desk (including a finished example desk to explore first), the 28-page Guide, the Template Book (PDF and editable), three standalone tools, two spreadsheets for Excel or Google Sheets, and a Start here page that walks you through the first ten minutes.
Whatever you decide
Before you build anything else this week, ask one question: what has to be true before this can work?