A regional trucking company in Tennessee wants to offset its fleet emissions to win contracts with ESG-conscious shippers. The CEO searches 'buy carbon credits' and finds... confusion. Voluntary carbon markets are opaque: prices range from $5 to $50 per ton with no clear explanation of quality differences. One registry sells forestry credits from a project later found to be fraudulent. Another requires minimum purchases of 10,000 tons — far more than needed. He gives up and hopes the shippers don't actually check.
The voluntary carbon market is $2+ billion and growing, but it's built for large corporations with sustainability teams. SMBs trying to offset emissions face: confusing registries (Verra, Gold Standard, American Carbon Registry), no quality guidance, minimum purchase requirements that don't fit small buyers, and no help calculating what they actually need to offset. Meanwhile, large buyers have brokers and consultants navigating this for them.
The opportunity is a carbon credit marketplace for SMBs at $0 platform fee + markup on credits: calculate your emissions with a simple questionnaire (fleet size, energy usage), recommend high-quality offsets matched to your budget, purchase in small quantities (1-100 tons vs. 10,000 ton minimums), and provide verification badges for marketing. Target small manufacturers, trucking companies, and professional services firms being asked about carbon neutrality by customers or investors. Make carbon offsetting as easy as buying supplies on Amazon.
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Build a SaaS product called "Carbon Credit Marketplace for SMEs". ## Product Overview Calculate emissions and sell carbon credits ## Problem Calculate emissions and sell carbon credits ## Solution Build Carbon Credit Marketplace for SMEs ## Target Audience indie hackers, small businesses, and solopreneurs ## Tech Stack - Next.js 15 (App Router) with TypeScript - Tailwind CSS v4 for styling - Supabase for auth, database, and storage - Vercel for deployment - shadcn/ui for UI components - Framer Motion for animations ## MVP Features to Build 1. Landing page with clear value proposition 2. User authentication (sign up, sign in, forgot password) 3. Core product functionality based on the solution above 4. Dashboard for users to manage their data 5. Pricing page with at least 2 tiers (free + paid) 6. Basic settings/profile page ## Known Competitors Patch, Cloverly, Watershed, Persefoni, Sweep ## Key Risks to Address Standard market entry risks ## Deployment 1. Set up Supabase project and configure environment variables 2. Deploy to Vercel with `npx vercel --prod` 3. Set up custom domain 4. Configure Supabase RLS policies for security ## Instructions Start by creating the project structure, then build the landing page first. Use server components where possible. Make it mobile-responsive from the start. Focus on getting the core value loop working before adding polish.