# Product Ideas & Future Work

## Second Directory: Padel Venue Finder (player-facing)
Current directory = B2B supplier directory (for project owners finding vendors).
Future directory = consumer-facing venue finder (for players finding courts near them).

Inspiration: thepadeldirectory.co.uk runs BOTH:
- `/padel-court-construction` → B2B supplier directory (like our current one)
- `/find-padel-courts` → consumer venue finder with map + filters (court type,
  facilities: parking, changing rooms, bar, equipment shop, online booking;
  distance radius 5/10/25/50/100 miles; sort by name/court count)

Our B2B directory (suppliers) is already built. The venue finder would be a separate
section — `venues/` — targeting players. Monetisation: venue operators pay a listing
fee (similar to Basic tier for suppliers). Could cross-sell: padel court builders list
in B2B directory, their completed venues list in the venue finder.

Schema additions needed: `venues` table (name, address, lat/lng, court_count,
indoor/outdoor, facilities_json, booking_url, claimed_by), geocoding, map embed.



## Supplier Reviews
- Gate review submission behind verified lead completion (avoid gaming)
- After lead forwarded + 60 days → send entrepreneur an email with 1–5 star + short text form
- Store aggregate on `lead_forwards` or a new `supplier_reviews` table
- Display on directory card; only visible for paid-tier suppliers (Growth/Pro)

## Getting Actual Quotes (closing the loop post-match)
Three options in ascending build effort:
1. **Email only** (current) — supplier emails entrepreneur directly, platform never sees the quote
2. **Quote upload** (low effort, high signal) — prompt supplier to upload PDF quote in dashboard; entrepreneur confirms receipt; platform shows "X quotes received" on their dashboard
3. **In-platform messaging thread** — full messaging between entrepreneur + supplier through padelnomics; data-rich but complex

→ Start with option 2 (upload prompt in dashboard, confirmation from entrepreneur side)

## Claim Verification (currently open to anyone)
Options by friction/reliability:
| Method | Friction | Reliability |
|--------|----------|-------------|
| Email domain must match company website | Low | Medium |
| DNS TXT record | Medium | High |
| Document upload (trade reg, VAT cert) | High | High — manual review |
| Subscription (credit card) alone | Very low | Low |

Recommended path:
- Email domain check as a soft gate (warn but don't block)
- Manual review queue in admin panel for first-time claims (add "mark verified" button to admin user/supplier detail)
- Pro-tier upgrade requires document upload

## Pricing Tier Restructure
| Tier | Name | Price | What it includes |
|------|------|-------|-----------------|
| Free | — | — | Auto-imported unclaimed listing, no contact info |
| New | **Listed** | ~€299/yr (annual) | Verified badge, logo, full description, website link; no leads |
| Current Growth | **Growth** | €149/mo | Everything + 30 lead credits/mo |
| Current Pro | **Pro** | €399/mo | Everything + 100 lead credits/mo; direct quote from listing page |

Annual "Listed" tier = low-friction entry for suppliers who want visibility without monthly credit commitment. Mirrors competitor €600/yr Basic tier.

## Direct Quote from Listing Page (premium feature)
- Currently: "Request Quote" button on supplier detail goes to general wizard (country pre-filled)
- For free/unclaimed suppliers: button is greyed out + popover (implemented 2026-02-19)
- Future premium feature: route quote *directly and exclusively* to that specific supplier
- Make it **Pro-only** as a built-in perk (headline differentiator for Pro upgrade)
- Possibly also available as a paid add-on boost for Growth tier

## Company Registry Intelligence (Data / Programmatic SEO)

Use public company registries to extract data on padel businesses — financials from annual
filings, geocoded addresses, incorporation dates — and build:

- **Padel Industry Profitability Index** — aggregate revenue/profit/assets across all filed
  padel companies, updated annually. Unique linkable asset; journalists and investors will cite it.
- **Company directory with financial health signals** — one page per company with location,
  incorporation date, filed accounts summary, directors. Programmatic SEO at scale.
- **Regional profitability map** — geocoded addresses + aggregated financials per region.
  *"Which UK regions have the most profitable padel clubs?"*
- **Growth timeline articles** — incorporation dates chart padel's rise.
  *"UK padel company formations: 3 in 2018 → 47 in 2023 → 120+ in 2024"*
- **Cross-country comparison** — once multi-country data is collected:
  *"Where is padel most commercially mature?"*

### Data sources

| Country | Registry | API | Cost | Has Financials |
|---------|----------|-----|------|----------------|
| UK | Companies House | REST API | Free (600 req/5min) | Yes — turnover, P&L, assets |
| Germany | Handelsregister | No official API | Northdata (freemium) | Limited |
| Netherlands | KVK | Paid API | Monthly sub | Some |
| France | INSEE Sirene | Bulk download | Free | No (accounts at INPI) |
| Spain | Registro Mercantil | No free API | Commercialised | Paywall since 2011 |
| Sweden | Bolagsverket | Good API | Free | Yes |

### Start with UK

- API key: developer.company-information.service.gov.uk (~5 min to get, free)
- `GET /search/companies?q=padel` — full-text search works
- SIC codes: `93110` (operation of sports facilities), `93130` (fitness facilities)
- `GET /company/{number}/filing-history?category=accounts` → parse iXBRL for:
  Turnover, ProfitLoss, TotalAssets, NetAssets, AverageNumberEmployees
- Geocode postcodes via free OS Postcode API

### Caveats
- ~60% of small UK companies file abridged accounts (balance sheet only, no turnover)
- Many padel clubs don't have "padel" in company name — cross-ref with existing venue DB
- Holding structures can obscure revenue (rolls up to parent)
- Germany: use northdata.de (no free official API)
- Spain: genuinely closed since 2011

### Technical sketch
```
companies_house_fetch.py  → search + paginate all padel companies
filings_fetch.py          → download + parse iXBRL accounts per company
geocode.py                → postcode → lat/lng (OS Postcode API)
aggregate.py              → SQL: profitability index, regional groupings, YoY growth
page_generator.py         → one page per company + index pages per region
```
Stack: `requests`, `lxml` (XBRL parsing), `sqlite3`. No heavy dependencies.


## Supplier Reviews (implementation sketch)
- New table: `supplier_reviews (id, lead_forward_id, supplier_id, rating INT 1-5, body TEXT, created_at)`
- Email trigger: worker job checks `lead_forwards` created 60+ days ago with no review → enqueue review request email
- Submit endpoint: `POST /suppliers/<id>/review` (tokenised link in email, no login required)
- Display: aggregate on directory card (star rating + count), full list on supplier detail page (Pro only)