Lean-local · NCSD coastal · 2026-05-10

How much your business sends to Seattle every year.

The numbers your accountant doesn't show you. Worked through across 6 verticals — restaurants, hotels, salons, contractors, retail, rideshare. Then the recovery math.

🍽 Restaurant

Encinitas restaurant doing $15,000/mo on DoorDash

# Monthly orders through DoorDash
$15,000  monthly gross
× 30%   commission to DoorDash
─────────
$4,500   monthly tribute → Seattle

# Annualized
$54,000  per year extracted from Encinitas

That's $54,000 a year leaving your local economy. In 5 years: $270,000. That's a teacher's salary. Or a down payment on a house. Or your kid's college.

Recovery: Tier 1 install ($2,500) recovers in ~17 days if you shift 50% of orders to direct ordering. After that, every direct order = 100% margin instead of 70%. See the install →

🏨 Hotel / STR

Cardiff boutique hotel doing $40,000/mo on Booking.com

# Monthly bookings through Booking.com
$40,000  monthly gross
× 18%   commission to Amsterdam HQ
─────────
$7,200   monthly tribute → Booking

# Annualized
$86,400  per year extracted from Cardiff

That's $86,400 a year a Cardiff hotel sends to Amsterdam. Per location. The hotel still pays for the staff, the linens, the property tax, the SD bed tax. Booking.com pays for none of that.

Recovery: Tier 2 install ($5,000) recovers in ~21 days at 50% direct-booking shift. See the install →

💇 Salon / services

Solana Beach salon doing $12,000/mo via Booking SaaS + Yelp Ads

# Booking SaaS commission + monthly fee
$12,000  monthly gross
× 15%   booking commission          = $1,800
+ $250  monthly Booking SaaS subscription
+ $400  Yelp Ads monthly spend
─────────
$2,450   monthly tribute → SaaS HQs + Yelp

# Annualized
$29,400  per year extracted from Solana Beach

That's $29,400 a year from one salon. The clients walk in for a haircut. The dollar walks out to SF/NYC. Forever.

Recovery: Tier 1 install ($2,500) recovers in ~31 days. See the install →

🔨 Contractor

Carlsbad contractor closing 8 jobs/mo via Angi + HomeAdvisor

# Per-lead cost × leads to close 8 jobs
8 jobs   closed per month
× 12    leads required (typical 12:1 close ratio)
= 96    leads bought monthly
× $80   avg per-lead cost
─────────
$7,680   monthly tribute → Angi/HomeAdvisor

# Annualized
$92,160  per year for leads you should be ranking for

That's $92,160/year renting customer-acquisition surface from middlemen who SELL THE SAME LEADS to your competitors. The platform's incentive is to send each lead to as many contractors as possible.

Recovery: Tier 2 install ($5,000) — owns the ranking page so the lead comes to you exclusively, recovers in ~20 days. See the install →

🛍 Retail

NCSD coastal retailer doing $25,000/mo on Amazon FBA

# Amazon FBA all-in fees (referral + fulfillment + storage)
$25,000  monthly gross
× 30%   typical FBA all-in fee % (varies 15-45%)
─────────
$7,500   monthly tribute → Seattle

# Annualized
$90,000  per year extracted from your inventory

$90K/year goes to Bezos. You hold the inventory risk. You source the product. You handle returns. Amazon takes the customer relationship and the data.

Recovery: Tier 3 install ($8,500) — owns the brand-direct site + AEO so AI engines route buyers to you, recovers in ~34 days. See the install →

Operator-honest read

This page is not anti-platform. Platforms have their place — incremental orders, spillover demand, customers who genuinely wouldn't have found you. The point isn't ZERO platform exposure. It's recovering the 30% margin on the 50-70% of customers who WOULD have come direct if you had the infrastructure to capture them.

Most NCSD merchants don't. SideGuy ships it.

Skip the install if your business is brand-new, you're under $5K/mo in extracted commission, or you don't have someone who can take direct phone calls. Skip-us-if details →

Want the math worked through for your business?

Text PJ. We'll do the calc with your actual numbers in 10 minutes — no deck, no funnel. If the install pays back in under 90 days, we'll tell you exactly what tier. If it doesn't, we'll tell you that too.

Text PJ · 858-461-8054 See Install Pack #4 → Or email pj@sideguysolutions.com · reply within hours

You can go at it without SideGuy — but no custom shareables for your friends & family. You'll be short a bag of laughs. 🌸