"Out of sight, out of mind" is costing solo attorneys money on every invoice they send. Tony Westbrooks decided to fix it — and used TractionStudio.ai to find out if anyone else would pay for the fix.

Tony Westbrooks is a trust and estates attorney in St. Louis and founder of Formula Law. Like most solo practitioners, he sends invoices. Like most solo practitioners, he'd never questioned what credit card processing fees were quietly taking off the top — or whether his clients understood those fees either.

That gap became Invoice Companion: a standalone tool built to give attorneys and their clients transparency into credit card processing fees that most firms never look at closely. Tony built it first to solve his own problem at Formula Law. Then he asked a labor and employment attorney a simple question, and got a simple answer: this problem is everywhere, and nobody's talking about it.

That's the moment a personal fix became a business idea. And it's the moment Tony needed something Google can't give a solo founder: a structured way to find out if the idea actually holds up.

Turning an idea into a plan, step by step

Tony calls Traction Studio AI an "idea GPS" — a way to take something ephemeral and lay out a logical path forward. He ran his idea through Traction Studio AI’s 18-step process, calling it "excruciatingly thorough" and "grueling without being cruel." That's not a complaint. It's what a 360-degree analysis of a business idea is supposed to feel like when you've never built one before.

Along the way, Traction Studio AI introduced Tony to terms like CAC and MRR — the vocabulary of building a business that no law school teaches. He printed the artifacts the platform generated and built a physical binder to help the concepts stick. That's a founder doing the work, not skimming a template.

Tony also built an "intelligence layer" using AI tools like DeepSeek and Gemini, then brought that data into conversation with Traction Studio AI's process. The result: sharper, more specific answers than a traditional consultant could offer. As Tony put it, a high-level consultant gives you general advice. TractionStudio.ai gave him an analysis specific enough to act on.

Validating with AI interviews before spending a single real one

One of the most useful parts of the process for Tony was Traction Studio AI’s AI-simulated customer interviews. They kept his momentum going and gave him a realistic preview of what real attorneys might say about Invoice Companion — before he had to schedule a single actual call.

The platform's debate functionality pushed him further, forcing him to confront the weaknesses in his own idea, not just the strengths. Tony described it as necessary, and admittedly a little anxiety-inducing. That's the point: better to find the holes in a simulated debate than in front of a paying customer.

By the time Tony was ready to schedule real offer interviews, he wasn't walking in cold. He'd already worked through the objections with AI interviewees first. In his words, he no longer felt like he was wasting his time — or anyone else's.

What's next for Invoice Companion

Tony is now moving toward beta testing with an MVP in development and early conversations underway with a financial services firm about a potential partnership. To get there, he's working with Codefi's Dev Studio development team to build Invoice Companion's MVP and prepare the app for go-to-market — turning a validated concept into a product real attorneys can start using. 

He's also entering Traction Studio AI’'s wave 2 Incubation phase next, which consolidates the tools he'd otherwise be paying for separately — CRM, KPI tracking, MVP progress — into one system.

Missouri founders get access to Traction Studio AI’s Wave 1 - Ideation sponsored through Codefi Foundation. If you've got an idea sitting in the "I should really look into this" pile, Tony's path is a preview of what happens when you actually do.

Ready to see if your idea holds up the way Tony's did? Register now to start your business canvas with Traction Studio AI — map your idea, your market, and your customers before you spend a dollar building it. Missouri founders get access through Codefi Foundation. Founders outside of Missouri can pay a low cost subscription rate.

Ready to See If Your Idea Holds Up?

Register now → https://codefiworks.com/campaigns/show-me-network-small-business-training-series

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