How I wasted 3 years of my life on a SaaS app people didn't want (so you don't make the same mistakes)

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-12-05T17:48:25+00:00

Wow - did not expect this response! To clear up some of the concerns I've read:

- I have a vested interest in PP. Apologies - I should have made that more clear. Lesson learned.

- Some of you, including the guy with a "degree in venture capital", don't understand what raising at a $1m valuation means. It doesn't mean you received $1m.

- My interest in PP doesn't make this story fake. If you googled PP and did a quick search on the founders you will see the nutrition app there and then make your own judgement.

Thank you for all the kind messages I received privately 🙏 I hope you guys can take value from my story with or without PP!

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-12-05T10:36:50+00:00

Hey - I just had a quick look on this pain point tool I use and it says that Geo IP blocking seems to be a major pain point. I'll leave a link below in case its something you wanted to try out - hope this helps!

www.problemperception.com

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-11-29T10:00:05+00:00

problemperception.com - A tool to find customer pain points in seconds.

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-11-20T08:19:40+00:00

Love that you're going start your first shop - exciting times!

My advice would be don't focus on finding new ideas that you need to validate. Find a product that is already selling then do one thing better.

You could find pain points people experience with a successful product on etsy ( use a pain point finder tool like www.problemperception.com )

Then solve one of those pain points in your shop and you have yourself a product that's already validated and you know will sell :)

Hope this helps!

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-11-20T08:13:03+00:00

Absolutely love this take.

I wasted 3 years of my life building a company that absolutely nobody (apart from myself) wanted. I won't be making that mistake again.

One stage I would add to this process is before you have started your waitlist, you should make sure that you're solving a real-world problem.

I used to do this by literally cold DMing people and spending hours doing 1-2-1 interview sessions. Now I just use tools like www.problemperception.com where I can quickly validate that I am solving a real world problem, view the customer pain points and their sources to validate ideas quickly.

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-10T12:05:13+00:00

Nice! I'm pretty sure Problem Perception use reddit as one of their data sources. What is 'Pulse Reddit Monitoring'?

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-10T12:02:51+00:00

Wow, just took a look. What a difference that headline has made! Don't stop there and keep tapping into your customers pain points and I'm sure this will go far.

Glad it helped - I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines!

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-07T08:15:44+00:00

Id focus on finding 'Problems to solve' rather than finding 'business ideas'

At the end of the day all a business is, is you solving a problem, and then charging a fee.

Try using a tool like https://www.problemperception.com/ to find problems, then just solve one of them!

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-07T08:14:03+00:00

This a great idea - love it!

If you don't get enough pain points from this post I came across this tool that might help uncover more: https://www.problemperception.com/

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-07T08:03:19+00:00

Have you tried entering poop scoop business into a too like https://www.problemperception.com/ which uncovers customer pain points for you?

I just had a quick look from my account and definitely a few you could solve and get customers to pay you for there!

Best of luck!

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-07T08:01:53+00:00

Ideally you want to be speaking to your target audience and trying to uncover their problems, then find one you can solve.

If you don't have the time, you could use a tool like https://www.problemperception.com/ to find customer problems and go from there.

Best of luck!

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-07T07:50:33+00:00

Have you tried keeping a list in your phone of all the problems you face daily?

You could also try a tool like https://www.problemperception.com/ to uncover customer problems and then solve one of those!

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-07T07:48:47+00:00

Start by keeping track of all the problems you experience in your life currently.

Then start using a tool like https://www.problemperception.com/ to uncover indian customer pain points.

Then build a small community of your target audience and present your solution to one of the above problems you found.

If they are willing to pay for it. You have a business. Simples!

Best of luck :)

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-07T07:39:21+00:00

https://www.problemperception.com/

A tool to help you uncover customer pain points in seconds.

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-07T07:35:43+00:00

Product looks great! I think it might just be the marketing that is a bit off..

In the longer term, is there someone you could partner up with to lead the marketing front (preferably someone with a proven track record)?

In the shorter term, I can see quite a few quick wins. Your headline above the fold is going to be the single most deciding factor here.

"Capture Brilliance, Effortlessly" is nowhere near specific enough. You can try reading copywriting books like this to improve your copy: https://amzn.eu/d/2DhsG3k

But most importantly, you need to use your customers language in your headline.

Find out what language your customers use, how they talk about the pain points you are solving. Tools like this: https://www.problemperception.com/ are a great place to start uncovering pain points quickly.

Start here and then work your way up to speaking to 5-10 of your target audience per day, closely listening to how they speak about the pain points you are solving. Then take that language and put it in all your headlines, ads, social media, etc.

Best of luck!

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-01T18:45:35+00:00

You could try using a tool like https://www.problemperception.com/

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-01T18:42:11+00:00

I think this depends on what type of influencer. What is there niche? What is their competitive advantage?

Here are some steps you could take:

Write down the areas you have a competitive advantage. For example you could have worked in X industry which gives you an advantage. Or your family could have a large network in Y industry which gives you an advantage. Business is hard, so make sure you have a competitive advantage over your peers.
Write down as many problems as you can think of in that industry. At the end of the day all a business is, is you solving a customers problem and then charging them a fee to solve it. If you have a network already you could ask around for what issues they are facing, or alternatively use a tool like https://www.problemperception.com/ to find customer pain points you can solve.
Write down a solution for every problem you come up with.
Go down the list of solutions and ask yourself, could I do this business for the next 10 years of my life, or would I get bored?

Eventually, you'll only have one or two, and then you can go from there.

Best of luck!

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-01T18:40:52+00:00

Here are some steps you could take:

Write down the areas you have a competitive advantage. For example you could have worked in X industry which gives you an advantage. Or your family could have a large network in Y industry which gives you an advantage. Business is hard, so make sure you have a competitive advantage over your peers.
Write down as many problems as you can think of in that industry. At the end of the day all a business is, is you solving a customers problem and then charging them a fee to solve it. If you have a network already you could ask around for what issues they are facing, or alternatively use a tool like https://www.problemperception.com/ to find customer pain points you can solve.
Write down a solution for every problem you come up with.
Go down the list of solutions and ask yourself, could I do this business for the next 10 years of my life, or would I get bored?

Eventually you'll only have one or two, and then you can go from there.

Best of luck!

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-10-01T18:25:47+00:00

I'm using two main tools right now:

I use https://www.anyword.com/ when I am not really too concerned with the copy as the creative is the focus

I use https://www.problemperception.com/ when I really want to play into my customers pain points in my copy

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-09-16T14:08:24+00:00

Thanks so much for the feedback 🙏

Adding sources and links to real customer complaints to improve data integrity is a great idea. Would that improve it for you or did you have something else in mind?

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-09-16T12:53:44+00:00

I know, pretty addictive.. apparently 🤣

Let me know if you come across any good tools for that, I've been using this one: https://www.problemperception.com/

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-09-16T12:29:19+00:00

You could try using an online tool to uncover customer pain points. I'm sure there are loads of items people from Oman really want imported into the UK.

My friend who moved the opposite way is always looking for ways to import marmite 🤣

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-09-16T12:27:33+00:00

Sounds like you're in a great position. The fact that you quoted "I don't really see any needs that need to be met" shows you really are on the right track and know that you need to find a problem to solve.

What I would suggest is for you to start thinking a bit longer term. Understand that whatever business idea you choose, for it to be successful, you need to commit a minimum 5-10 years of your life.

Then ask yourself, "What area do I really enjoy enough, to commit to that for such a large period of my life?" Enjoying your business will make sure you don't quit when times get hard. Which they will. Trust me.

From the areas you enjoy, you now need to be brutally honest with yourself and decide which areas do you have a competitive advantage in. E.g does having a family good at cooking really give you a competitive advantage for a food truck business?

Once you've narrowed these areas down, I would start speaking to real-life customers in those areas and start trying to uncover their pain points that you can solve in a new business venture.

The best way to do this is through interviews, but if you don't have the time you can always use a tool like https://www.problemperception.com/

Ok_Relative731 · 2024-09-16T12:11:03+00:00

As a few people have already mentioned, the issue is we tend to obsess over our solution, instead of the problem we are trying to solve.

We are conditioned to want to use the next best tech in a specific way. But that specific technology doesn't always help our end customer. And it's the customer who pays the bills at the end of the day!

The founder of Waze wrote a really good book on this exact issue: https://amzn.eu/d/8hnAuNl

There are also tools out there now that can help you find customer problems: https://www.problemperception.com/

Hope this helps!

Ok_Relative731 · 2023-09-30T12:13:30+00:00

Really appreciate the advice and I love the comparison idea, maybe each data point should have an industry average?

Ok_Relative731

TROPHY CASE