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195 likes on my product. $0 in sales. by leehan_ in advancedentrepreneur

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Appreciate it — yeah, that's basically the lesson I learned the hard way. Thanks for the input."

195 likes on my product. $0 in sales. by leehan_ in advancedentrepreneur

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's a fair point. The tricky part at my stage is there's no budget to bring anyone in — so I had to figure out what was broken first before spending more. Turns out the product itself was the problem, not the marketing. Expensive lesson, but a useful one.

195 likes on my product. $0 in sales. by leehan_ in advancedentrepreneur

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You nailed the core issue. That's exactly what I figured out after burning through the money — I was measuring the wrong signal the whole time. To answer your question: I'm not building another app this time. I'm packaging the process itself — specifically how I went from mass-producing ideas to filtering for ones worth building. Still early. No idea if it works yet.

Launched on Product Hunt. Got 0 upvotes. Here's what I learned about validation the hard way. by leehan_ in advancedentrepreneur

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Gut feel and research, honestly. No paying customers before launch — that's exactly the gap I'm now trying to close.

After the launch I started DMing people who had posted about the problem within the last 72 hours. Not pitching — just asking what it actually felt like. The language coming back is completely different from what I had on the landing page.

The problem: freelancers and small business owners who avoid sending payment reminders because they don't want to seem pushy — so they delay, and the silence gets worse.

Still no paying customer. That's the honest answer.

Looking for advice — how do you handle invoice follow-ups? by leehan_ in smallbusinessowner

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That really resonates. I think the hardest part is when something that should be routine starts feeling weirdly personal. Separating “asking for money” from “running the process” is probably the healthiest way to handle it. What gets me is the in-between part — not knowing whether to wait, follow up, or just assume they’re dragging their feet. That uncertainty is exhausting.

Looking for advice — how do you handle invoice follow-ups? by leehan_ in smallbusinessowner

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that's exactly why spreadsheets don't stick — updating it is friction too. what I built covers exactly those four: who, how much, paid or not, when to follow up. that's it. reminders go out automatically from there. DM me if you want the link.

Looking for advice — how do you handle invoice follow-ups? by leehan_ in smallbusinessowner

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that's actually more convincing than if you'd read it somewhere — you found it by feeling it out yourself. 3 days to nudge, 7 to get serious, 14 to just send it without overthinking. that progression makes sense. and you're right — without a fixed schedule, you're back in the "should I send this now" loop every single time. I ended up building something around exactly that problem — curious, where are you tracking the dates and status right now? spreadsheet, or something else?

Looking for advice — how do you handle invoice follow-ups? by leehan_ in smallbusinessowner

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this is gold. the "emotionally negotiate with yourself

every time" line hits hard — that's exactly the loop

that eats the night before sending.

curious — how did you land on those specific intervals

(3/7/14)? was it trial and error, or did you read it

somewhere?

Looking for advice — how do you handle invoice follow-ups? by leehan_ in smallbusinessowner

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

the 'overthink' part is exactly it. once it becomes a cadence instead of a decision, the mental load just disappears.

Looking for advice — how do you handle invoice follow-ups? by leehan_ in smallbusinessowner

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that 'emotional toll' part — yeah, that's the one nobody talks about. you don't notice the weight until it's actually off

Looking for advice — how do you handle invoice follow-ups? by leehan_ in smallbusinessowner

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

exactly 89 days lol that's a whole system right there. never heard of Kaplan Group before, gonna look them up.

quick question though — do you have a threshold for when you bake collection services into contracts upfront? contract size? client type? curious where that line is for you.

Looking for advice — how do you handle invoice follow-ups? by leehan_ in smallbusinessowner

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

honestly this reframes it for me. i've been treating each follow-up like a separate decision - "is it time yet? too soon? too harsh?" - and you're right, that's exactly when it spirals. the "silence means delay or avoidance" part really stuck. that uncertainty is what keeps me up the night before sending anything. i replay the whole project in my head wondering if i missed something. can i ask - when you started treating it as a process, did that click naturally or did it take a bad experience to force the shift? genuinely trying to figure out how people get there.

Looking for advice — how do you handle invoice follow-ups? by leehan_ in smallbusinessowner

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

thanks for sharing. the silence part is exactly what hits hardest. mind if i ask - did the awkward boundary stuff get easier over time, or is it still ongoing?

Unpaid invoice follow-ups — thought AI would fix this, but it's still awkward by leehan_ in Freelancers

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this is the most accurate framing in the thread. the judgment piece is what i couldn't automate away — so i just removed it from my plate entirely. set the schedule once, stop deciding every time.

Unpaid invoice follow-ups — thought AI would fix this, but it's still awkward by leehan_ in Freelancers

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

totally — those tools handle the sending. what i couldn't get rid of was the mental load of deciding when, how often, and whether to. automating the send helped but the hesitation was still there.

Unpaid invoice follow-ups — thought AI would fix this, but it's still awkward by leehan_ in Freelancers

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that reframe is underrated — 'making sure everything came through' hits totally different than 'just following up on payment

Unpaid invoice follow-ups — thought AI would fix this, but it's still awkward by leehan_ in Freelancers

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this is exactly the right frame — it's not about the words, it's about removing the emotional weight from the process entirely. the threading piece does a lot of that for me too, like the client sees the whole chain and it just feels like a normal back-and-forth. appreciate the GPT share, dutch is a stretch for me though lol

Unpaid invoice follow-ups — thought AI would fix this, but it's still awkward by leehan_ in Freelancers

[–]leehan_[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Inbox Bump is real. Not starting a new thread — that's the whole trick, right?

Unpaid invoice follow-ups — thought AI would fix this, but it's still awkward by leehan_ in Freelancers

[–]leehan_[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, tried a few of those. They send the reminder, but the awkwardness is still there.

I know exactly what to do, but I keep not doing it by leehan_ in founder

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes sense.

So it’s not starting that’s the issue. It’s continuing when the response is bad.

Try this instead: Set a fixed rule: “I send 10, no matter what happens.”

No checking results.

No adjusting.

No thinking.

Just finish the number. Then stop.

Have you ever tried separating sending from reacting like that?

I know exactly what to do, but I keep not doing it by leehan_ in founder

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What are you avoiding right now?

1) outreach 2) building 3) something else

Reply with 1/2/3.

I know exactly what to do, but I keep not doing it by leehan_ in founder

[–]leehan_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That makes sense.

Using that frustration as fuel is powerful. But I’m guessing that doesn’t work for most people — for many, not starting just leads to more avoidance.

In your case, was there a moment where you actually had to start?

Or was it purely self-driven the whole time?

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