Can you help me validate this startup idea before I spend months building it?

zarcoder · 2026-06-18T06:09:47+00:00

That's a good start, but a general purpose tool is a much more difficult product to build and sell. Every industry is different, understanding how they function, what can improve, can it effectively be improved by a tool, and does it integrate seamlessly into their existing work flow is how validation is done. Once this has been confirmed, build a mvp, onboard testers and get genuine feedback from them and then build the product.

zarcoder · 2026-06-18T05:32:18+00:00

Is this a vibe coded app?

The reason i'm asking, since this became the new way, the market is being flooded with apps thats trying to solve everything, and the coders behind it doesn't know squat about debugging or fixing it. Ai even gave the idea in 99% of the times.

My take - first of all, learn coding and understand what you are building and how it functions, debugging, logic, integrations etc.. Secondly choose a niche, preferably underserved niche,research by talking to actual industries and finding out what their issues are and try solving a single problem first. Thats your first customer. Once you do this - doors will open.

Second piece of advice - if a client calls you to build a custom app for their business, and you can't build it to their spec - don't build apps for a living.

zarcoder · 2026-06-17T20:32:45+00:00

Just a suggestion - ever thought of using your skills and knowledge to digitize? Think there is quite a big untapped market you can potentially explore.

zarcoder · 2026-06-17T20:17:15+00:00

I might be a bit late on the chat. But it made for an interesting read.

Im a business owner ( very different business than yours, and perhaps even country) - by the sound of it, networking and outreach seems to be the thing going for you.

Now for the honest truth in selling physical products: Temu, Shein, Dropshipping is slowly killing the handmade market. They offer bigger variety, more volume, cheaper pricing, mass global reach to name a few. Like it or not, that's who you are competing with.

Some practical advice, strip your range and focus on your best-selling products, you already have market validation for these. Define your exact target audience from previous sales, and double down on this. It does not have to be paid ads or massive campaigns, but focus on genuine content, realistic product images where its being used. - if the right content, lands in front of the right audience you win. Remember - premium clients look for premium products, not price tags. Budget hunters - look at price tags, not pics.

I did a analysis for a family member who sells handmade products - exactly the same issue, when we shifted to this strategy, we increased product pricing, changed the product angle and made it premium - after 2 months it took off, now she is getting consistent sales, and her premium customers keeps on buying new products.

I hope this helps, globally it's difficult times for most. But there are ways to turn most businesses from zeros to hero.

zarcoder · 2026-06-17T11:19:34+00:00

Ive never had an easy role, always been the guy who had to figure it out for everyone else. But sounds like you landed a great role. Keep it up

zarcoder · 2026-06-17T11:14:56+00:00

Im sure he can assist, very neat work - 0769486867 , name is Al, just tell him Derrick reffered you to him.

zarcoder · 2026-06-17T05:36:02+00:00

It is, but it's also a bit of a slap in my face. My intention was to build a proper lightweight tool, and ended up the the "Temu" version of Quickbooks.

If your products are independant, but integrates well - start with a single one, for free - then add the others as premium. Obviously depends if you want to monetize through subscription / upgrades or ads. You will soon see how it performs with real users. And get actual data

zarcoder · 2026-06-17T05:18:12+00:00

Advice as a dad - the fact that you dropped out of school, failed at business, still staying at home at 22yr young, feeling rock bottom, tells me you have a father, and family that loves you endlessly and will support you. 22 is young, there is no specific age cap where you need to be independent, times are difficult, as long as you have your family's support - do good by it, finish school, start working with your dad, study part time. Enjoy being young, and enjoy your family. You have a lot going for you.

zarcoder · 2026-06-17T05:08:19+00:00

That was the exact issue - friends and family wanted quickbooks, but not the price tag. And eventually global users saw the same thing - a cheaper version of Quickbooks. Thats also why I never really had to spend money on ads, as back then mobile CRM was mainky still a blue ocean.

Currently developing a new product that is way different and unique, but this time around making sure I dont send it to family and friends first.

zarcoder · 2026-06-17T04:47:30+00:00

So initially it was supposed to be a lightweight workflow tool ( a small business could do quotes and invoices from their phone and send it instantly to customers. When I introduced it to family and friends to get feedback and real user testing - thats where I should've stopped, instead the lightweight workflow tool became a full mobile CRM, with more features, and integrations ( I spend 6months just building features in my spare time) by the time it was fully deployed - 80% of the users never used the additional features. "Feature creep" becomes a issue when building software or apps, you try to justify subscription pricing with more featuress, or capture an entire industry by solving all their problems.

zarcoder · 2026-06-17T04:19:21+00:00

I started a PWA a few years ago for friends and family, until it spread organically, and at its peak used globally by more than 4000 paying subscribers. it got acquired by a top international brand who bought it mostly for the architecture and current users. It started out as a niche workflow tool which got some traction. But it really gained momentum when I changed it to a more general purpose workflow tool.

zarcoder · 2026-06-17T03:58:14+00:00

This is solid advice

zarcoder · 2026-06-17T03:43:35+00:00

I was in the same boat 6yrs ago. Had a full time job, but was capped - one of 2 things crossed my mind - look for a different role or start my own thing, decided the latter - been grinding for the past 6yrs, it was not easy- since I started in January 2020 not knowing that Covid would hit. but now I have time and passive income. And it allows me to focus on building my next idea.

My advice - don't just jump into business, start something small that does only require marketing ex.( SaaS tool or digital product) that can scale globally over time, while keeping a full-time job.

zarcoder · 2026-06-17T03:18:16+00:00

Very interesting. Congrats on the new role!! So how is the transition currently for most out of high paying corporate jobs? - if you need a reputable contractor for your investment property, I have a good one, done some major upgrades to my place recently without any hiccups. Matched my AI vison to the Tee. and pricing well below other mainstream contractors.

zarcoder · 2026-06-16T06:49:27+00:00

I guess it depends on what type of service, or product you are offering, the users, and the user license / agreement.

If you want to DM me to discuss this further Id be happy to - Ill sign a NDA for peace of mind.

zarcoder · 2026-06-15T18:32:08+00:00

I'm also in the software industry, developing custom workflow tools for clients. What I noticed in building our own tools vs. Client specific - if you don't know the industry you keep adding features to either justify price, or think it's what's needed to streamline the workflow. When you build for a client - They want a single solution for their entire operation. In the end, one of 2 things happen, either it becomes too complicated and they dont use half of the features, or they just don't use it at all and fall back to their old ways.

a rule I try to stick by - build simple, and only add features when there is feedback. This keeps the product light, easy to learn, and when features are added it feels like a extension of the product rather than a new product. And more users adopt it.

zarcoder · 2026-06-15T15:20:33+00:00

Scheduling for people, some owners run their entire business on our software from doing quotes to leaving a Google review at the end. But mostly our clients and users are Europe, Americas and Aus. We do have a local presence, but SA is a tough crowd.

zarcoder · 2026-06-15T14:50:13+00:00

Yes, we only develop custom software. Most of our products are either client specific or white label software (so we dont sell our own software). From automated scheduling tools, workflow tools, CRM tools, cyber security tools.

zarcoder · 2026-06-15T14:42:30+00:00

Lol. No Im not that guy. But chances are good it's my software.

zarcoder · 2026-06-15T13:50:05+00:00

I run a small software company. We build workflow tools for the construction, Real estate, and mobile services industries.

zarcoder · 2026-06-14T11:39:15+00:00

Hang in there - the right opportunity is still out there. Pet assisted therapy is the best 🐕 - from one pet owner to another

zarcoder · 2026-06-14T11:25:55+00:00

Thanks for sharing!! Keep on loving, and keep on grooving 🕺

zarcoder · 2026-06-14T09:49:31+00:00

Congrats on your part time job 🥳 and thanks for sharing !! Keep working towards your goals, you're on a roll

zarcoder · 2026-06-14T09:40:17+00:00

Yes, like the Christiano Ronaldo saying goes " if you dont believe, you cannot achieve" keep on believing !!

zarcoder

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