I tried to build, calibrate, engage in SEO, talk to customers, but I can't seem to find traction. On one hand, people say that you need to build to solve a problem. You find a problem in a niche, say accounting for plumbers, and build for that, then you just go and market to these people. On the other hand, I see people who advocate for "I just built something that I needed, and it got traction". There are multiple examples for both camps, but the problem is that they contradict each other.
This leads me to believe that most people either get lucky and then apply a framework in retrospect to justify their luck, or they simply don't tell the whole truth.
I want to escape a salaried coder job, more so with the "push" of vibe coding across the board. But I have no idea how to approach a business. I refuse to believe that everyone who succeeded with a side project and replaced their job - is a liar, but maybe the truth is that it does not take 7 months, but 7 years?
Anyone got something helpful to share in that regard?
You do need a market, not just a product. You also need to network to get input, partners, and build a BD pipeline. You don't necessarily need revenue at first, you need to prove external interest, whether that's a beta, pilot, or collaboration/partnership. All these things will add to your momentum.
one of the recommended posts: https://longform.asmartbear.com/problem/ which goes to the heart of what you're experiencing.
play in large markets, very large in absolute numbers i.e B2B but small enough not to attract major VC companies - again play in large markets - don't listen to indie-hacker influencers that are making stuff for other indie hackers.
luckily everyone is running into A.I now - so there's plenty of things to be solved. not sexy, you've to look hard, screen hard (cz some opportunities look credible till you do the math i.e is there a large number of people, what is the willingness of those people to pay)
most of your work will be in marketing (marketing not selling) i.e researching to find out which problem will people actually pay for - what are the market dynamics - then only will you code a product.
tip: for a solo business - you've to be in an ecosystem kinda place.
how much money do you want to make - have an absolute cap on the annual amount e.g in 5 years you want to make 2m|5m|10m a year.
then choose your markets based on whether they can support that amount.
Please feel free to reach out (contact in profile) if you're curious about the approach, I'm happy to answer any questions.
[0] https://www.notion.so/notventurescale/Wild-Built-Incubator-2...
I have plenty of worries about it - will the product sell at all, is the product too niche so I'll have sales but not enough to make it full time, am I barking up the wrong tree and there is already an open source free alternative that I've somehow missed, what if nobody likes it? All sorts of stuff, some warranted, and some just the usual fear of making something and putting it out there.
With that being said I do consider a big portion of success being luck, as any one lucky event could catapult you to riches, and any unlucky event could ruin any chance of that happening, but in the end you have to take a risk and put yourself out there for the lucky events to happen.
But as with all risky things you have to be prepared for it all to go to shit, and then have enough of a support network which will help you get back onto your feet.
I genuinely hope that other people have some more concrete advice here or even war stories to tell.
Its like a builder cpuld build a doctor surgery but it doesnt make them a doctor
Yes, congratulations on finding the truth.
This is the pattern 95% of business, psychology and other pseudoscience is built upon.
The 2 main system reasons behind it: 1) any complex system cannot be really calculated farther in the future than a very short timeframe 2) natural human brain tendency to organize the observed universe into patterns.
The good news is that if you keep buying lottery tickets your chances of winning at least once also grow.
You choose which engagements to take on based on your own capacity, and you’re not burning cycles on business development etc.
So advice like "use your network to find freelance / contracting" is not helpful to me. So there are two options for me: either find a way to make it work now, or accept the fact that I fucked up my life and I just need to wait for the inevitable replacement by AI. I doubt that every successful entrepreneur started to build a professional circle at the age of 21. But I might be wrong.
Solo, not one time in all of human history, has ever been the way to go.
Of all the lies you could chose to believe in life, this one is the worst.
Yet, he is delighted to not have to run outsourcing shop anymore, and make same income with much smaller team and much more ethical line of business than outsourcing.
>... various scam niches ...
>... and much more ethical line of business than outsourcing.
Wild.