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Without fully diagnosing the market potential of your space it's difficult to say whether to go all-in or change course. It's smart that you're not wanting to the "just another ordinary software", but you don't need to be the best per se. You simply need to be unique - which may prove challenging when providing a utility. If it were me, I would sell what you have like crazy and potentially offer the service at a lower rate to start with based on the expectation to clients that you are in the midst of integrating new improvements. This would allow you to onboard them earlier to generate cash flow, then increase the cashflow once the new features are built in. Since I don't know the full scope of what you're doing I could be off base in that clients either want it all or nothing, but if the latter is not true I would sell, sell, sell and offer unrelenting service which may prove to be part of your uniqueness. Good luck.
Hi, this is Ann, a business coach with a lot of experience in strategic planning and marketing.
To me, you did a very great job. You ran some beta test to know what the customers really wanted and also estimated how much the app would generate. To be honest, not a lot of entrepreneurs can do the same.
Next, I will summarize your situation in my own words, so feel free to correct me if I get you wrong. You have already developed an app and also done some tests with it and known what should be done next. However, the app is running in a competitive industry that there is few differences between the apps and sometimes you feel like all of the apps are just following the trend and hardly bring any (real) value to the customers. Hence, you want to do something different that really brings what the customers deserve.
To be honest, after a long time working for startup companies, I realize that only a few of them really suceed. In most cases, the successful ones are the ones that care about customers the most. So, by upgrading your app constantly, you already bring them some real values.
However, if you really want to do something else because you want to create offer the world what really matters, I suggest you do some deep inner work. It is because that I know so many people (actually including me) wanting to do something really amazing but they cannot finish it because that is not what they want to live their entire life with. A business that creates great values requires a great amount of passion that may take you an entire life. Do you really want it? In addition, you may need some financial support or at least some base/foundation (that's why we have KickStart and Indiegogo). If I were you, I would consider 2 solutions below:
After finishing my deep inner work, I would know what value I wanted to bring to people.
1. Then, I would consider whether I could develop the existing app towards that direction or not
2. I would still work on the app to generate some money so that I could use it for my ultimate purpose. I was half-way there, I would not think I should quit.
These are just my suggestions, which can be biased. The choice is yours. You know what you're doing best! If you find my answer helpful, you can have a look and take it as a referrence.
Should you need any help/motivation, don't forget Ann is here to help!
Have a nice day!
Related Questions
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How can I make a million dollars?
First, I agree with Chad in that the pure pursuit of money is unlikely to render anything significant. By using a monetary value as a primary goal, you're only diluting the real drivers of success: passion, crafting great customer experiences, building an incredible team and culture etc. That said, making $1m isn't that hard. :) I love this thinking by Amy Hoy and that's how I would go about making $1m: http://unicornfree.com/30x500. Using that logic, this is what I'd do: * To earn $1m in a year, I need to earn +- $80k a month. * To earn $80k a month, I need 1600 customers paying me $50 per month. * So what can I build that could attract 1600 people to pay me $50? * Or, what could I build that could attract 400 people to pay me $200 per month? This logic works on two drivers: * Cumulative revenue and growth. So SaaS works best in this regard, as you only need to focus on having new signups that are greater than your churn. * Building something that people are willing to (really) pay for and going for quality over quantity. If you are building something that sells for $5 pm, you'll need to sell at much higher volumes (which are tricky). In terms of doing that, these are the areas of my business that I would prioritize: 1. Build an awesome team that do things they're passionate about. 2. Prioritize customer experiences above anything else. Do everything in your power (regardless of whether it can't scale) to add value and help your customers. 3. Build a brand and reputation that has long-lasting value.AP
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I have this social media idea,but no coding skills. How do I get someone to do the coding (cant afford to pay them) and not give away half of my idea?
Dilip was very kind in his response. My answer might be a bit on the "tough love" side. But that's for you to decide. My intention, just for the record, is to help you (and those like you) on your path to success. And that starts with having a viable philosophy about entrepreneurial-ism and business. And I'm going to answer this because I get asked some form / version of this question very frequently from newcomers to entrepreneurial-ism. The scenario goes something like this: "I have a great idea. It's amazing, I love it, and I just KNOW it's gonna make me a ton of money. But I have no money right now so I can't afford to (fill in the blank with things like "to build it / create it / market it / etc" or "to hire the required staff needed to work in my business to sell it / develop it / etc"). And I don't want to tell anyone about my great idea because I'm worried someone will steal it and make MY million / billion dollars. But I can't afford to legally protect it either... So how do I launch without the skills to personally create the product AND no money to hire anyone else to do that either??" The answer is ... You don't. Look - let's be honest. All you have is an idea. Big deal. Really. I'm not saying it's not a good idea. I'm not saying that if properly executed it couldn't make you a million / billion dollars... But an idea is NOT a business. Nor is it an asset. Until you do some (very important) initial work - like creating a business model, doing customer development, creating a MVP, etc - all you really have is a dream. Right now your choices are: 1. Find someone with the skills or the money to develop your idea and sell them on WHY they should invest in you. And yes, this will mean giving up either a portion of the "ownership" or of future income or equity. And the more risk they have to take - the more equity they will want (and quite frankly be entitled to). 2. Learn how to code and build it yourself. MANY entrepreneurs without financial resources are still resourceful. They develop the skills needed to create what they don't have the money to pay someone else to do. 3. Get some cash so you can pay someone to do the coding. You'll probably have to have some knowledge of coding to direct the architecture of your idea. So you will likely still have to become knowledgeable even if its not you personally doing the coding. (This is not meant to be a comprehensive list of options... And I'm sure some of the other experts here on Clarity have others to add - and I hope they do) To wrap up - Here's my final tip to you that I hope you "get"... It's FAR more valuable to have an idea that a very specific hungry crowd is clamoring for right now - One that THEY would love and pay you for right now - Maybe even one they'd pre-order because they just have to have it - Versus YOU being in love with your own idea. [Notice I didn't say "an idea that some as-of-yet-undetermined market would probably love"] I wish you the best of luck moving forward.DB
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How can I become an idea person, as a professional title?
One word: Royalties This means you generate the idea and develop it enough to look interesting to a larger company who would be willing to pay you a royalty for your idea. This happens all the time. Rock stars, authors and scientists routinely license their creative ideas to other companies who pay them a royalty. Anyone can do it. Your business, therefore, would be a think tank. You (and your team, if you have one) would consider the world's problems, see what kinds of companies are trying to solve those problems, and then develop compelling solutions that they can license from you. You have to be able to sell your idea and develop a nice presentation, a little market research and an understanding of basic trademark and patent law. The nice thing about doing this is that if you develop enough cool ideas you will have royalties coming in from a lot of different sources, this creates a stable, passive revenue stream that requires little or no work to maintain. Start in your spare time and plan on the process taking 3-5 years. Set a goal to have a few products in the market that provide enough revenue (royalties) to cover your basic living expenses. Then you can quit your day job and dedicate more time and increase the momentum. A good idea business should have dozens, if not hundreds of license contracts generating royalties. It's possible to pull this off. And it is a fun job (I'm speaking from experience).MM
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If I have a business idea for a large company, how can I give it to them and mutually profit, without them just taking the idea and squashing me?
Probably not the answer you're looking for, but companies have so many unimplemented ideas that the likelihood of partnering to implement someone else's idea is really low. And besides which, the idea is not something that has much value in and of itself. If you're passionate in the idea, build it yourself. That's the only way you can have leverage.TW
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What is the best way to capture and track referrals directed from a landing page?
There are a few ways to track things automatically, but they get complicated: - referral program software - Give your referrers special URL's with parameters that identify them as the referrer (like http://url.com/?referrer=JohnDoe), then push that value into a hidden form field - Create a separate landing page for each referrer I'd keep things much simpler to start. Just tell your social club that there's a referral program in place, then add a form field on your signup process asking who referred the new customer. If John Doe knows that there's a program in place, when he refers someone, he's likely to tell them "make sure you say I referred you". When the new customer joins, they'll likely remember to enter "John Doe" as the referrer. It's not bullet proof, but it's an easy way to start.CD
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