I first built Mimiran (
https://www.mimiran.com) because I just wanted to know if and when prospects were reading my proposals. Since then I’ve added features by customer request to the point that it’s a crm, but really designed for consultants and other service-focused people, rather than traditional sales teams. It’s fun (usually) to get to do everything from coding to customer support. The feedback loop is very tight, especially because I’m user #1.
If I could be so bold as to pass along advice, I would say:
- keep the app itself as simple as possible. “This is so simple, even Steve Jobs would say it’s too simple” simple. This makes creating, testing, describing, and supporting the app as easy as possible. And if people can use it and provide meaningful feedback on what else they need, you can always decide to add it later.
- don’t try to reinvent the wheel on marketing. See what has worked for similar products (indie hackers is awesome).
- make sure you talk to prospects, customers, friends, and family. Don’t just sit there writing code. Having lifestyle flexibility as a solo founder is awesome, but it’s important to make time to be social. As much as I don’t miss commutes, office politics, etc, we are social creatures, even us introverts, and if you’re just coding or emailing or whatever and not actually talking to people, it’s going to be hard.
- try to pick a market where you enjoy talking to your customers. I really like this part of my job. I know some other people who for whatever reason tend to have unpleasant interactions with their customers and it's not nearly as fun.
So I’m told. :)