I have built a Windows Desktop Application to solve a problem, the problem of creating Identity cards of a large number of students/staffs. The creation of ID card is generally done with photoshop and separately edited for each card, arranged in a sheet of 10 cards. I automated this whole procedure. I showed this application to people who make ID cards in manual way and have suffered a lot in past. They want the application but not interested to buy. Why do people want everything for free when other have put a lot of effort on making it?
I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it
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Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it
#2You are probably pitching your product to the wrong audience.
Your customer is not the one actually making the cards, rather their boss. Making the cards only costs the employees time, something they don't mind wasting for the most part. For the manager or owner it directly costs money, time wasted on making cards costs the employer money in the form of wages. They are also the one with the purchasing power in an organization like a school.
Creating a more efficient organization is generally speaking not part of the scope of someone making ID cards, but it certainly is for their employers or managers.
Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it
#3How much value does the application create for end-users?
If you're targeting consumers, they can be very fickle. As we've seen time and again, they easily shell out $5 for a cup of coffee but complain about $1 mobile applications.
If you're targeting businesses, you got a better shot. Demonstrate how much money you're saving a business, and they'll easily buy. But if your product doesn't create a significant amount of value, it'll be hard to change the status quo.
Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it
#4The win-win here is not between you and the people who you are unemploying, it's between you and the person paying their salary.
Go and talk to the business owners or managers of those ID making people.
Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it
#5Because they are used to that by now. Maybe offer a basic version for free and premium addons for a fee? And in the future I suggest first asking some potential customers before making your product. Will save you some time. But did you ask ALL the people that might be a customer? And the are also other organizations besides schools and universities that need to make ID cards. Maybe they are interested. Or change you software a little and you might be able to apply it to another problem?
Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it
#6Do you have a website for this your product? Perhaps you are pitching it to your locality and the market is not large enough.
You may want to make is a SaaS product and as people have suggested have a free version with limited features. e.g maximum of 10 ID cards at a time.
Remember again, it is in the interest of the people that have the business of making cards to have this as complex as possible so they can charge companies more.
So you may want to pitch this to the companies directly and not the people who make the cards for them.
Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it
#7How much value does the application create for end-users? If you're targeting consumers, they can be very fickle. As we've seen time and again, they easily shell out $5 for a cup of coffee but complain about $1 mobile applications. If you're targeting businesses, you got a better shot. Demonstrate how much money you're saving a business, and they'll easily buy. But if your product doesn't create a significant amount…
When buying a cup of coffee, I am normally pretty sure that I am going to get a cup of coffee that I will enjoy to a certain extent.
When buying a mobile app, I may be buying myself a waste of time. Which is double loss.
Most, if not all, of the mobile apps I've bought so far either have free Lite companions or come free with an option to unlock all functions via an in-app purchase.
Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it
#8You are probably pitching your product to the wrong audience. Your customer is not the one actually making the cards, rather their boss. Making the cards only costs the employees time, something they don't mind wasting for the most part. For the manager or owner it directly costs money, time wasted on making cards costs the employer money in the form of wages. They are also the one with the purchasing power in an org…
I completely agree. By talking to the guy making the cards and not the boss, you are essentially showing him a product that makes a big part of his value as an employee obsolete. Buying it would be like cutting off a big portion of his value to the company and future as an employee. To his boss however, it could be a huge savings, he saves on wages and he no longer needs someone with good Photoshop skills to do the same job, thus he can probably find someone cheaper.
Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it
#9How are you doing your sales - one to one? It helps if you have some pilot customers who can give you some testimonials or referrals. You could offer the software for free for a charity or event (e.g. creating ID cards for volunteers).
Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it
#10You should take a different approach. Your target audience aren't the decision makers.
a. Try to sell the product to the decision makers in that business (school management etc.). Pitch them about saving resources. (employee time)
b. If for some reason you still wanna target the employees. Let them use it for a small number of cards (say 5% of what the general average for an employee is) and then make them pay for more. (they will only realise there time and effort saved when the witness it.(Pitching to them isn't really gonna help)