I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it • Hacker News Board

Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it

#41

Post by zupa-hu » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 2:53 PM UTC

I had the same realization few months ago with a product I have been growth hacking for too long, improving on feedback, A/B testing, only to figure out people don't really care.

>> people want everything for free just everything of that value to them. Give them a software that turns them 20 yrs old and they will pay.

If you are about to give up on putting more energy into it, talk to your friends maybe someone wants to jump on board and put energy into selling it.

Hey, you are around 22, already experiencing a seeming-to-fail business. Awesome. Extract your take-aways, learn, move on. Go and read The Lean Startup if you haven't read it yet.

Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it

#42

Post by palencharizard » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 3:09 PM UTC

Because there is a lot of free software out there.

I think a better marketing plan is to charge a monthly subscription. I have no data on this, but I believe a lot more people would rather pay $5/mo indefinitely rather than $400 one time.

Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it

#43

Post by flog » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 3:12 PM UTC

palencharizard wrote: post #42

Because there is a lot of free software out there. I think a better marketing plan is to charge a monthly subscription. I have no data on this, but I believe a lot more people would rather pay $5/mo indefinitely rather than $400 one time.

I'd question your assumption on SaaS vs one-off payment.

Remember he's selling to large orgs. They have set budgets (often use it or lose it next year), and getting approval for a $400 payment might be easier than recurring payments.

Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it

#44

Post by ams6110 » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 3:15 PM UTC

Jugurtha wrote: post #27

Incentives, my friend.. This is the situation where both the Boss and the Employee have nothing (or little to gain). It may appear weird, but indulge me. I have seen this happen over and over. - Say employees are paid X amount a month. Now, with their current method, they can be slimey and not deliver, and then tell the boss it's complicated, Photoshop, etc.. So it's just few cards to deliver per day. Maybe they have…

This is exactly the first thought I had when I read ID cards for "students/staff" i.e. likely a university.

Universities (probably government bureaucracies also) will hang on to some of the most nonsensical manual processes simply because they are loathe to automate anything to the point where a job position might become unnecessary. There are many reasons for this, but mainly that an administrative appointement in a university carries prestige and clout proportionate to its number of subordinate positions. Along with the number of subordinates, the size of the budget it commands is also a critical signal. Maintaining---and if possible, growing---these two peacock feathers is the driving rationale for most of the idiocy you see in university administration.

If you eliminate the need for a staff job, you reduce the budget and the number of reports the boss has. So the boss will be very protective of his/her little fiefdom and will reject any attempts to automate or improve efficnency in any way that might eliminate any jobs.

Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it

#45

Post by Jugurtha » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 3:25 PM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #44

Jugurtha wrote: post #27

Incentives, my friend.. This is the situation where both the Boss and the Employee have nothing (or little to gain). It may appear weird, but indulge me. I have seen this happen over and over. - Say employees are paid X amount a month. Now, with their current method, they can be slimey and not deliver, and then tell the boss it's complicated, Photoshop, etc.. So it's just few cards to deliver per day. Maybe they have…

This is exactly the first thought I had when I read ID cards for "students/staff" i.e. likely a university. Universities (probably government bureaucracies also) will hang on to some of the most nonsensical manual processes simply because they are loathe to automate anything to the point where a job position might become unnecessary. There are many reasons for this, but mainly that an administrative appointement in a…

If I may go slightly off topic, and dive into University nonsense:

I passed by a stocking area in my Electronics faculty, where I catched a glimpse of Tektronix scopes, so I entered.

I asked the man in charge there what's up with those, he said they were obsolete (?) and the faculty doesn't need them anymore.. Sweet. I asked if I can buy them (there were a lot of scopes, function generators, power supplies, etc).

He said I couldn't buy them. He said they're selling them to some companies "by the kilogramme". Most of these scopes probably had some cap going nuts to be replaced or something. I couldn't buy them because it needs to go through some regulations, and offerings, and contracts, etc.

I'm just a student who'd loved to have a Tektronix "scope". They're selling them as metal. If it came from any other entity, I would've understood.. But from the Electronics' faculty, it's kind of sad.

Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it

#46

Post by dmoney » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 3:44 PM UTC

petersouth wrote: post #24

We spent tons of time and effort making an awesome software program only to realize in the end the users were not computer savvy and would rather do the work in a non-technical way regardless of the benefits. If any of the sales deal with Government entities there could be a million dumb reasons. I've seen: someone doesn't believe that there much be a catch with something so cheap--decides to buy the thing that costs…

"I found this product that does exactly what we need. I've tested it and it works. It's $250."

"Yeah, but our deadline's in 2 weeks and there's no way we could go through the procurement process by then. How's that custom solution coming?"

Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it

#47

Post by throwawayaway » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 3:47 PM UTC

pathy wrote: post #13

lelandriordan wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 s…

It doesn't have to be that an extreme, making the employee(s) currently responsible for the cards redundant, but it would allow them to do more productive tasks. That said, those productive tasks may not be as relaxing and mindless as creating those cards in Photoshop. Point still stands though.

sure they do more than just making cards full time.

Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it

#48

Post by tarunkotia » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 3:55 PM UTC

Don't sell the intangible product, instead try selling the whole package of creating ID cards. It will be a simpler pitch to your customer and for all you know potential customers may start to ask you for the software who already have a established process of creating ID cards but don't have the software capability to support it.

Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it

#49

Post by pincubator » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 4:14 PM UTC

smoyer wrote: post #12

"The creation of ID card is generally done with photoshop and separately edited for each card" I've actually never seen this done. The schools and companies in my area all have systems that integrate the picture taking with the identity information and automatically print a card. What you're describing simply requires too much skill and time. So you've built a product, but you're competing with packaged systems. I di…

That's why whenever I get a neat idea (after "Oh, I can't believe I've never seen this kind of app around, it would be awesome to build it!" moments) I always do an extensive market research. It helps with two things:

1) You don't get disappointed that much to see others also have thought of it before (comparing to the shocking moment of discovering that someone else has already done it better by the time you are almost finishing your product). 2) It helps me to look/analyze what my kind of different ideas my competitors have thought about the product. If they have a crappier version of what I have in mind, then I am happy to see that there is an actual potential to beat them. If they are in a far better condition, then I force myself to think "what else could be added to this". If there is not much idea I can extent the product into, usually I give up since there is not much point of wasting time.

Re: I built an application to solve a problem but got nobody to buy it

#50

Post by benihana » Sun, Apr 13, 2014, 4:14 PM UTC

>Why do people want everything for free when other have put a lot of effort on making it?

This is a flawed question. People pay money based on the value delivered to them, not the effort the developer put into a project. This is tough to hear, but nobody cares if you put a lot of effort into something if it doesn't solve their problems better than their current solution. Check your ego at the door of your business if you want to be successful.