Built a product, found out there are competitors that already solve issue, should I move on?
I originally built https://userjoy.co as I wanted a simple and cheaper way to get feedback for my apps than uservoice. I have multiple apps and didn't want to fork out for each of them.
I posted to reddit and got some good feedback but not as many sign ups as I would've liked. Overall I haven't done a whole lot of marketing at this point.
After building it I've found both an open source solution: http://getfider.com/
And another solution that does it: https://featureupvote.com/
I've listed a couple of ways forward I can think of but overall I'm just wondering if I should move on because it's been solved already.
Possible ways forward:
- Keep at it charging $9 a month and try to market it better
- Talk to some leads and see if there is a differential I can provide
- Leave it be and move on
Any advice would be great.
Virtually any (side) project one can start will already have competitors, in one form or another. That definitely does not mean you should abandon the project.
If you have existing paying users, I would start by talking to them and see if you can get some intel on why they decided to try your product instead of the competition. You could also do some research into the competition and see if you can learn about their pain points, things their customers don't like.
If anything, having competitors with paying customers is validation you're working on something people are willing to pay for. Now it's still a matter of figuring out how to position your product in the existing market.
Great actionable advice, thanks.
What I can see with that open source solution that the installation is very complicated! So if you would do the whole process simpler you already bet it.
Another thing is maybe you need to narrow your niche. Say, make a product the best for some specific group of companies.
Thanks, these are some great points.
Founder of https://featureupvote.com/ here.
It is a crowded market. You mentioned four (UserVoice, us, your own product, and getfider). There are many more. There seems to be enough room for multiple competitors, though.
Creating your product and mine is relatively easy. The real challenge, as you've discovered, is to get potential customers to find out about you. The only solution is to learn about online marketing of a SaaS product, and then use that knowledge. That, I'm afraid, is a long, hard grind.
UserVoice charges $500/month. You charge $9/month. I think your price is way too low. You can't really run a successful B2B SaaS by charging $9/month. We're also too cheap at $29/month, but we'll eventually add some higher-priced tiers.
Thanks for the insight Steve, and congrats on your success with featureupvote it seems like a solid product.
You are exactly right about discovering the real challenge.
It's slowly starting to dawn on me how this is a marathon not a sprint.
Having competitors validates the market, however , know that people might think a low priced product must be low quality, i would double the price to 18 USD
I agree, I'll have a think about pricing. I also wanted it to be accessible for upcoming "indie hackers" so I need to find a way to accommodate both.
Only a bit marketing effort but already a few paying users doesn't sound bad to me, don't give up yet. You will have concurrence anywhere nowadays.
The open source one isn't a real concurrence, your typical customer will be happy to give you some money if he can avoid the implementation and maintenance hassle.
Offering a free version, which is not customizable, shows your logo/link might be a good way to let users make some marketing for you. Imho don't care about earnings or how you should price it. Try to get as much users as you can.
Creating a module/plugin with your product for some popular frameworks might also help to find new customers.
If you don't like marketing or if you are just bad at it you have to be patient. Invest some more effort and let it run for at least a year before you pull the plug.
Thanks for the advice, the hosting costs are not much so I will keep it running. I might look into some marketing options and differentiators to competitors that will hopefully help it stand out.
I wouldn’t quit. Your product looks good!
Two things come to mind that I’ll share in case they help you...
One is maybe think about raising the price. It may help to create more of a gap between a free option and your offering.
The second is to consider how you can build your solution into different product management workflows. It looks like feature upvote integrates with Jira. Maybe consider integrating with another tool as a means of differentiation. Maybe you’re a better solution for Rally or TargetProcess,etc. Aligning yourself with paid tools means the companies that use them are willing to pay for software that helps them be productive.
Good luck
Thanks, this is solid advice, both about the pricing and focussing on integration which might be a key differentiator for companies.
Definitely some food for thought.
This comment was deleted 7 years ago
First, thanks for your detailed response. It's given me a lot to think about.
I guess there were a couple of aims when I set out to do it.
I don't think I have enough data for the churn rate yet, but the advice about understanding why they are using the service is definitely something I can act on.
And the coffee analogy has helped me put things into perspective, as I guess I've always gone too small on the pricing front, but it seems we already spend more than that on a daily basis :D
Thanks!
This comment was deleted 7 years ago