Exploring a seemingly immature space; should I be excited or terrified? (Or both?)
Hi indie hackers! Long time reader, first time poster, and all that.
I'm evaluating building a B2C "life support" application for new parents to help ease all the coordination and logistics management that arises when you've got a new child at home and simply aren't sleeping. Frankly, this is partly a scratch-my-own-itch idea; my second kid is due in two months.
The thing is, this space looks to be almost empty. Software offerings targeting new parents are largely trackers (baby did this, that, and these things when and where, and then ditto for nursing), or b2c (HiCleo, which looks incredible and to which I wish all the success), with the one exception being MealTrain.com.
Is this a sign that this is an essentially dead space (target market too overwhelmed to do anything but change diapers), or could it be a fresh and wide-opportunity (tasks previously handled by new grandparents are now being shouldered by new parents, who live further from where they grow up & and are isolated due to Covid)?
Would love opinions, spit-takes, concerns, testing strategies.
Hey Dylan! Well, for better or worse, not a totally immature space. We're over here doing it for babies + more at Give InKind - others in our space are Lotsa Helping Hands, Take Them a Meal, and beyond babies, you've got Supportful, Family Proud, What Friends Do, JoinSavo.
AFAIK, beyond Lotsa Helping Hands, we're the only VC-backed company in this space ($2.5M pre-seed).
Modern Village is currently in pre-beta/semi-stealth and they'll be more in the family project management space but interested to see what Avni (former founder of meetpoppy.com) does there.
We definitely set out to be the modern meal train, so I 100% understand where that itch comes from! Happy to chat anytime if you'd like.
Much appreciate the insight, Laura--and apologies for being an age in responding! I actually would love to chat at some point, but a major part of my inspiration for considering this space—namely, my second child—is due imminently, and all the prep has taken the mental bandwidth I would've directed here. So, everything's on hold through about November; I may well reach out after that.
Best to you in the meantime!
I would be skeptical.
Maybe it's just my character. Trying to project manage my kids and family life with software just doesn't appeal. Especially when kids are so unpredictable and each one comes with their own challenges.
Thanks, Rosie! I actually agree with you here; I'd also rather directly interact with my family :D In the normal day-to-day I don't even have a shared calendar with my wife (though I probably should, tbh).
The interest & ideas are around more managing the assistance others can offer at first (food, groceries, childcare, etc.)--essentially as a more modern superset of mealtrain, so you'd not have to manage incoming texts/emails/scheduling around the well-intentioned people in your community & can focus on the more immediate needs of a newborn (and when possible catch a nap).
Clearly, I need to work on my messaging--that's an immediate lesson learned. Overall, does that still sound like it's too "business-y" an approach to a family-oriented space?