Nervous but will open for Beta
Have been building for a few months on an idea I had for an asset management software based on QR codes.
I basically want to keep track of my collection of music equipment (which I regularly borrow out to my friends).
A simple dashboard, where I can register each of my assets. Add a picture, category and keep a comment log (like GitHub).
Where each asset has a unique QR code that, when scanned by me specifically, opens the asset page. So I can then write down who I borrowed it to and when.
To get the doubt out of my head, made a webflow site for it and have a waiting list. There are like 50 companies that want to take a look (I think most of them are people that work at my competitors first).
I want to make a living out of this open source project. I am so nervous for critique but it is for the best. It is not personal at me.
How did you overcome your launch-fobia?
For the ones curious, the app I will be opening up for Open Beta instead of Closed Beta is called Shelf (www.shelf.nu)
Any tips on how to deal with critique/hate are welcome.
Critique/hate is unavoidable when you publicly share something on the internet. I have a small yt channel where the comments range from "awesome" to "this sucks", so that's my experience with that.
As for the product, I actually really like the idea. The location tracking feature makes me think this would be good for businesses that have inventory in multiple locations (postal services, large stores that move products from store to store, maybe even delivery services that want to keep track when an item has arrived at a location). But I don't think I would use it for personal use. When I let someone borrow something, I know who I gave it to and who has it - it's a very informal process. So I don't see this making its way to my personal life. It might even complicate that informal process.
Another idea - you can try marketing this to IT teams. There is an open source product called snipe it that has a lot of the same features including qr code scanning.
Thank you very much for taking the time to reply Alfredo.
I know of Snipe IT. Their UI is a bit too complicated for many.
Thank you for sharing your perspective with keeping track of loans to friends. This is merely 1 use case that I share here as I know that there are mostly indie hackers that embrace the travel lifestyle or minimalist in general.
Anyone here that wants to partner up to help me with the commercial side of this tool? Do you see any potential?