Starting a new business, need suggestions from other entrepreneurs
Well the thing is that for the last few months I have been working by myself on a product that I think can be really useful for Language learners.
Few years ago I had to study some languages by myself. After some time I developed a method that really worked for me, and I would really like to share it with other people. As of now, I am working on having Japanese from basic to intermediate, but I plan to add Spanish too in the near future.
Now my main problem. I am doing this completely alone and I feel it is taking forever!
I present Fluento. You can find the landing page here (https://www.fluento.es/). For now I have only enabled the landing page and I would like to start getting some interested users to sign up for the newsletter. But this is all I have right now.
Here are my main concerns regarding the development and content:
1- The website is kind of ready but I feel like adding it now with the few content I have is not worth it yet.
2- I am working every day on the content, but as I said it takes a while. There's hundreds of things to explain to learn a language and I have thought about hiring a freelancer or something, but I am not sure this is the best approach now that I have very limited money.
3- The error handling on the website is quite bad. I could fix it, but I need help from someone who knows a bit better and can guide me a bit (a friend of mine can help me for sure!), but it will take time to fix. I know how annoying it is to get failures in a website without knowing why!
And regarding general stuff:
1- Marketing (no idea how to do it!), I guess I could start spamming all the forums about language learning and so on, but this seems a bit annoying.
2- All the business side, what to do, how to create a company, should I become a freelancer then? If I become a freelancer should I register the name?
3- My current domain is a .es, the .com and .io were taken. I am not sure how reliable the .es domains are for people who do not know it's a Spanish domain. Should I change it? If a .com was super necessary then I would have to change the full website name. For me, sometimes I enter a website and I see a weird name and domain so I just look for something looking more reliable. Not sure if other people do this too.
4- For the Japanese language, it is needed to know some stuff beforehand. This is really a dealbreaker because someone with 0 knowledge can't use the website. Not sure how to add this to my current website format, so for now I have just added a link to an article explaining how to learn, and asking people to come back once they do, but this feels really bad for my side.
Next week I have a meeting with an old coworker. I helped him with a project not so long ago and he will return the favor and invest some money on the company (and mentor me a bit). With that money I intend to:
1- Throw a marketing campaign. Not sure if Google Ads is worth it. I would like to do Instagram if it is possible to target specific users (like people following specific accounts and so on). But anyways for Instagram I guess I would need to have some video and so on, so it would require even more money. Also I think reddit seems like a good place to throw in some ads, again if it's possible to target some specific subreddits users.
2- Get someone to help me with the content. This should be a priority when I start getting some users.
This is a big IF and I don't count on the money yet.
Some other things that I would need suggestions on:
1- The price or how to monetize the site. I compete with lots of apps and websites like Duolingo, and some of them are free. I know my product will be worth at least 10€ per month once it is ready, but I lowered the price because I am aware there's hundreds of free resources for this.
2- Related to the first points: how much content should I create before launching the website. For example, for Japanese right now I have the first official level (equivalent to an A1 level in other languages) almost finished. From the three types of contents: Kanji, Vocabulary, Grammar, I am only missing the Grammar part. The vocabulary part is done, but it can be improved so much. The thing is that Grammar is the last thing taught in the website, so I think I could just launch it without it and work in it while people do Kanji and Vocabulary?
3- Right now I am using some content like the pictures and icons that should be credited. Where is the right place to put this credits? Is it enough putting them in a comment in the HTML should I create a specific page for that or in the Terms of Use?
PS: I created a first version in the beginning of the year which is really outdated (no content, no bugfixing, no updates, different tech stack) and was done when I didn't know much about web development. Now I just keep some stuff so my girlfriend can learn Spanish (words only, which would be a part of the current version). This website can be seen at https://fluento-testing121.herokuapp.com/ but will die as soon as Heroku starts being paid (November 28th).
Don't do Google Ads. It'd be like throwing money in the water.
It's not a statement against Google Ads, I make a living on it. But for your business idea, it would be hard to capture the relevant traffic through search terms, not to mention the high cost that the competition has contributed to.
If language learning is your passion, then by all means do postings on forums, not to sell products initially but to get into conversations on pain points, learning habits/style, and perhaps various teaching methods. Everyone learns differently, and everyone is driven by different motivations for learning a new language.
If you can connect with people at these two levels: i.e their motivation and learning style, and perhaps frustration, then you will get some attention.
I would say that Google Ads might come in at some point as you grow your business, but certainly not at the very beginning.
Thanks for the advice, I'll keep that in mind.
PS: any advertisment platform you can recommend once I move from the phase of "teaching forums" to more marketing?
Facebook/Instagram used to provide rich targeting options based on interests, likes and affinities, but most of those are taken away now. Depending on your specific targeting it might not hurt to give it a try.
For me, I guess I’m still wondering how you fit into the ecosystem. How do you compare with Duolingo, Anki, books/websites, and classes? All but the last option is free. I personally am just unwilling to sign up for a subscription just to find out. Even just a video on your landing page of here’s what a daily routine with Fluento looks like would be very helpful. Better yet, a demo of some kind without signing up would be great.
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From my own experience, I’ve seen:
In university, I was required to major in a language. I had taken Spanish classes for years, and I was able to brush up through a couple weeks of intense study using free online resources and a couple books from the library. After that review, I was able to exempt out of the maximum number of Spanish credits via the placement exam, and took the required class to get college credit.
In high school for the SAT/ACT and in college for the GRE, I used Kaplan Test Prep to study for the exams. Their focus was clearly on the exams and improving your scores.
I know plenty of people who use Duolingo for fun. But, the best way to learn a language is living there and being exposed to it constantly, especially by dating someone.
I’m just saying these examples because I’m trying to get a feel on your target market. Is it people learning for fun? People learning for exams or school? People learning for travel? People learning because they need to? Anyway, just curious who your audience is and what your positioning is.
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I’m a designer/developer so I’ll start with those questions first.
I assume you’re talking about the illustrations, right? Are they from https://designstripe.com/? Just buy one month for $20 and get the SVG versions.
Otherwise, you should credit like https://uxdesign.cc/running-a-remote-user-research-study-981251fc5379 and put it in small text below the image or in the footer.
Personally, I think you should use the free vivid imagery and videos from https://unsplash.com/ and https://www.pexels.com/search/videos/videos/ I’d be more inspired by to learn by the places I want to see than by those illustrations
I would also recommend brushing up your design skills by reading these two practical books https://www.refactoringui.com/ and https://designingui.com/
Google App Engine offers a free tier that you can use to keep it alive. Might be worth doing that, or at least put a website-wide banner saying the shut-down date and linking to your new app if you have users.
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When you make money, you should found your business. A business protects you from being personally liable, and is good to have when you freelance or make an app. I’d recommend hiring a local attorney and seeing what they recommend (S-Corp, LLC, etc. in the US, a freelancer license may be a good path in Europe), as it depends on where you live.
I’d probably change it while it’s still easy to. Plus, your business name can mirror it. The tips https://www.indiehackers.com/post/guidelines-for-picking-a-domain-name-ada0a3cf42 are pretty good. But you don’t have to. It’s up to you at the end of the day.
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As for these questions:
Well, just looking at your competitors:
You’re arguably in the alpha stage and charging $9/mo. Their designs look better, they have mobile apps, and they support many more languages with complete curriculums—but you’re charging the most. I haven’t signed up for a trial and I don’t completely understand how you’re different—so maybe your product is worth that. But, as I described in the beginning, I want to actually see what I’m getting into through a video or demo.
I personally don’t buy subscriptions at all, so your competitors’ lifetime deals are more attractive to me. But, that’s just a personal preference, so don’t worry about it.
Get people using the product, even if they aren’t paying yet. Get feedback, fix their problems, etc.
Join a small designer or developer or indiehacker community! Get to know people. Local in-person events are best, but there’s many people on slack and discord too. Your family and friends are there to support you too.
Making an app takes a long time! Especially since you learn a lot along the way. Plus, you also have to make all the content too. Plan out your features, make goals, try to hit deadlines. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
I know I didn’t answer all your questions, but g’luck!
(third time I post this reply, hope it does not get repeated, but I can't see it on my laptop)
Thank you so much for your suggestions!
I am also a bit uncertain how this fits the ecosystem. What I can tell though is that it makes it easier to concentrate to one specific official exam level than all the competitors. Meaning that, if you do the first level you are gonna get all the required concepts to pass that level only. So if you wanted to take an official exam, it would be really straightforward: once you completed the course and reviewed all your concepts a few times, you are ready to take the exam.
Isn't a trial enough for you to decide if it is worth it or you wanna avoid the subscripion altogether?
Well, I am unsure about this too. My initial idea was to make it for people who want to either relocate to that place or travel and be able to speak with people. I barely know people who used Duolingo for more than a week, so I'm not sure how to compare Fluento to it.
Yes, they are! How is the SVG gonna help me in this case?
What about a .net instead then? Or it would be better to completely change the name since the .com is not available?
As mentioned before, isn't the trial enough for that?
Would a free tier make it better? As in, you are allowed to learn X concepts and once you reached that limit you can't learn anymore? If I do this, I am a bit afraid of people creating multiple accounts to "get the full version for free".
I plan to add one lifetime subscription, but I prefer to get something basic ready that people can start using before getting myself into that.
Well, again, thanks for your suggestions and the links you provided! Will use your recommendations for sure!
The problem is that you haven’t convinced me to sign up for a trial. Quite frankly, I don’t know how your product is different from Anki flashcards from my skimming. So unless you have a video on how I would normally use your product daily or a demo to try out, then I’m not going to create an account, much less give you my credit card.
Creating an account or signing up for a free trial is a lot of friction. I need to know exactly what your product does (demo/video) and be convinced I want it first.
I will not sign up for a free trial just to figure out what your product is about and how it compares to others. I will sign up for a free trial only after your landing page convinces me that I want to try your product.
A video, a demo, a free tier, etc. You just need to show off your product somehow, and the current landing page isn’t doing that for me.
Hopefully that makes sense! I just want you to showcase the cool thing you made on your homepage better. I want to understand it better. That’s all.
Cool, there’s definitely a lot of people who prefer that model, myself included. Look at your competitors prices, and you’ll see it’s usually priced at a couple year’s worth of the subscription price.
Oh sorry, jumped ahead of myself. Paying for a subscription usually means you don’t have to cite them anymore. They have a chat bubble so you can confirm with them, but I’d be surprised if that wasn’t the case. And since you’re paying them, you get to use the better SVG format too.
That is, unless you decide to go with imagery instead.
If you’re going to change, I’d just go with .com Again, you don’t have to change it, but it’s easier now, rather than later. It might just be easy enough to buy fluentoes.com and redirect to fluento.es Totally up to you, don’t spend too much time thinking about it.
Anyway, g’luck!
Great feedback! Got it, and will work on those points you mentioned, specially making a demo or some showcase in the landing page.