Stuck going for Product Market Fit. Help me decide the next step
I'm building an product similar to provesrc.com. The core idea is applicable to lots of different types of sites, from landing pages to ecommerce stores. I followed the advice of going for the smallest niche you could serve, so, I decided to niche down to "e-stores in TiendaNube" (TiendaNube is like shopify for argentina and brazil).
Like a year ago I started working on this. I coded it as a plugin for that platform and the product has been ready for production for 6 months. It's installed in around 15 stores, and most of my users are happy. but (BIG BUT) I cannot charge my users until TiendaNube approve my product.
This approval process is taking a really long time... sometimes TN AppStore team take a month re reply an email... In the meantime, I'm paying for hosting (and not that cheap)...
The problem: I can't assume I have Product Market Fit until I've enough paying customers. But I can't charge my users until TN approve my app.
I have to decide what's next. The options are:
- Asume this approval process will take a long time, close down and move on
- Patiently wait for TiendaNube to approve.
- Wait for TN, but at the same time start a pivot to go for another niche (that implies a lot of coding, new marketing site, more talking to customers, etc)
What would you do in my place? Kill it, wait, or start over in another niche?
I would like to consider few points here before taking any decision further.
With how much difficulty have you acquired those 15 users?
Are they willing to pay as per your expectations or using the product as it's free?
Does TiendaNube provide in app purchases where you just restrict your app with username
and password and they will get some API Keys for the app usage?
Does increasing the active userbase catalyze the process of approval by TiendaNube?
As the current userbase is just 15 can you migrate your hosting to some other provider like Digital Ocean where the expenses should be feasible?
Worst case Just message those 15 users that you'll be closing the product temporarily and let the publisher approve your plugin.
Will you be having the first-mover advantage in the domain?
Kindly asses again and take decision wisely. Good luck :-)
Thanks for responding :)
I will explore a pivot where I go from "TiendaNube Plugin" to "Standalone Marketing Tool" (that's compatible with TiendaNube, but not exclusive).
All the best. Yes, that's a good sign and people are looking forward to that. BTW how much time you took for development? and are you the sole developer?
Long story...
I'm the sole developer, and also the sole owner. I quit my job to develop this idea, then had a health problem related to stress, then went back to old job.
I'm sure how much time I dedicated to coding. One wear multiples "hats" in this kind of projects, and coding get mixed with marketing, ops, business, strategy thinking, etc. I can tell you that I started a year and a half ago, but I wasn't 100% dedicated to it.
Yes. I could empathize. Go hard. All the best.
Hello, what happened with the process? I have launched a plugin for Tiendanube: www.metatiendanube.com, now I am in the approval process, but they say it takes around a month. Did you manage to publish the plugin?
Your comment sent me in a trip down memory lane...
Long story short: I waited, then I launched, and I'm still going strong 3 years later.
I believe IH doesn't have a messaging system, but you can contact me on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/nicogranelli
Good luck!