What if the idea/product already exists...

Hey there,

First off, great idea! The thought that there are already products like Procore and PlanGrid out there is totally normal and, believe it or not, a good sign.

Here’s why your idea can still shine:

• Unique Twist: Find that specific pain point or unique angle in the construction world that others haven’t nailed yet. Maybe it's a feature or just a way easier user interface.

• Simplicity Wins: If you can build something that's super intuitive and user-friendly, that alone can set you apart. A lot of the existing tools can feel like navigating a spaceship.

• Custom Love: Offer features that can be tailored to different projects or company sizes. Flexibility can be your secret weapon!

• Stellar Support: Be the hero with amazing customer service. Quick, helpful support can turn frustrated users into loyal fans.

• Community Vibes: Get your potential users involved from the get-go. Their feedback can guide you to build something they actually need and love.

Even with competition, there’s always room for something better or different. Use the presence of existing products as a benchmark and aim to create something that stands out. Don’t let it hold you back – let it drive you to innovate!

Hope this helps, All the best!

Instead of thinking in terms of features, you should think in terms of marketing the product like:

How will you reach out to people to collect feedback and get the first 10 sales?

How can you bring 1,000+ users to our website?

Every product starts with a bit of cautiousness. But don't sweat, just do it. Slowly and gradually you will realize that it isn't that hard

First off, great idea! The thought that there are already products like Procore and PlanGrid out there is totally normal and, believe it or not, a good sign.

Here’s why your idea can still shine:

Unique Twist: Find that specific pain point or unique angle in the construction world that others haven’t nailed yet. Maybe it's a feature or just a way easier user interface.

Simplicity Wins: If you can build something that's super intuitive and user-friendly, that alone can set you apart. A lot of the existing tools can feel like navigating a spaceship.

Custom Love: Offer features that can be tailored to different projects or company sizes. Flexibility can be your secret weapon!

Stellar Support: Be the hero with amazing customer service. Quick, helpful support can turn frustrated users into loyal fans.

Community Vibes: Get your potential users involved from the get-go. Their feedback can guide you to build something they actually need and love.

Even with competition, there’s always room for something better or different. Use the presence of existing products as a benchmark and aim to create something that stands out. Don’t let it hold you back – let it drive you to innovate!

Hey!

A few things I think.

First I'd say, if this is the first time building, it can be reassuring to have competition. You know you build something people will want.

Second, it can be very helpful to gather what people think about these products and do better (building what they want). Once a business starts to offer a service, sometimes it can be hard and/or long to shift towards what people want. You, building from scratch, is a big advantage.

I always keep in mind that, on the beverage market, you have Coca, Pepsi, Orangina, Sprite, 7up ... They all do the same things (more or less) yet they exist and people have their preference. When building a product, if you build it in a way that feels much more efficient or ergonomic for you, it could be for others too. Best way is to try, good luck! :)

Good question. A game theory question at heart. You have all the advantages of learning from competitors failures but all the disadvantages of competition. There's some balance between looking like a familiar product but offer some new value added. Be sure to feature both aspects when discussing your product.

That’s okay. That happens a lot. In most cases it’s better the product exists otherwise you would be required to raise a lot of money to gain market awareness.

Keep us updated on the business. Seems like a really cool idea.

First of all, it doesn't matter how many competitors are out there. Nothing lasts forever. Figma wouldn't have been born if the founder was worried about Adobe. I don't know your product , but in general, adding more features often doesn't end well. I wouldn't switch service providers because it offers more features I may or may not use, but I would switch if a new service offers fewer features but is cheaper.

If you build exactly what is already out there, you might find it difficult to compete. However, you can use a trick that is very proven:

Go to forums and facebook groups wherever the users of existing products hang out and see what they are complaining about. After spending some time, you will see a few common features that the current solutions lack and you can build your unique solution based on those missing features.

Like others are saying, you kind of want this. Or at least it’s not necessarily bad.

The best products are 80% familiar, 20% new. Think about Facebook taking off after MySpace already existed, or Lyft once Uber did.

For joinorderly.com we already knew Shop existed, but they lacked any support for returns and so we thought that could be our 20%

In my opinion, when a product is already in the market, it is easier for competitors to join. They don't need to do all the hard work like research and testing to develop something new. All they need to do is create a version that is slightly better than what already exists.

I completely understand where you're coming from. The concern about entering a market with existing competitors is something many of us grapple with when contemplating new projects.

In my opinion, the existence of similar products shouldn't necessarily deter you from pursuing your idea. Here are a few points to consider:

Unique Value Proposition: Think about what unique features or improvements your application could offer that the existing products don't. Even if the core functionality overlaps, having a unique twist or addressing specific pain points that others miss can make your product stand out.

Target Audience: Sometimes, existing solutions don't cater well to all segments of the market. Perhaps there's a niche within the construction industry that isn't fully served by current applications. Conducting thorough market research can help you identify these gaps.

User Experience: The user interface and overall user experience can be a significant differentiator. If your application can provide a more intuitive, efficient, and enjoyable user experience, it could attract users who are dissatisfied with the complexity or usability of existing options.

Scalability and Integration: Consider how well your product can scale and integrate with other tools and systems that construction workers and managers already use. Seamless integration can be a huge selling point.

Customer Feedback: Engage with potential users early on. Their feedback can guide your development process and help ensure that your application meets their needs better than current offerings.

Remember, many successful products weren't the first of their kind. Google wasn't the first search engine, and Facebook wasn't the first social network. Often, it's about execution and the ability to solve problems more effectively than the competition.

Thanks all of you for valuable information. I was so amazed by the comments that I got. I will start building this idea into an application.

TBH, this is my first time working on a product that I want to share with users. My idea behind this product was, "Why construction works are so slow. Managers/supervisors do not keep track of timeline of things that needs to be done? The higher authorities do not have tracking of the work that is going on?".

Failing to pursue your dream because 'it's been done before' is a TERRIBLE IDEA!

I was told not to build videofeedbackr countless times because of that, but we're getting more users every day and I couldn't be happier :)

Build from a different perspective. Build something better. Market from a sub niche.

Absolutely, an idea can be valuable with many other products on the market. It’s not about being first to market, the majority of the time it’s about what can be made better.

If you can pick apart the products that already exist and capitalise on their weaknesses and what they don’t have, you’ll succeed at having a great idea for a product.

Hey, to be fair at this stage what you want is to

1. analyse the value proposition of each competing app/ product,
2. see if you see any gap that you could fill with your business and / or expertise,
3. validate that hypothesis via customer interviews (people love to complain and will give you many features - yet try to always think in terms of value prop rather than exact features that can be replicated).

I would reiterate that process by refining each step with the learnings of the previous pass, until you find a positioning that resonates with customers - then it's time to start building. If nothing resonates, time to move on :)

You don't have to be original cause most of the things are already built. What you should be looking at is :

• Whether they built it very very well
• Whether they are affordable or is there scope for cheaper product
• Whether you can take a different approach to better serve the purpose
• Whether the tech has advanced making it easy for you to build and sell things in this fast paced world
• Whether the product segment customers consider an MVP product and are willing to try
• Besides this If you can simplify and offer more value. Think no more get to it

Having competitors indicates that it’s a strong market. You should specifically look at the app reviews of your competitors to see what users are complaining about; these complaints are often your opportunities. Another approach is to further segment these user groups to find more specific problems to solve. This way, your early market will be more focused, and by solving the issues that your competitors can't, you can gradually grow and even overtake them.

Once you find this key insight, you can use a waitlist to collect users and validate it, while listening to their feedback to refine your idea.

A product that already exists makes it easier for a competitor to emerge. They don’t have to do any of the heavy lifting (research, trials, etc) to create a viable product and market. They just have to be slightly better than the product that already exists.

I've seen this type of question a lot, and it always comes down to whether or not you can find a niche, or a subset of the market that you can build a product which provides a better value proposition. One size fits all is tough, especially in time/resource management, so there's almost always room for new market presence.

Something that could be worth while when vetting something like this is to reach out to some local potential customers and simply ask them what they're using and if they're fully satisfied. Making these connections early will help have customers ready to test and champion your product for you. From there you can find your niche and advertise to similar market personas.

I remember there being multiple discussions on the same in this very forum (try searching). One nuance was that it just helps validate your business.

Thank you for the information.

So when I was totally new to the building space, I thought I needed to create something totally new.

But as I joined communities and started learning from others. The point is not to create completely new solutions but to provide better solutions or offers for others.

You need to have a USP for your product.

I hope this helps!

Most of the ideas or products I have in mind already exist, but they are usually too large for my needs. So, I try to keep my solutions as simple as possible to solve my specific problem. I hope others will find my product better because it is simpler and cheaper.

For Indiehackers having competition typically translates to an established market and I think it is a boon because

1. There is competition who has already established and proved that there is a need for the product.
2. Customers are also willing to pay and there are established price points.
3. If the market is mature then you can access data online on what are advantages or disadvantages of various existing products.

Risks with an established market

1. If it is winner takes all market. Typically these would be B2C category or some thing like a platform eg operating system.
2. Has a very high entry barrier. Lets say you are planning to build a web scale search engine.

While entering ensure that market is large enough and preferably it is an expanding market; modest growth is also fine infact can be favorable for indiehackers since a rapidly growing market will typically attract funded competitors.

Try not to get into a shrinking market unless your strategy is to shrink the market to only your offering but that will typically need funding and some more strengths.

Hope this helps, All the best!

What is different between your application and your competitors? I mean even if it was the same and you have a lower price, you would still get customers but like you just need to identify what you can do better (or add) compared to their app.

In my view, it's valuable. The presence of competitors indicates a demand for your product, just like SEO AI. What we need to do is to collect opinions and feedback, continuously improve and optimize our product, identify what distinguishes us from the competition, and make our product stand out.