12
15 Comments

When building a product, what thing do you struggle the most with?

  1. 6

    100% the outreach and marketing side of things.

    Sometimes it feels like talking into a void. And I often feel like I'm going to be seen as an annoying self-promoter - or I'm worried that people will think what I've built is shit.

    In fact, I think building and doing the software side of things is the easiest part. Probably because I have more experience, a better view of the path, and a more definite vision of when I've completed a feature. Whereas marketing is always ongoing and impact varies a lot.

    The only solution that I can see is to keep going and put in the hours and practice.

    1. 1

      I also feel the same way. I try to give value first so I don't seem like a self promoter.
      Practice is definitely important.

      You could check out Andrea Bosonis blog zero to marketing to get better at it
      and maybe subscribe to the First1000 newsletter

    2. 1

      Indeed ! I totally feel you!! I feel the same.

      When it comes to outreach people, I feel like they will think that I'm spamming, trying to sell at all costs, etc... but. I'm doing it genuinely.

      I guess that, this happens when you're building a product for an audience that is not clear enough,(which then means that the idea hasn't been validated enough)

  2. 3

    For me it's marketing too. Getting the word out, getting eyeballs, SEO, etc....

    Building namy.ai was a bit complicated but at least progress was something I could expect. With marketing however, progress seems much slower and more random (or luck driven)

  3. 3

    Building a product is far too easy nowadays. Marketing is the most challenging aspect because everyone is competing for a voice. But if you already have an audience, whatever you create will sell almost instantly.

  4. 3

    I have great idea, technical / dev background, product skills, bootstrapping finances, solid roadmap, a little time, but the biggest challenge for me is to stick to the big picture and not get bogged down into details. I tend to spend night after night solving something to get to the next stage, rather than stepping back, looking at different way to solve it, maybe delegating it, and keeping track of the big picture goals that actually move me forward. Getting better handling it but still need some work. Cheers.

    1. 1

      what a good point! I find myself struggling with that as well now that you've mentioned it!

  5. 2

    FOCUS! Not getting bogged down in tiny details / feature creep that have zero to do with launching. "Ohhhh i know what will make this feature cooler!....OOOOO i need to move this button 3 pixels....Oh I bet users 5 years from now will want this feature that has nothing to do with my MVP...."

    I left my job almost 3 months ago now to focus on my project and all I've accomplished was launching a single page that ranks European countries on which are 'best' to visit now. (I hate you COVID delta strain for screwing this up!)

    So, yeah, I need to leave IH right now and get back to my web app...Oh look, a new Podcast episode!....

  6. 2

    Marketing, content, finding new customers.

  7. 2

    Feeling irritated when realizing I might just writing another database management system, with different UI :(

  8. 2

    Growing an audience, coming from someone who has very little followers. It's like talking to the void.

    1. 1

      This too. I started live streaming myself building my app a couple months ago and have zero followers (consistency is hard due to family/kids and unknown interruptions through the day). Talking through my code to myself seems super awkward and I have a very difficult time posting the daily/weekly updates I envisioned being super easy. It's more difficult than it seems.

  9. 2

    When working on a current idea, I struggle most with the low cash, damn. =)

Trending on Indie Hackers
How I grew a side project to 100k Unique Visitors in 7 days with 0 audience 48 comments Competing with Product Hunt: a month later 33 comments Why do you hate marketing? 28 comments My Top 20 Free Tools That I Use Everyday as an Indie Hacker 14 comments $15k revenues in <4 months as a solopreneur 14 comments Use Your Product 13 comments