Which one of these ideas should I build?
Hey IH!
I am a dev and looking to become an indie hacker. Long time lurker and very rarely post here. My first and only project (so far) was Roast My Site, and I let the domain expire and gave up on the project just as it was ramping up.
I'd like to create a small app and have a couple ideas I would like to get your opinion on. Which one has better potential (in your eyes) to get traction:
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Anxiety Tracker - desktop+mobile app where you can track different anxiety related symptoms (headaches, body pains, panics etc). It will probably start with desktop app first and if it gets traction I will build a mobile app for it). The app will have timeseries charts (your daily logs) as well as some blog-like entries for each day for you to reflect on later on when reviewing historic data. You will get email reminders to reflect on your day. Would you pay $5/$10/$15+ for this?
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ChangeLog app - desktop app + js sdk to integrate with your website. Think of a Intercom like popup that you click to show a simple list of recently added changes/features/fixed bugs etc. Would you pay $5/$10/$15+ for this?
Would like to start building a project but feeling overwhelmed and also scared to death of failure so looking for some motivation and validation before I start.
Thanks in advance for any and all replies and feedback! ♥
P.S.: I am also planning on either live streaming or recording the development process for each of the apps above and posting on YouTube. Will be built with Laravel and React. Let me know if you would be interested in watching the development process videos.
The only way I would pay for an app is after trying the free version and finding it useful.
I would say pick the one you can find a community to market it easily. For e.g. check out the Health Anxiety subreddit and ask people if they would use what you can build and take it from there.
Hmm.. yes and no. I have learnt that having a trial is not ideal for an indie app. Best to ask for money straight away and that would act as a validation step. Either you want to pay for an app that you think is useful or you don't. If you don't like what you get ask for a refund no issues.
IMHO that depends on whether it's B2C or B2B. Your app sounds like it's B2C, hence IMO a trial would be imperative to make a sale.
Edit: Well your first idea is a B2C one and the second is not. So that could work for the second one for sure! :)
Really good point, actually. I will consider a week long trial for the first app :)
Short answers:
(1) No - while this is solely my opinion as a user, I have to add that B2C apps are notoriously difficult to gain traction with.
(2) Yes - from what I have read, it looks like tools/features aimed at the developer community are somewhat easier to get people to use/pay. I use no-code tools now but used to be a developer and would definitely find this useful.
Yeah I've heard B2C are harder to get going initially, but LunchMoney's (https://lunchmoney.app/) success is keeping me hopeful.
Yeah you are right about the tools for devs and dev companies. Might build the changelog app first.
Thanks for your input mate!
I think the changelog app possibly if it did more. If I have a site that completely moves something to a new location; I'd like the equivalent of what Youtube has on it's mobile platform. It moved the comments from the bottom to the middle of the app. Everytime you scroll to that part of the page, it says "comments have been moved" with a link which takes you to the new location. That would be useful.
That's a great idea, sort of like highlighting elements when doing initial on-boarding but for updates? I think this would be a nice addition, and fairly simple to implement.
Thanks mate!
I'd recommend reading How to brainstorm great business ideas.
Then also listen to the IH Mom Test podcast episode.
For example, the mom test will show that people lie, so asking people whether they'd pay isn't actually a useful question to ask because people will lie (and say yes) just to please you.
Thanks for the advice! At this point I'm done reading books and listening to podcsts etc and just want to take action.
Good point on the question, but since nobody knows me personally here, I doubt anyone would care to please me or be afraid to hurt my feelings. So hoping people can answer the question, but if not then not, I will validate it anyway once either of the systems go live.
I've had the idea of building a similar product to Roast My Site,
Can you tell me why did you drop the idea if it was ramping up?