Whoops, you've got a customer.
Hey everyone, new here.
I finally joined up because after years of being an idea machine, trying over and over again to validate and eventually moving on to whats next with the knowledge gained, I've hit on something.
We had to reach out to a company that sells PoS software to my potential customer base. We needed to know if they had a public API we could use to talk to their software. Turns out, they don't. But they asked me for some context, and in a paragraph I told them what we had planned.
I get an email the next day, one of their clients wants the product; right now. They wanted to sign up the next day and begin using us. They were willing to jump through the hoops of implementing manual processes in the absence of an API in order to make it work. The PoS software provider was even willing to help their client create these manual processes so they could get them signed up with us. Crazy.
It's unfortunate we don't have a product ready for them to use, I wish we did. But the feeling of having a customer who WANTS what you are building... it just feels nice for a change.
We are full steam ahead building the product, but who knows if they will be around by the time we have something they can use. I feel like I dropped the ball with my response to their email asking to onboard their client. I didn't really know how to salvage the situation given that we have nothing to offer them right now. I did my best to assure them we will have something by end of quarter. Haven't heard back from them, and I don't really expect to honestly.
Anyways, just wanted to jump in and begin sharing from as early a point as possible. As we build and begin moving forward I will update frequently and publicly.
We are building software that allows existing businesses to add a product bundling service feature to their website.
I am meeting this Sunday with my co-founders to hash out some details and begin work on it.
Talk soon everyone, thank you for reading. Happy to finally join the community and contribute.
Best,
Can you meet with that client, maybe with the company so it's warm? Build it for them basically? Why don't you expect to hear back from them?
A friend of mine had a casual conversation like this, and a client wanted his idea so bad they said "why don't we pre-pay you for 2 years membership, and you can use that money to build it." It's the thing people are afraid to ask customers... but sometimes they offer it themselves.
Edit: I know this is easy to type and hard to do. But my friend really did it! (I haven't ever swung it though)
Hey thanks for replying, I actually thought about doing something like this. Its a little awkward because I don't have a direct line of communication to the potential customer. I don't expect to hear back from them because I don't have anything of value to offer them as nothing is built yet.
I'm considering reaching out directly to the owner of the business that wanted to use our product and see if I can do something like you are suggesting. I'm not really afraid of scaring them away or anything, just have to find the right way to start the conversation.
Don't underestimate the value of your ability to build the thing they want even if you haven't built it yet. Sometimes people are just looking for your commitment to the project and will be willing to pay for that. From what you've said, it seems likely that they believe in whatever it is you're building.
Of course, if you don't deliver on your promise that's a whole different story but if you're honest about timelines and keep them in the loop when things aren't working out my experience is that most people will be okay with that.
I'm excited for you!
Just sharing what my friend did - he had a designer make up a few of the pages. Maybe you're a designer (he's not). He then put this into a PDF and showed it to the customer. They said "I want this" and was actually confused about the fact that it didn't exist yet.
I definitely know how that feels like! It happened to me awhile back with my projects, https://oneprofile.info and https://oneprofile.team.
All the best, @lunarcastle! Don't give up.
Hey, thanks! Great projects by the way!
Thanks!