SaaSify

[LeoistheSun]

Deleted. Wrote something too soon possibly lol

 

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[Guest92dX]

Deleted. Wrote something too soon possibly lol

If it's serious then upgrade and move your progress thread to the inside.

You did give away some damning information for the curious.

Long story short. You're said exactly why you should pre-sell right now. There are current buyers. They're aware of the solutions.

You don't even need a packet. You just need unhappy customers.

Raise prices. Pre-sell.

Fwiw, I saw the early post.

You can definitely create that better product. If there are white label resellers then the problem is big and deep.

I.e. your $650 to $1300 per month is probably bare minimum.

$7200 to $13000 yearly doesn't sound like ML.

There is a thing known as Baumol's Cost Disease in Health Care, which predicts that due to reporting, administrative costs will rise forever like a black hole and cause general healthcare costs to rise forever.

The ACA is an example of how this occurs. Also, Canada, Britain, and maybe France as well (for various types of demonstrations of the effect).

So your problem is probably more expensive as the size of the organization increases.

You have found an admin problem with a real exit potential.

Healthcare companies get the most exits if I'm not mistaken.

If you're making a quality solution that can be A) scalable
B) compelling

You need to charge more. This also means you can make cash faster as there will be affiliates and stuff. They'll like a higher priced custom quality offer.

If your competition is super advanced then your solution will be cheap to build because it has been done a million times.

Your incremental improvement will get somewhere faster and better if you just pre-sell.

Selling now will help you create a godfather offer since the market is mature.

Knowing why you aren't good enough shows how to create the irresistible offer. Selling actually helps nail down what's missing.

If you do it the SPIN selling way.

However, it does sound like you need to map out the solution better if you're adding a never done before component.

Just my 0.02c.

 

[LeoistheSun]

If it's serious then upgrade and move your progress thread to the inside.

You did give away some damning information for the curious.

Long story short. You're said exactly why you should pre-sell right now. There are current buyers. They're aware of the solutions.

You don't even need a packet. You just need unhappy customers.

Raise prices. Pre-sell.

Fwiw, I saw the early post.

You can definitely create that better product. If there are white label resellers then the problem is big and deep.

I.e. your $650 to $1300 per month is probably bare minimum.

$7200 to $13000 yearly doesn't sound like ML.

There is a thing known as Baumol's Cost Disease in Health Care, which predicts that due to reporting, administrative costs will rise forever like a black hole and cause general healthcare costs to rise forever.

The ACA is an example of how this occurs. Also, Canada, Britain, and maybe France as well (for various types of demonstrations of the effect).

So your problem is probably more expensive as the size of the organization increases.

You have found an admin problem with a real exit potential.

Healthcare companies get the most exits if I'm not mistaken.

If you're making a quality solution that can be A) scalable
B) compelling

You need to charge more. This also means you can make cash faster as there will be affiliates and stuff. They'll like a higher priced custom quality offer.

If your competition is super advanced then your solution will be cheap to build because it has been done a million times.

Your incremental improvement will get somewhere faster and better if you just pre-sell.

Selling now will help you create a godfather offer since the market is mature.

Knowing why you aren't good enough shows how to create the irresistible offer. Selling actually helps nail down what's missing.

If you do it the SPIN selling way.

However, it does sound like you need to map out the solution better if you're adding a never done before component.

Just my 0.02c.

I would charge tons (a spin off idea possibly) but my current competition charges a one-time $1500 or $75 monthly.

So I feel like I can't go much higher.

I deleted my post since I was talking about how MS made it easy to do some things AI related... But one of their pricing points is totally bone-headed and makes no sense.

Anyway I am trying to figure this out.

 

[LeoistheSun]

@EasternCrane regarding my last post where I said "I deleted my post."

I just wanted to say that Microsoft was offering some awesome machine-learning tools that I decided to take advantage of.

I was able to talk to the head of Development with MS about their pricing- the product is still in "testing-mode" so anything can change. However the pricing will be changed (it wasn't that expensive- just super annoying how they do it currently).

Anyway, this post is super lame- I'd like to say what I am doing (I'm not an INSIDERS and I wonder if INSIDERS are truly safe from copy-cats).

Found yet another market to potentially market to down the road. That now makes 2mil+ potential customers.

Veterinarians
Medical Professionals
Law Enforcement

 

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[Guest92dX]

just do. Keep pushing. Keep going.

There are multiple areas of innovation:

Convenience, Price, Quality, Speed etc.

Pick one and be great at it. Most of all, trust your gut. They're not all dependent on price. If everyone is doing the same thing. It's probably a clue to do the opposite.

Edit: There's something for you on the inside that may help with your journey. MTF has a thread you should read. You'll see my post there on the inside as well asking about how to do this. Both threads are worth reading.

 

[LeoistheSun]

just do. Keep pushing. Keep going.

There are multiple areas of innovation:

Convenience, Price, Quality, Speed etc.

Pick one and be great at it. Most of all, trust your gut. They're not all dependent on price. If everyone is doing the same thing. It's probably a clue to do the opposite.

Edit: There's something for you on the inside that may help with your journey. MTF has a thread you should read. You'll see my post there on the inside as well asking about how to do this. Both threads are worth reading.

I cant get on the inside lol (not yet).

Quick little update: Applied for a job to get some industry EXP. This company supports the products (aka the competitors products) but doesnt actually create anything as I'd like to do.

 

[LeoistheSun]

18 days since my last post.

Just hired a freelancer on Upwork to build a test version of my idea. Its something that only I can use (clients cannot- it will need modifications to do so) and its super basic and rudimentary (made from .NET), and its being built to test my concept.

Excited to see what is created.

This is Phase 1.

Phase 2 is to test the concept with people who have the issue and to solicit feeback and optimally, get payment or presales.

Phase 3: Full deployment with the main feature + payment online. Basically step one of the SaaS. Also the app would be rebuilt in Java instead of .NET for compatibility.

 

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[LeoistheSun]

The test app is 1/2 way done. It still has bugs that need to be worked out. Excited to test the concept first with myself and then with my clients.

Also accepted a job working, it will help fund this operation too! As @MJ DeMarco says, a job can be fastlane (or on your way to it), if you use it to gain industry XP or fund an existing project.

Thought, it would be hard to find a well-paying job after so long without work, but I have got multiple offers.

 

[LeoistheSun]

Got the test app back a couple days ago. Now its just grinding! And testing the work. I'm guessing I'll be here for a month or more.

 

[LeoistheSun]

Its been 3 months since I last posted an update.

Since then I've:

• Been working on a data base of terms to be used in the software (approx 25,000 completed of 65,000+)
• Researching some other avenues in-case this one does not work out (basically writing down different potential pivots that solve the problem)

I was going to take a break because the API that I want to use (3rd party) was not complete and it would have been too much of a hassle to use. Fortunately it looks like an update has been released that lowers the costs significantly (much more than I thought), that could allow me to either compete on a cost basis (and be the "low end" provider [cheaper and have less features]) or increase my profit margin by 2-3x by keeping the price in-line with competitors and offer more features/benefits.

Either way, its been a bit of a roller-coaster; trying to figure out what to do next:

• Build a "Coming Soon" page to test the concept (even though solutions already exist) or possibly pricing options (but I do not know how to test this).
• Alternate avenues in-case my reliance on the API fails.

 

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[LeoistheSun]

Everything is a go. Just need to finish my database and either have a Vet test it or build the MVP and have them test it.

With the API my profit margin would be around 50%-80% est.

 

[LeoistheSun]

I am hiring a freelancer to get my database finished. I estimate 40hrs to completion. Then on to test phase after this.

 

[LeoistheSun]

Starting to work on the 2nd version of the app. This will be the MVP I show to potential Vets.

 

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[LeoistheSun]

Looking for a little advice, maybe @eliquid you can help? Small advice:

I am trying to figure out what order I should be doing things.

I've got software that doesnt quite live up to par with being an MVP. It will only test the database that I have created, and wont "satisfy" the problem directly.

Therefore, I'd like to create a real MVP. But I am curious if first I should look for more people with this problem or build them MVP and then go find the people with the problem to show them the MVP?

So what order should these be placed?
- Build MVP
- Find more people with this problem (I had 5 but probably down to 2), via landing page or explainer video with opt-in form.

While it would seem obvious to first find more people with this problem to save myself from wasting money on an MVP, my idea is nothing new and other well-funded companies exist in this market (thus verifying the idea). I am just doing things differently.

Thanks!

 

[eliquid]

Looking for a little advice, maybe @eliquid you can help? Small advice:

I am trying to figure out what order I should be doing things.

I've got software that doesnt quite live up to par with being an MVP. It will only test the database that I have created, and wont "satisfy" the problem directly.

Therefore, I'd like to create a real MVP. But I am curious if first I should look for more people with this problem or build them MVP and then go find the people with the problem to show them the MVP?

So what order should these be placed?
- Build MVP
- Find more people with this problem (I had 5 but probably down to 2), via landing page or explainer video with opt-in form.

While it would seem obvious to first find more people with this problem to save myself from wasting money on an MVP, my idea is nothing new and other well-funded companies exist in this market (thus verifying the idea). I am just doing things differently.

Thanks!

My advice is going to sound harsh and maybe negative. Just be warned.

The reason you are running around in all the circles and asking so many questions is, you didn't heed the advice I gave earlier.

Are you a Vet? Do you work with a Vet? Do you own a business that interacts with Vets ( like a kennel )? I don't know, but it sounds like a NO to all the above.

This is why you are having so many issues and questions and spending so much time trying to find a customer. You're not the industry ( or the authority ).

You can make money not being in the industry ( or the authority ) but you are going to spend a lot of time and heartache in the process. Why take all these lumps on the head when you could have went straight to something else?

It also seems you are ( I could be wrong ) going to the wrong end of the market. $50 price point?

Ok, I have one of those with SERPWoo, but we also have a $5,000 per month plan too. Our market is not just struggling SEOs who never ranked a site, but also agencies and large Fortune 500 companies who need help with SEO. We can "level up" customers as they grow and get them to move up the ladder in our plans. Can you? I only see mention of this one price, as if your product is just the $50 plan.

But your product isn't just a $50 offering, your product is a solution and you need be able to think about that as your customers move up. Right now you seem really focused on this one plan, but what's the real solution?

Take a few steps back from ground zero and maybe get to a 10,000 ft view to see it.


Don't ask customers what they want.

Why do you think they know what they want in the first place? Most don't know.

Those that think they do, don't know either.

Henry Ford said if he would have asked his customers, they would have said "Faster horses". lol

You should be the expert. Why? Cause you're the one building the app and selling them to your customers.

You are suppose to be the one closing the gap, so quit asking your customers what the gap is.

And when you are the authority, you know what the right gap is to close.

Right now, you are asking people what it is and each person is going to tell you something different based on their idea, assumptions, needs, and experience. What Vet #3 wants is going to be different than Vet #8 and this is why you are having a hard time getting things to work.

A fat person doesn't want a treadmill, so if you called 50 fat people today and asked them what they want, a lot of them would say different things like:

1. Cheaper tummy tucks
2. A pill they could take to melt the fat away
3. A XYZ diet plan that fits their specific and unique dietary needs ( gluten, etc )
4. etc
5. What makes you think you would actually find the right fat person, that had the right gap to solve anyways? If you did find that person with phone calls, how would you even know it was the gap to close and not just another loose end to chase? Answer: You'd know if you were in the industry and an authority in it.

But really what you need to do, is to sell them what you have dreamed up and built since you're the fitness expert ( Jillian Michaels ). You need to sell them the Peloton, the True treadmill, the NordicTrack.

Did fat people say they wanted a treadmill, a Peloton, or a NordicTrack before it was thrown in their face via a infomercial? No. Do millions of them sell a year regardless, Yes.

You need to be creating in your industry that you are an authority of.

By doing this, you will know the gaps you need to be closing.

By doing this you will always know if you should be building out more of the MVP, or getting more customers, or calling more people or chillax-ing at the pool.

Stop with the explainer videos, blog posts, and other things.

You need 100 customers. You can't get that with an explainer video and no finished MVP that charges dollars every month. But your MVP won't sell or get built if you're not in the industry and an authority because you wont genuinely understand what these people really want and desire/need.


I'm not a woman, so I don't understand them ( can anyone? ).

Therefor, I don't make handbags and sell them in malls like Kate Spade. Kate was in the industry, spotted the gap, knew it was the right gap, and made millions. The people that bought her company made billions. She made a bag for herself, because she was the audience, and that solved a lot of other people's need too.

If I today, tried to make a handbag for women, I'd be in the exact spot you are in right now... asking all these questions and talking to women, instead of making the handbag. Once I made the handbag, I'd make the wrong one!


I'm not a weight lifter, so I don't sell to them.

I don't know the lingo, the passion behind it, the mental state it takes to get in the zone, etc. Others do though and can sell to them because they know all of this and get deep to the core of that audience. Take Force Factor, a supplement brand created by someone I somewhat knew back in the day from another forum. His background was in rowing at Harvard and with his own personal fitness.

He was in the industry, knew the gap, and went for it. He made a product for himself, because he was the industry, and it solved a lot of problems other people had too. He still makes millions and is the #1 brand in stores like GNC, etc.

If I tried to make a similar supplement today, I'd be exactly where you are asking questions, doing polls, and having a 50% finished MVP that probably would fail when finished and put in a bottle.


People don't know what they want if you ask them.

If so, we wouldn't have:

• Mid-life crisis
• Divorce rates so high
• People going to college, only to work in a different field than they studied for
• Insane amounts of personal debt
• Life coaches, gurus and other BS artists

But the one thing you can count on, is you and the experience you have in an industry so you can spot the gaps that no one else sees.

Then you close that gap and sell it on the infomercial ( website, youtube, etc ) using everything you know about that industry to the people in it.

If you weren't a Vet, or weren't an SEO person, and you tried to sell me a Vet/SEO product.. I would pick up on that fact in less than 3 seconds on the phone or your landing page if I was a Vet/SEO person. In that regard, you've already lost the sale.


This is why I harp so much on this principle.

In short, to answer your question specifically, focus on the MVP. But only after you are actually an authority in the industry and know the real gap and can speak their language and relate to them more.

.

 

[eliquid]

BTW, to me.. being an authority does not mean you are the top person in an industry, or the most well-known.

It just means you are immersed in the industry. So much so, you know more than the average normal person would. That if a normal person asked you a question about it, you could answer it and possibly be seen as an authority to them about it.

Not fake BS-ing your way around, but on a genuine level immersed in the industry day in and day out and able to carry on conversations with people in the industry too.

.

 

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[LeoistheSun]

Wow @eliquid thats quite the reply. I acknowledged what you said in the past about having little to no industry XP in an area that I see needs change.

I remember you talking before (perhaps in your AMA) that being in that industry was not absolutely necessary.

As you probably know, what I am doing has a lot of competition from much larger players. Two of which use the distributor model with salesmen and the other uses high-priced BIO (Buy It Once) installable software with low reviews and terrible customer service.

Clearly, room for one more exists in the form of an easy to purchase, monthly subscription SaaS product.

How is it that I could just walk away from a potential opportunity, just because I dont have industry XP?

Help me out here. I've seen others be successful without being in the industry.

It seems building the MVP, soliciting lots of feedback, re-iterate, build, etc. is the way to go based on your reply.

 

[eliquid]

Wow @eliquid thats quite the reply. I acknowledged what you said in the past about having little to no industry XP in an area that I see needs change.

I remember you talking before (perhaps in your AMA) that being in that industry was not absolutely necessary.

As you probably know, what I am doing has a lot of competition from much larger players. Two of which use the distributor model with salesmen and the other uses high-priced BIO (Buy It Once) installable software with low reviews and terrible customer service.

Clearly, room for one more exists in the form of an easy to purchase, monthly subscription SaaS product.

How is it that I could just walk away from a potential opportunity, just because I dont have industry XP?

Help me out here. I've seen others be successful without being in the industry.

It seems building the MVP, soliciting lots of feedback, re-iterate, build, etc. is the way to go based on your reply.

Yeah, its not necessary to have the experience, but like I said before.. it's going to take time and lumps on the head. I just suggest, what I suggest, because it is what has worked for me and what is typically easier. It doesn't mean that you still can't do it though, it's just a lot harder road. Think of a fastlane road with potholes.

It's kinda like this, would you rather mow the grass with a riding lawn mower or a push mower? Both achieve the same final result. Just one is easier and faster. I try to point people to the easier and faster method is all.

It's like driving slow in the fastlane ( as an image in your head you can use ) with potholes now.

Having competition from larger players is nice and knowing there is an option they are not doing is nice ( a SaaS model option ) . Knowing there is room for another is nice too. But knowing those things does not mean you will succeed in this industry or that you should jump in it.

There are large players in the automotive industry and none of them are doing a monthly rental option ( I think one is exploring it actually ), I think there is room for another car brand too. However, is this the right industry and options I should pursue though just because they present themselves? No....

Have you asked yourself what will happen when these larger players see what you are doing and decide to do their model as a SaaS? What if they see the improvements in your offering and improve their product to what you have?

This has happened with SERPWoo, but we have a few other "advantage moats" that our competitors don't even though they have stolen a ton from us.

I don't want to push you away from this. I just want you to think about what I said and then ask yourself how you will prepare for it. I wasn't prepared for others to copy SERPWoo and steal from us, but luckily we were able to still outperform them. I just want to be realistic with you is all.

You really need to focus on the MVP, but the MVP will only be "great" if you truly understand the industry. If you know it in and out....

You mentioned "I've seen others be successful without being in the industry" but what is successful?

A large company with revenues? Because you can have that while still having a shitty product ( which you also mentioned with poor reviews and bad setup not being a monthly recurring ). So while these companies might be successful without being in the industry, they are ultimately failing because they have bad reviews and a bad model that you are about to exploit.

If they had "been in the industry", the bad reviews and bad customer service and bad purchase options might not have been an issue and thus they would have created a harder moat for YOU to cross over. So are they really successful? I say NO.

Because I was in the industry, I built something I knew would work since I had the insight. You won't find bad reviews or bad customer service at SERPWoo because we truly know the industry and customer. When they ask a question, we know the real WHY behind it. We also knew what these people could offer and how they would want to pay and how much they could pay.

When you are outside the industry, you have to "learn" these things. Sometimes that learning takes years, or doesn't ever happen. This leads to customers that use your products and leave bad reviews, have bad customer service with you ( because you leave canned responses because you don't understand their why ) and ultimate bad pricing models.

All I want is you to succeed.

If that means me telling you, you really need to be an authority in the industry.. then do that.

Because I know if you do ( by learning how to be in this Vet industry ), you will build a product that if someone copies you, you will still come out ahead like SERPWoo did. Like all my SaaS's did.

If you don't, you end up building a "me too" product with a few good features and benefits that someone else will copy. You end up building a product that the landing page doesn't speak to the customer, but just speaks at the customer.

When you learn how to be the authority, you end up dominating. No one will really be competing with you because they will always be inferior.

I just want to see you really succeed. Anything less, and I know you might make "money", but you will end up more thank likely ( odd ) treading above water when someone else decides to come after you, like you are with these other companies.

SaaS lives and dies with Churn. You want to do everything you can RIGHT NOW to prevent that churn.

People don't churn against the authority.

.

 

[LeoistheSun]

Update:

I got my database back from my freelancer and now I just need to import it.

Put v2 post of the App on Upwork and I am ready to hire a Dev. to get it built.

 

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[PavloT]

Hey LeoistheSun,

How is it going? I was following your journey from the beginning and now it abruptly stopped. I'm reading this in 2019 and it's been more than a year since your last post.

Have you moved to the inside? I'm not an INSIDERS, so, I wouldn't know.

Have you failed with those opportunities? If so, tell us about it too. Failures, as well as successes, are valuable to learn from too.

 

[LittleWolfie]

I shall try the questions from the beginning in my research.

 

[LeoistheSun]

Update:

I got my database back from my freelancer and now I just need to import it.

Put v2 post of the App on Upwork and I am ready to hire a Dev. to get it built.

Hey LeoistheSun,

How is it going? I was following your journey from the beginning and now it abruptly stopped. I'm reading this in 2019 and it's been more than a year since your last post.

Have you moved to the inside? I'm not an INSIDERS, so, I wouldn't know.

Have you failed with those opportunities? If so, tell us about it too. Failures, as well as successes, are valuable to learn from too.

I have come to the conclusion of my journey on this idea. Things did not go according to what I had imagined- this being my first go-at-it so to speak, and I was not successful.

While I don't feel good about leaving my clients with this problem without solving it...

I don't think this problem was solvable for a newbie like myself.

I will write more about it tomorrow as I am out of energy.

But letting go of this idea, really was the right thing to do I think.

I learned a lot (what to do and not), made me open to learning more before starting again, and in general made me a happier person- because I know I will be successful next time around!

 

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[LeoistheSun]

I have come to the conclusion of my journey on this idea. Things did not go according to what I had imagined- this being my first go-at-it so to speak, and I was not successful.

While I don't feel good about leaving my clients with this problem without solving it...

I don't think this problem was solvable for a newbie like myself.

I will write more about it tomorrow as I am out of energy.

But letting go of this idea, really was the right thing to do I think.

I learned a lot (what to do and not), made me open to learning more before starting again, and in general made me a happier person- because I know I will be successful next time around!

Sooooooo...

I lied.

I am not ready to give up.

I had one of my veterinarians try the app (she took FOREVER to test it- so I originally thought she was not interested) and she told me it really helped, and was a new way about solving her problem.

I interviewed her again, and recorded everything, and am planning to write a sales letter to more vets after I fix some bugs with the app.