Starting a SaaS company in a day...how far can I get?
Hello!
Following on from our team building 7 SaaS companies in a day I have a concept and a website and I'm trying to collect feedback/insights...
I went with Carrd for my website because I'd used it before, only needed something simple and I trusted them enough to pay them...which turned out to be a requirement to add in custom code.
And I'm using GoSquared to capture and convert leads - though I'm lacking in leads...
Now, I need to get the word out, and gain a lead that isn't myself using another email address.
I started a post on here but so far no replies. Sometimes I do find that my IH posts take a day to gain traction - which isn't ideal when I have to demo my progress to the team at 5.30pm today.
What other blockers should I look out for?
Would you like to sign up to learn more about how small businesses can be socially responsible?
Is this something you think about at all when building your product?
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Hi Beth, here's some feedback:
First, it would be helpful to explicitly say what CSR is since I've never heard the term and I had to Google it.
Second, my point of view: building a product and starting a business is so hard, I don't really have time to think about CSR – at least I don't think I do. To me, it's something I would think about after the business is successful and I had more resources (time/money) to spare. The only item on your list that I would consider implementing is "being good to your employees" section which I think is just a good idea in general.
I think your landing page needs to persuade why CSR will help Indie Hackers in their primary goal which is getting to a success business faster and with more certainty, because to me the items on the CSR list appear to be non-essential things that will slow me down.
If you could maybe spin this as "CSR is easy to implement and will also help you grow your business" and have proof/arguments to back up that thesis, that would be more interesting to me.
Hope this feedback helps and good luck!
Thanks Steven! That's all really helpful feedback.
Yes, the chicken and egg situation I should have seen coming. I really believe that building a business that is ethical and doing good from the start is the best way to make it happen and to build CSR into the core of your business, not as a side piece.
But how to convince people to put time/resources into that when they are so focused on building and getting started!
Will work on my messaging, thank you again!
It's possible that some people are already sold on the idea of building in CSR from the beginning. But I suspect that most people starting a business have either never even considered CSR or considered it a "luxury" to do after you get big – in both these cases, I think you really need to educate and persuade the market on why building CSR into the core of your business is a good idea.
Another way to think about this is cost/benefit. From my perspective, the costs of CSR are time and money – both scarce resources for startups. And the benefits are... unclear, at least to me. So if you can educate me on the benefits, and/or show me that the costs are significantly smaller than I think, then I might consider it.
One more thing ... the tagline "Don't leave it to big business" doesn't resonate with me at all. It seems overly daunting that I, as a tiny startup, can make a difference. I know that businesses like Google, Facebook, Amazon etc. are in a negative spotlight, but these companies spend millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars on CSR initiatives. What impact could I possibly have?
The more I think about this, I do think there is value in CSR, but I don't know enough. I'm thinking about how Toms became big by giving away shoes to people in need and making that story core to their marketing. But part of me thinks that it worked because they were the first to do it. Warby Parker has a similar program, but it seems more like an afterthought. I would personally be interested in success stories like this, how giving/CSR bolstered the success of the business.
Good luck!