If you’ve been into side projects, you’ve probably seen countless times the story of someone building something really big and complex, launching it, and having 0 users. With the AI era we’re living in, this will become even more common since software is cheaper to make.
I’ve worked on many side projects over the years, some with big ambitions and some very small, to solve a specific personal challenge. And that’s fine, I love to work on something that allows me to be fully creative without restrictions, but if your goal is to create a business, the starting place needs to be a bit different.
Instead of working for months and launching something, thinking you can be really big and have thousands of random people all over the world using your product, start with one person. The auto repair shop owner down the street, a lawyer you know, the restaurant manager, a teacher at your kids’ school. Start with that particular person and their specific challenges, and think of ways you can address them.
Perhaps they don’t need your service or SaaS software for that, but if it makes their lives easier in any way (saving time or money, or making them feel better), you have a business opportunity.
Build something with that person in mind, watch very closely how they operate, and start using your first version, and then, once a couple of months have passed, start expanding. Ask colleagues, talk to other people in that sector, and see who else might be interested.
If you’ve been able to help one person, you can help two, and three.
Things take time, of course, but if this is a side project, you have time on your side; there’s no VC asking for growth charts.
A small piece of strategic advice: start with the marketing side as soon as possible. Landing page, social content, SEO… They take time to show up on Google and other places, so the sooner you start, the better.
At some point, people will start looking for your solution and finding you, rather than the other way around. At that point, congratulations! You have a business.
