Build it and nobody will come

Last week I finished building out my SaaS project. I wasn't the one to actually code it, for this I hired a developer (who was a pain in the ass to work with but that's another post).

After months of work and back and forth we finally came to a point where we had a somewhat functional product, enough to pitch to customers.

What started out as a "meh, this won't take long", then stretched into "holy shit, will I have money to finish this?" and ended on a "fuck, now that it's done I actually have to find people to use it", has become a source of great stress.

Not only did I waste a shitload of money, I now have exactly ZERO people using my product. While finishing up minor bugs and issues I began emailing potential companies who may be interested in my service. A few replied but majority didn't. The harsh reality set in - this is going to be an uphill battle all the way.

Prior to launch, I was thinking "I can get this to 500 customers no problem", now I'm ready to bend over backwards to onboard one fucking customer. Just one.

Now, I'm sure many people have been in my shoes and there must be some magical moment when you sign up your first customer, and the 2nd, and the third, at which point things start to look up and you are at it day in, day out. Sadly, I'm not at that point.

My problem

I've determined that after years of starting failed endeavors, my biggest problem is not questioning ideas long enough to see that they are total bullshit.

I find myself listening to idiots who say "yeah this is a great idea" - people who are not my deal customer and will never touch my product. Instead of validating the idea or understanding the competitive space I jump in, eager to get things done and fire away task after task until a side project turns into something I must commit to or let fall apart.

The thing is, every time I let it fall apart I think of myself as a failure. Then on a rare occasion that something seems like a legit project, I buckle in and take it to the end, only to find that nobody actually gives a flying fuck about what I have to sell.

Who is the idiot then? Right?

And so, on this note I hit the hay. Tomorrow is a new day, I can plug away at my shitty project, fixing bugs, cold emailing and working on content marketing. Perhaps determination is a bigger challenge than actually completing a project. We'll have to endure and see!

-uxed