a single source, nothing corroborates it
Consult in the market you want to build for
Take paid work in the industry first and you learn what buyers need, what they will pay and where the repeated manual job sits, while somebody else covers your rent. The engagements also hand you a first customer list before you have written anything.
The method
- 01
The surest way to surface these repeat-work opportunities is to take consulting work in the field and learn first-hand what buyers need.
- 02
Consult in your target market first: you get paid while you learn what buyers need, what they will pay, and where the pain is worst.
- 03
Do not dismiss consulting as trading hours for money; some markets are desperate enough for competent help to pay generously for it.
What it returned
The author freelanced for e-commerce companies before building Storemapper
Justin closes with Patrick McKenzie's advice to pick something with fat margins and customers willing to pay, since low-margin work needs enormous scale to fund anything.
Sources
- Good businesses have marginJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Optimize for margin · undated
- Chapter 5: Getting Your First Customers - Tyler TringasTyler Tringas · tylertringas.com · Become a consultant · 2017-01-19
- Chapter 3: Finding Micro-SaaS Business Ideas - Tyler TringasTyler Tringas · tylertringas.com · Repeatable freelance and consulting work · 2016-10-28
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in sales
- Charge for it before it exists6 unconnected
- Book the buyer calls before you write any code6 unconnected
- Package more of what you own into sellable slots6 unconnected
- Interview customers when sales stall, not buy traffic5 unconnected
- Borrow credibility from the customers you have5 unconnected
- Keep a named list of dream accounts and work it5 unconnected