What I Learned From Building for 6 Months and Getting My First Customer

Spent 6 months building and finally got my first customer. Here’s what actually worked and what didn’t.A Dark StartFor 6 months, I’ve been actually getting into startups and making something people will pay for. For these past 2 months in the summer, I’ve been working full-time on such.It’s been hard seeing myself work every day and seeing no real validation. I think because of this, I kept switching back and forth between projects, not actually making something that people lose time and money not having (thx Hayes Bounds).Never Back Down Never What?Let me say that consistency is key. I have a daily journal where, like a sprint review, I say what went well, what went wrong, and what my plan is for tomorrow. This lets me consistently reflect, learn, and grow, and I think this is one of the main factors in achieving my first customer. I have daily goals as well, which include posting to 4–5 different platforms daily.I keep up with all of this while continuously reflecting. This keeps me up with the times and lets me quickly pivot when I see something isn’t working (however, nothing ever feels like it’s working in the early days). Make sure to never give up on your true goal.Try New ThingsAs a part of what I was talking about with consistency, I make sure to learn and grow. Always try new things, as this new thing could be the reason why your project blows up.With blogbott, I’m still trying to figure out who my target audience is. I tried going for founders first, but no founders wanted it. I realized I’m probably missing a key audience on Facebook, those who have Shopify and ecommerce stores. Most of the people who tried out my tool were those with e-commerce or passion projects (directories, etc.). Me trying new things lets me quickly iterate and find who wants blogbott the most.The FirstI got an email about an error in blogbott from someone trying it out. I helped fix it. He then bought it. Told me he found it on Facebook (cool, now I have some evidence of something working).This success correlates to my never giving up on blogbott and trying new avenues and ideas. I have no idea if I’ll stick with blogbott, as I’m no longer sure if I can properly market it. However, this gives me some new hope.ConclusionHopefully, my findings help you guys out. I want to thank all of my friends for giving feedback and supporting me, especially Hayes Bounds & John Gaynor, who help support and stay real w me!If you want to try out blogbott.com and give me feedback, pls do so!

Based on reporting by hackernoon.com.