Getting my first customers during this recession
Hello dear IH community!
I’d like to ask for ideas and experiences from the community on how you are addressing the problem of acquiring your first customers for your SaaS during the current economic slow down the world is experiencing.
I created a SaaS for cleaning agencies here in Germany but those businesses are being hit hard as well and of course are not even paying attention to what I’m selling.
Is there something you guys can suggest?
Thank you!
Just read a post on here somewhere* that had some good dogma advice:
Your service shouldn't be another expense, it should be an investment.
https://stackingthebricks.com/get-closer-to-the-money/
hi @kevin, very interesting article, I see the value in it, nevertheless I think it is mostly oriented to a business already existing before a recession hit or isn't it? the idea of having my software as an investment for them will definitely be my strategy here, still very difficult since they are losing a lot of business at the moment.
I'm in the same boat and super stressed.
I'm thinking:
1.) Give it away for free early on recognizing target customers are suffering.
2.) Pivoting to more of a service model.
Lots going on and lot's to think about. We, Indie Hackers, are all in this together.
Thank you Lakebed_io, yeah some people has suggested me to give it away for free until the current situation is behind, probably that is what I will do.
Service model you mean offering consulting of some sort to those customers? I was thinking on offering some marketing consulting for that particular target market although I could add some marketing features to the product, not sure...
I don't know your product well enough but I know for my product (data storage/access) I'm thinking of pivoting to data analysis as a service, using my product. Service expenses seem easier to justify during a recession and are typically small hourly amounts instead of monthly or yearly subscriptions.
Hi @Lakebed_io, interesting approach..., so basically you give your SaaS for free and based on the data generated by using it you offer data analytics to your existing users as kind of a consulting service?, will the SaaS be free forever in this case?
Thanks!
I haven't fully thought through it but have always been thinking something along the lines of:
Interesting, monthly subscription with unlimited data analysis sound very unscalable to me, maybe a set amount of hourly consulting per month can be more manageable? Or limit it only to certain tier in your product?
Hi Tavioto, totally get where you're coming from - it's tough right now. Without really understanding your business and having seen your decision to give your time and expertise away for free - why don't you consider reaching out to a company who is related to your industry (ideally someone you already have a relationship with) and can sponsor your give-away? That way, it's a win-win - you get paid and the partner builds their profile too + you get to build your profile alongside them too. Big companies can afford to give stuff away but it's much harder for us when we're starting out - so I wouldn't recommend giving a lot away unless you can afford to.
Adding more meat to the idea of giving it for free:
Set boundary - Mentioned that you are giving it for free for x months (6 months) from signup date or set a date maybe?
Assuming your Saas is some kind of workflow/customer management tool, you can also consider giving free onboarding /setup for them to help them switch from current process/software to your tool. Again, consider setting a boundary like first 30 customers or something.
Be supportive and make conversation to understand their difficulties as a business/industry. Just by listening to them could be a good way to build meaningful relationship even though you might not be able to help in other aspects.
Hope it helps!
Hi @Choong700, thanks for the advice, really helpful!, yeah I will set it as a 6 months for free from sign up date, I will also give 10 free 1 hour onboarding consultations as you suggested, that will also help me understand better what kind of features I need to build that will get ingrained in their day to day operations.
Give it away for free for now
Hi @simokhounti, yeah I spoke with my cofounder and he immediately agree to do that, so now I am working on how to organize the giveaway.