Who are paying customers? Why do they pay?
For some background, I'm about to complete my Master's degree in Computer Science. If any of you know me, hello! (And even if you don't, hi!)
Now for more context. Coming from a CS background, the idea of purchasing software is quite alien to me, as I've never bought productivity software; the most I've purchased are video games. I've always been content with using open-source software and happy with it. Most people in my circle also don't pay for the productivity software they use. For most of the projects I see here, I can find open-source alternatives or implementations that are close enough. Of course, they won't match the products here one-to-one because what you guys build is cool, useful, and incredibly niche!
Now the question arises: who are the people who pay for software? If everyone is paying for some form of software, how can they afford it? Clearly, they aren't paying for every product available. This suggests that there is a specific customer base for certain types of software.
Who are these customers? Why do they purchase software, especially if it's such a niche tool? I'm pondering this because I don't know any average end-users who are interested in any software that I build!
Following this, are you targeting small businesses? What is it that makes small businesses need what we create? What motivates them to pay for a tool—is it to save a click, for ease of use, or because they generally lack computing knowledge? I asked a few of my friends, and most would not pay for software.
Therefore, I would like to ask the community to share some insights into the thought patterns of typical software purchasers.
i spent like 15 minutes squeezing my head to think of reasons and got lazy to edit it to make sense. i advise you not to read it 😌
i also have never bough software in my life but i will tell you about the app that i use called Obsidian
this is a tottally free note taking app, and it stores your notes as Markdown (so it's not holding your notes like Notion), and you can use it in phone and pc.
the only feature it lacks is the sync, there are also workarounds where you can "easily" sync your notes; but some people just pay the monthly sub, maybe as a way to support the devs for a good product, or maybe because they like the native sync as opposed to the other workarounds.
now i will give you some reasons as to why people usually pay (and continue to pay) for software
people like try something but forget to cancel: this is why there is a whole industry built around helping users track their subs
people think that a higher price means a good product: i don't have perfect examples of this but i have seen it in fashion so i am sure it applies to software 😅
there's no free option, or the free option is lacking some stuff: think of photo editing software, you have gimp that is a free software, you can basically find 90% of what you need in it, but if i am a professional and i am making money i would be investing in affinity (not photoshop i hate photoshop). because it will make my life easier and i would be doing more with less time.
sometimes 9.97$ is not a big deal if i will be using the software for the rest of my life: some people like the comfort of paying for something instead of using an open source one.
in general if something is free then you are the product: unless the project is open source then i wouldn't see anyway of knowing that the software is not feeding on my todolist so that later can blast me with ads about the "best dog food to buy" or something.