One of the most common questions I get asked is "Where do I find my first users?" Unfortunately, most of the founders who ask are already too late.
Okay, that's a bit dramatic. But, realistically, these founders did waste a bit of their time. They likely built their product first without doing much validation anything about the potential customer base. Once they finally get their first users on board, they'll likely have to undo or redo quite a bit about what they built. It's not ideal!
Since I can't go back in time to warn those founders of the path they're about to take, I decided to do the next best thing: help stop future founders from making the same mistake.
The best time to figure out who your first users will be is before you write a single line of code or open up your no code tool of choice. That's because, before you start building, you should be spending a lot of time talking. You need to get out into the world and figure out who has the problems you're trying to solve, who finds them annoying enough to pay for a solution, and what types of things would solve those problems.
"But, Victoria" you say "I already know all of that - I have the problem myself! I don't need to get anyone else's opinion."
The thing is, building a business actually has very little to do with your opinion, and much more to do with the opinions and needs of the people who will be giving you money. There's nothing wrong with being one of your own first customers, but if you a build a product that only satisfies your needs and no one else's... you're not going to get very far.
Now, how do you go about finding these people to have conversations with them? First, think of the type of person you think might have the problem you want to solve. Then, check your network for people with this profile - or people who might know people who fit that profile. If you talk to a few of them and find out they don't have that problem, that's fine - think of a new profile and try again. If you find they have a different problem you might be interested in solving, don't be afraid to explore that as well. Many successful entrepreneurs built their company solving a different problem than they originally intended. The key is to be openminded and flexible.
Remember when having these conversations that you're not trying to pitch anyone on a solution. Instead, you want to hear about them - what's difficult about their life right now, what do they think would help them solve it? Everyone will have different answers here, and your job is to synthesize it and figure out what solution you can build to help them out - and what the most barebones version of that solution should be. You may find the solution you had in mind originally was on the right track, but if not, that's okay!
As you have these conversations, you'll soon figure out who would be the most interested in trying out your MVP. It will be the people who get a little emotional when talking - it may be excitement to discuss possible improvements and innovations, it may be frustration or anger when they have to recall how this problem has affected their life. Make a note of who those are, and keep in touch with them as you build. Ask them for bits of feedback along the way. Then, as soon as you have a bare minimum thing for them to test, let them try it out.
Some will use it once and then stop because it doesn't do exactly what they wanted, and that's okay. The rest, though, will likely keep using it, because you built something that will alleviate the pain they felt from the problem, at least a little. And just like that... you have your first users.
Obviously, it doesn't stop there - you still have a lot of work to do to improve the product, and you'll need to keep up the feedback loop. Sometimes, it'll be hard to hear from your users how much work you have left to do. I promise, though - it's a much better position to be in than someone with a "complete" MVP and no users.
And if you've already started down the path of building an MVP, don't despair! Just pause for a bit and run this process now. It'll be worth it.
Need some help navigating this process? Schedule some time to chat!