1k001:
Anybody still following? Would you still be interested in an update? Please like If you are. Enough likes and I will put together an almighty update and finally reveal my startup.

and update will really be appreciated, been following from day 0

1k001:
Anybody still following? Would you still be interested in an update? Please like If you are. Enough likes and I will put together an almighty update and finally reveal my startup.

Haba Oga, after all these likes n still no update yet??
Diaris God ooo!!

DonX001:


Haba Oga, after all these likes n still no update yet??
Diaris God ooo!!

Haha bros, exercise small patience na!

DaySpringer:

I actually thought that this thread had been abandoned.
Good to see that you're still here,
Though the information on the thread seems to be a bit much for me and i don't know where to start, but i know I've got the interest
Please Do Update us.

Ideasconsortium:
Hello! I am the first to comment on your post. We are eagerly waiting to know the name of your startup. By the way, I need to inform you that I harvested all your posts and responses into a word doc and printed it. I am simply referencing you to avoid plagiarism litigation...lol. Tech journey in Nigeria is not for the weak, Infact the chance you fail is 80percent. All the same to those of us in the techosystem.....sky is the starting point. Better success in 2017 and I wish you the best!

Please share the word document you created so I and others can have access to it.

mrjojo:
and update will really be appreciated, been following from day 0

elmatino:

Please do well to update us.
I actually just found this thread and I have read it from the beginning to end in a matter of hours.
I am in a similar shoe with you when you started. I am at the stage of fine-tuning the ideas and sorting out some details. Will love to know how 2016 has been thus far for your business.
Thanks for sharing

Thank you for all the continued interest and support. I'm working on the update.

I had occasion to return and re-read the post and I realized how important it is to keep a journal.

I'd forgotten all the things that had happened. Reading it made me relive it again and realize how far I had come.

Update loading.

1k001:


Haha bros, exercise small patience na!




Thank you for all the continued interest and support. I'm working on the update.

I had occasion to return and re-read the post and I realized how important it is to keep a journal.

I'd forgotten all the things that had happened. Reading it made me relive it again and realize how far I had come.

Update loading.

OK Bros, we'll be waiting.
Its been an interesting read so far.
Abeg no forget d update, and don't get carried away by the hustle of managing your startup.
Before you go disappear till next year December to drop the update... lol
Cheers Bro.

Update

The last time I posted an update was in March of this year.

Since then, the roller-coaster ride we've been on has been intense.

Too many things have happened don't even know where to start. I'll try cover as much as possible. In the next few posts.

Always have plan B

In march we won a pitch competition, or so we thought. We'd gone on to contract a developer to build an android app for us. The android app was a top request from our customers so we were excited to be able to spend the winnings on building the app. I got a developer friend to build the app for us for about 200k.

When time for the winnings from the competition to be disbursed, comma and k-leg entered. Till today we haven't received a dime. This meant we had to hustle to pay for our android app. Even worse, we had an exhibition and conference to attend in June. We had planned to spend the winnings on expenses related to the exhibition. No money meant no conference.

So we hustled some more and found enough cash to take 2 team members to the exhibition. We were able to book a space at the conference at the last minute. By the time we left for it, we only had cash to last us 2 days. The conference was for a week. But as you all probably know, this startup journey is one of faith.

We knew if we didn't go to this conference, we may as well kiss the startup goodbye. With just 2 days out of 7 days paid for at the conference, we had to sell or pack our bags early. My people we sold oh. Enough to pay for the rest of the conference stay, the trip back and a few pepper soups and Orijin (P.S I don't drink alcohol, my colleague was the Orijin aficionado)

What was better was our face and brand was out there. We added on many more new customers and people began to trust us more. One of my happiest times at the conference was trying to pitch to a strange person only for him to say, 'I already use your product'. Proud moment!

This episode taught me to never fully rely on others. Not investors, advisors or even promising customers. Always have multiple back up plans and never over extend your cash flow. Money only counts when it is in the bank and never before. I've also realized that pressure can bring out big results. So if you're under pressure cash wise, go out and sell. Sales in startups they say cures all ills.

Recession is not just a word

Chai this our country Nigeria...

Following our small conference success in June, recession really took hold of the country. Dollar, dollar, dollar was the cry every where. Our customers who are businesses that import most of what they sell complained bitterly. Growth stalled. Our own startup funds were starting to dwindle.

On the personal side, we were expecting baby number 2 and I hadn't seen a salary in over 1 year. Looking back now, I think I personally went into recession myself. My mind stopped working, the motivation slowed down. I became generally melancholic. Everything was negative. Funds were quickly depleting and we couldn't find the right financial backers that fully understood our space and were willing to experiment with us. We had no luck with competitions or pitches. Everything just literally slowed down. Even our backup power system started to fail, NEPA was non-existent. All the promises we hoped would materialize just evaporated.

This was probably one of the hardest times since I started out. How can everything you work so hard to try and build just stall and face real risk of failing. I became aware first hand of the important role of founder psychology. A lot has been written about it but it didn't fully resonate. It wasn't until I faced the real fears of it all failing that the pressure became real. My psychological health became something of concern.

The greatest positive that came out of this were my 2 staff. A business developer and software engineer. They went without a salary for months and continued to be committed to the cause. Their loyalty was amazing and inspirational to see. Not everyone works just for the money. People still exist that can be driven by passion and a vision. These 2 guys now have equity and I want us to be successful for them because their sacrifice is what kept us alive.

This recession affected us, our customers and other businesses badly. I pray we all get through it in one piece.

The economy

You are only as good as your environment.

United States 128
China 98
Japan 54
France 31
Britain 29

The figures above represent the number of fortune 500 companies each country hosts. These nations are the top 5 and host 68% of the richest companies in the world. To give a scale of how big these companies are, last year they generated $31 trillion in revenues. They employ over 65 million people worldwide.

One thing these countries all have in common is they are all open market economies:
- The British MI5 don't go around arresting wall street traders for trading foreign currencies.
- The French government don't suddenly ban certain imports and create a monopoly for one company.
- The Chinese government don't set price floors to protect new entrants to a market.
- The Federal Reserve don't sell foreign currency at multiple rates, favoring only their cronies.

Despite all the above evidence, our government insists on economic policies that go counter to free market principles over and over again. The rate we are going at. We will end up trekking to Cameroon or Benin republic to find food. Think it isn't possible? Ask the Venezuelans. That's what they are now doing after treading the path we're are now following. The Nigerian government is killing business. They need to stop right now and let the market reign. The market will provide more prosperity faster and better than government control can ever hope to achieve.

So for those who care to know my opinion, this economy is in tatters and will be for at least the next 3 years. The only way to survive is to export something and earn precious forex. It will be hard but worth it. This is where software is at an advantage. It is easily exportable. We have decided to focus on other African markets in the coming year and leave these charlatans to continue jonzing.

@ 1k001,
Lol, I can imagine what you've been going through from your write-up, as a B2B seller.
Business is really about ups and downs, highs and lows. Its only when one reads through biographies or detailed write-ups about some of these founders of major companies today, that you'll understand what they went through.
Anybody hearing "starting a business is not a bed of roses" will not fully appreciate it until he has worn those boots and being in the trenches.
Sometimes I watch episodes of Forbes Africa TV's "My Worst Day in Business" on YouTube, and see what even our current business moguls went through at some point in their lives.
Its really not easy.
But I encourage you to keep at it.
Eventually it will pay off.

You may need to keep innovating and finding new ways to create more markets for you, and get more sales out of those markets. After all, hard times breed creativity by compulsion.

Expanding to other countries is one good way if feasible. Preferably to Caucasian populations sef if possible. Its far better to earn in dollars or pounds now if at all possible, so consider if there's any way your product can be tweaked or rebranded to suit some "dollar-paying" target markets.

You should also consider if there are other markets within Nigeria here that you can twist your product to fit....target markets that you may not have considered or deemed worthwhile previously.
You may even consider creating smaller side products as "quick and dirty" solutions for other types of businesses, to provide some cash liquidity to stay afloat in these trying times.

Seek newer ways to market your products that you may have not been using previously.

In difficult times as in recessions, iteration and creativity are key to survival.

If you start getting depressed, remember that Elon Musk slept n worked in a tiny cubicle for a long time at the beginning of his start ups. And now, he can buy an entire estate of cubicles without batting an eyelid.

Keep at it....we are rooting for you.

Cheers.

New year, new plans, new surprises.

We started the new year with big plans for 3x-ing our 2016 revenue and hopefully breaking even.

We've new initiatives to adopt including, adding a new product and expanding to a new territory.

We were hit however with a new surprise, our ever loyal and hardworking business dev guy got a great offer from a multinational. 3x his current salary, can't compete. It's bitter- sweet as we are happy for him but sad to be losing a key team member. We're waving him goodbye but he still wants to be involved on the fringe as he believes in our vision and owns some equity.

I'm determined to grow the company so his equity becomes really valuable. So he knows that the work he put in wasn't in vain and that in the midst of all the craziness in our country, hard work, integrity, and loyalty still pays.

So we're looking to hire a biz dev/ admin officer. If you or anyone you know is:

young, a hard worker, has integrity, is extroverted, can sell, can think, can learn, ask him to hit us up.

We don't offer much in form of pay, but we can tell you that you will have fun, you will learn, you will grow. We question the status quo and we try to make a difference despite all odds.

CV and cover letter to: abujadatacollection@gmail.com role to be filled ASAP.

DonX001:
@ 1k001,
Lol, I can imagine what you've been going through from your write-up, as a B2B seller.
Business is really about ups and downs, highs and lows. Its only when one reads through biographies or detailed write-ups about some of these founders of major companies today, that you'll understand what they went through.
Anybody hearing "starting a business is not a bed of roses" will not fully appreciate it until he has worn those boots and being in the trenches.
Sometimes I watch episodes of Forbes Africa TV's "My Worst Day in Business" on YouTube, and see what even our current business moguls went through at some point in their lives.
Its really not easy.
But I encourage you to keep at it.
Eventually it will pay off.

You may need to keep innovating and finding new ways to create more markets for you, and get more sales out of those markets. After all, hard times breed creativity by compulsion.

Expanding to other countries is one good way if feasible. Preferably to Caucasian populations sef if possible. Its far better to earn in dollars or pounds now if at all possible, so consider if there's any way your product can be tweaked or rebranded to suit some "dollar-paying" target markets.

You should also consider if there are other markets within Nigeria here that you can twist your product to fit....target markets that you may not have considered or deemed worthwhile previously.
You may even consider creating smaller side products as "quick and dirty" solutions for other types of businesses, to provide some cash liquidity to stay afloat in these trying times.

Seek newer ways to market your products that you may have not been using previously.

In difficult times as in recessions, iteration and creativity are key to survival.

If you start getting depressed, remember that Elon Musk slept n worked in a tiny cubicle for a long time at the beginning of his start ups. And now, he can buy an entire estate of cubicles without batting an eyelid.

Keep at it....we are rooting for you.

Cheers.

Thanks for your advice and kind words, they're all being considered. I pray I live to tell a positive and successful story from all the suffer head times. Still a while and plenty of work away

God's Grace upon your business bro.

1k001:
Setbacks

This start-up life is difficult. We've recently had some setbacks. My Nigerian partners who talked a big talk deserted us over the last few weeks. In one case, made way with some company funds. None of the high and mighty talk was ever delivered upon. This has set us back operationally and financially. We may now not be able to meet some commitments. We are not deterred however. We plan to regroup and go hard at it again.

Learning:

I want to say trust no one but that's impossible in business. Just be careful who you trust and have alternative options.
If you go into business with a friend know that things may turn sour and your friendship will be lost.
Be present, it's harder for people to screw with you when you are right there in front of them.

Consequently i've quit my job and will be focusing on my start-up full time in a few weeks. Wish me luck!

Update

Someone offered to acquihire our business. We said no!

I recently read Horowitz's book, the hard thing about hard things. His theory is to never sell if you're early in a large market. So we took his advice and didn't. Well, the fact that the offer was not that great made it even easier.

We've entertained other investor interest, however, they all have differing views as to what product we should be building. I'm very fixed as to what I want to focus on so don't have much time for people who don't buy into the vision. So looks like we will be bootstrapping for a long time.

We won a Google sponsored pitch competition recently that's given us access to some mentoring training. Very useful for morale as this journey is hard and long, any pat on the back helps.


I hired a biz dev guy at the start of the year to replace the other one who left us. The new guy only stayed a few months before he left, something about family issues. Our old guy is back doing some work part time for us. I'm considering the best way to hire someone new especially as they'll largely be on their own running a more customer support/ success role.

It's all still hard, I continue to fluctuate between moments of despair that we are about to fail and moments of elation over the incredible progress we've made.

If you're working on something you are passionate about, keep believing and stay in the game, the breakthrough will come eventually.

just saw this.....just finish reading all...where is that guy that documented this please i need it...thanks Op

procastination have finished me.....
i never started...fear is among....

siralexis:
just saw this.....just finish reading all...where is that guy that documented this please i need it...thanks Op

procastination have finished me.....
i never started...fear is among....

Here I am sir, how may I help?

1k001:

Here I am sir, how may I help?

baba abeg drop ya whatsapp num.. mine 081 two two six 9 six 1 zero 9

@1k001, Any updates this new year??

Wow! inspirational! If only you would be a little more liberal with details, I'm quite sure this thread would have a nuclear effect on your business. Though I understand the pressure of public expectation. You really need to update this thread.

I would like to read update for this year

1k001:
Update

Someone offered to acquihire our business. We said no!

I recently read Horowitz's book, the hard thing about hard things. His theory is to never sell if you're early in a large market. So we took his advice and didn't. Well, the fact that the offer was not that great made it even easier.

We've entertained other investor interest, however, they all have differing views as to what product we should be building. I'm very fixed as to what I want to focus on so don't have much time for people who don't buy into the vision. So looks like we will be bootstrapping for a long time.

We won a Google sponsored pitch competition recently that's given us access to some mentoring training. Very useful for morale as this journey is hard and long, any pat on the back helps.


I hired a biz dev guy at the start of the year to replace the other one who left us. The new guy only stayed a few months before he left, something about family issues. Our old guy is back doing some work part time for us. I'm considering the best way to hire someone new especially as they'll largely be on their own running a more customer support/ success role.

It's all still hard, I continue to fluctuate between moments of despair that we are about to fail and moments of elation over the incredible progress we've made.

If you're working on something you are passionate about, keep believing and stay in the game, the breakthrough will come eventually.

It's been quite a while since you updated your thread. I have been one of the silent readers of your thread and i must say that i commend your perseverance. Please update your thread and let us know the current state of your business. Secondly, if you are open to taking an investor, indicate and let's talk. Thanks.

goldtooth:
I would like to read the update for this year

Saintzykie:
Wow! inspirational! If only you would be a little more liberal with details, I'm quite sure this thread would have a nuclear effect on your business. Though I understand the pressure of public expectation. You really need to update this thread.

DonX001:
@1k001,
Any updates this new year??

Una dey try Oh! So someone who read this thread tracked me down on twitter. Well done to you. I haven't found the need to update this thread as much because the pressure of the startup life is now much less for me. I have a better support system and network now whereas when I started this thread there was almost nowhere to go to release all the frustration and energy I had pent up.

The question of revealing myself and my work still lingers. I'm not sure I'm yet convinced that it's beneficial. Anyone that really wants to find out who I am can, as some of you have demonstrated. I feel there is still value in being able to publicly deny some of the things I've written here as I try to be as honest as possible. We sometimes lose the message due to the messenger so being anonymous helps deliver my messages and experiences better. People will be more wont to learn and introspect more instead of go to my business and say 'wetin did one sabi'.

I'll write some updates of the last year in the next few posts. If you're still following, thank you. Like this post to show your continued support and desire to see more of my updates.

1k001:
New year, new plans, new surprises.

We started the new year with big plans for 3x-ing our 2016 revenue and hopefully breaking even.

We've new initiatives to adopt including, adding a new product and expanding to a new territory.

We were hit however with a new surprise, our ever loyal and hardworking business dev guy got a great offer from a multinational. 3x his current salary, can't compete. It's bitter- sweet as we are happy for him but sad to be losing a key team member. We're waving him goodbye but he still wants to be involved on the fringe as he believes in our vision and owns some equity.

I'm determined to grow the company so his equity becomes really valuable. So he knows that the work he put in wasn't in vain and that in the midst of all the craziness in our country, hard work, integrity, and loyalty still pays.

So we're looking to hire a biz dev/ admin officer. If you or anyone you know is:

young, a hard worker, has integrity, is extroverted, can sell, can think, can learn, ask him to hit us up.

We don't offer much in form of pay, but we can tell you that you will have fun, you will learn, you will grow. We question the status quo and we try to make a difference despite all odds.

CV and cover letter to: abujadatacollection@gmail.com role to be filled ASAP.

2017 was the year from hell. Who dash us 3x 2016 revenue. Everyone we called to didn't have money. Country was dry. We didn't even make up to our 2016 revenue. I'm not one to blame external forces for anything but this recession was special. We sell to businesses and they didn't have money and if they did, they were not willing to spend on software.

It didn't help that we had to hire a new biz dev/ sales guy. It took him 3 months to learn the ropes. It also didn't help that I diluted his focus by getting him to help build other product features. He lasted about 6 months before he left. So we spent the rest of the year without a real salesperson. Our old reliable guy came back on board part-time and we immediately saw the impact. It wasn't enough, however, to get us to our revenue goals.

On a personal level, I was much less focused on the startup. As money dried up and the right investors weren't coming up, I decided to seek a position to keep body and soul intact. Madam and pikins dem must chop. (Got 2 kids by the way if you didn't know) So I called up my old boss in a European country I lived in in the past and he offered me a position. So as I dey now, na cold winter air dey blow me. I'm still fully committed to the startup though, just not totally focused on it as before. I frequent Nigeria and as we are mostly cloud-based, I monitor everything remotely.

Since diluting my attention, the question of focus has been at the fore of my mind. I certainly can't fault its benefits and would highly recommend it. I was of course only able to make significant progress after I quit my job and returned to Nigeria to chase the startup work full time. The challenge though with foucs on startup work like is that it's a luxury. In fact, if we're being honest, being any kind of a tech entrepreneur across the world is largely a luxury. Hungry or low-income people can't dare try it, or at least can't for long. All the successful tech founders you see are from well-off families and would walk into high paying jobs if their startups ever fail. Even the high school dropouts like Zuckerberg and Gates are all from well off families. Not to mention the safety net of social security/ welfare that many countries offer. Going hungry was never an option for them regardless of how badly their business did.

So focus if you can afford it but if you can't, get a job or predictable business to keep body and soul together. Use your spare time to chase your passion. When the time is right you can make the leap across. Don't be afraid to make the leap back if the money equation stops balancing. There's no rule that says you must do it one way all the way. You're not the messiah, you can take a break and return rejuvenated. You can bootstrap a startup for 10 years only to make it big in the 11th year. If you quit at year 9, you miss out on your big year 11 break. The mailchimp story is a big inspiration of mine in this regard.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/technology/mailchimp-and-the-un-silicon-valley-way-to-make-it-as-a-start-up.html

My big lesson for 2017 is that it's ok to beat a retreat to plan a better path to victory. Watch out for more updates. Continue to like to give me the required ginger

1k001:


Una dey try Oh! So someone who read this thread tracked me down on twitter. Well done to you. I haven't found the need to update this thread as much because the pressure of the startup life is now much less for me. I have a better support system and network now whereas when I started this thread there was almost nowhere to go to release all the frustration and energy I had pent up.

The question of revealing myself and my work still lingers. I'm not sure I'm yet convinced that it's beneficial. Anyone that really wants to find out who I am can, as some of you have demonstrated. I feel there is still value in being able to publicly deny some of the things I've written here as I try to be as honest as possible. We sometimes lose the message due to the messenger so being anonymous helps deliver my messages and experiences better. People will be more wont to learn and introspect more instead of go to my business and say 'wetin did one sabi'.

I'll write some updates of the last year in the next few posts. If you're still following, thank you. Like this post to show your continued support and desire to see more of my updates.

Lol, you've gotten a like within 30mins of posting already.
That tells you people are willing to listen.
Fire ahead!

Wonderful, I'm still following.

This ability to get a job when things are not going too well is something that I have been recently coming across as i study the life of entrepreneurs. Many of them had jobs that they left to start the business. Not many Started from complete Scratch and as you pointed out, many of them can get good jobs if things do not work out.

Thanks Again for Sharing.

Wow! Saw this thread this morning for the first time and I have read every page.


True entrepreneurship in Nigeria is a battle and am glad that you gave it and are still giving it your best shot in your own way.

I have been down a similar path too... leaving a well paying job to grow a business that had hitherto been a thriving sidekick... then Buhari's economy happened and it all became overly challenging. Had to make a detour back to paid employment... very difficult decision that in time proved to be sound.

Am back to the startup track (while keeping the paid employment) and currently at the stage where we have to drive conversion. It's still not an easy road... because the word easy doesn't exist in a startup's dictionary. But its easier having a financial buffer just like you said. There is a lot of interest in funding tech startups but most of them translate to air bubbles when the push comes to shove.

Keep pushing because today is difficult, tomorrow is more difficult, but next tomorrow is beautiful; but most people will die tomorrow night - Jack Ma

1k001:


2017 was the year from hell. Who dash us 3x 2016 revenue. Everyone we called to didn't have money. Country was dry. We didn't even make up to our 2016 revenue. I'm not one to blame external forces for anything but this recession was special. We sell to businesses and they didn't have money and if they did, they were not willing to spend on software.

It didn't help that we had to hire a new biz dev/ sales guy. It took him 3 months to learn the ropes. It also didn't help that I diluted his focus by getting him to help build other product features. He lasted about 6 months before he left. So we spent the rest of the year without a real salesperson. Our old reliable guy came back on board part-time and we immediately saw the impact. It wasn't enough, however, to get us to our revenue goals.

On a personal level, I was much less focused on the startup. As money dried up and the right investors weren't coming up, I decided to seek a position to keep body and soul intact. Madam and pikins dem must chop. (Got 2 kids by the way if you didn't know) So I called up my old boss in a European country I lived in in the past and he offered me a position. So as I dey now, na cold winter air dey blow me. I'm still fully committed to the startup though, just not totally focused on it as before. I frequent Nigeria and as we are mostly cloud-based, I monitor everything remotely.

Since diluting my attention, the question of focus has been at the fore of my mind. I certainly can't fault its benefits and would highly recommend it. I was of course only able to make significant progress after I quit my job and returned to Nigeria to chase the startup work full time. The challenge though with foucs on startup work like is that it's a luxury. In fact, if we're being honest, being any kind of a tech entrepreneur across the world is largely a luxury. Hungry or low-income people can't dare try it, or at least can't for long. All the successful tech founders you see are from well-off families and would walk into high paying jobs if their startups ever fail. Even the high school dropouts like Zuckerberg and Gates are all from well off families. Not to mention the safety net of social security/ welfare that many countries offer. Going hungry was never an option for them regardless of how badly their business did.

So focus if you can afford it but if you can't, get a job or predictable business to keep body and soul together. Use your spare time to chase your passion. When the time is right you can make the leap across. Don't be afraid to make the leap back if the money equation stops balancing. There's no rule that says you must do it one way all the way. You're not the messiah, you can take a break and return rejuvenated. You can bootstrap a startup for 10 years only to make it big in the 11th year. If you quit at year 9, you miss out on your big year 11 break. The mailchimp story is a big inspiration of mine in this regard.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/technology/mailchimp-and-the-un-silicon-valley-way-to-make-it-as-a-start-up.html

My big lesson for 2017 is that it's ok to beat a retreat to plan a better path to victory. Watch out for more updates. Continue to like to give me the required ginger

nahinbdis:
Wow! Saw this thread this morning for the first time and I have read every page.


True entrepreneurship in Nigeria is a battle and am glad that you gave it and are still giving it your best shot in your own way.

I have been down a similar path too... leaving a well paying job to grow a business that had hitherto been a thriving sidekick... then Buhari's economy happened and it all became overly challenging. Had to make a detour back to paid employment... very difficult decision that in time proved to be sound.

Am back to the startup track (while keeping the paid employment) and currently at the stage where we have to drive conversion. It's still not an easy road... because the word easy doesn't exist in a startup's dictionary. But its easier having a financial buffer just like you said. There is a lot of interest in funding tech startups but most of them translate to air bubbles when the push comes to shove.

Keep pushing because today is difficult, tomorrow is more difficult, but next tomorrow is beautiful; but most people will die tomorrow night - Jack Ma

Great comment, couldn't have said it better myself. The buffer of income helps especially when still trying to figure things out and don't want to carry gbese of investors.

We keep pushing and pray we don't quit the night before our big breakthrough

Product market fit (PMF)

I would say that PMF has been the centre of all my worries and sleepless nights for the last year. I know we don't have it and we continue to search for it. There are multiple steps to getting there.

One of the best things I've read on the topic is this medium post by an indian entrepreneur and startup guy. I recommend it highly.

[url]https://hackernoon.com/four-components-of-product-market-fit-dc1c00067239
[/url]

He breaks PMF down into four components. I'll outline them and comment on where I think we stand.

1. Founder market fit

I've played in various areas of this my market and after trying and failing many times, I think the current market we have chosen to focus on suits me as a founder. While it's not 100% my field, it's in an adjacent area that I would have relative competence in. So I can speak the lingo, gain credibility and convince people in the market to trust me pretty easily. I'm also a partial outsider so I can look at the space with fresh eyes and gain insights in a way insiders can't really. Helps that I'm also really passionate about the space generally so I think we've got this one covered.

2. Problem value fit

I think this is where we falter. We have identified what we think is a significant problem. Players in the market also agree. The challenge is selling the message of our value. there are only 3 things valuable to businesses: Increased revenues, reduced costs, increased productivity. In the Nigerian landscape and via our customer interviews, the main concern is how to make more money. Everything else comes secondary. More challenging is that businesses want to make more money while doing less and spending less. So they essentially want your solution to give them everything for nothing. Our solution on the other had while it does increase revenue, to be able to see this benefit will mean investing a lot of time and effort into our product. Now getting businesses to do this consistently has been our headache. We see patchy engagement and as a result low value extracted from it. We thus see more churn than we'd like and customers that don't feel very successful using our product.

We are currently initiating a slight pivot that will hopefully help us counter this problem so we will see where it goes. Before we decided on this pivot, we implemented several new features, a new design and even incorporated some hardware. These haven't given us the kind of uptake and engagement we would like. So our next big dice roll is the new pivot which I will cover soon.

3. Product solution fit

As I intimated above, adopting our solution involves some modifications to workflow. Our customer's staff don't like the change and not unusually resist our software. We've tried to build integrations and make things simpler but we still come against this wall of defiance. Amazing how employees can essentially hold a business to ransom in Nigeria. Many of our customers have staff who outrightly refuse to use our software without consequence. The fact that it takes a while to see any benefit doesn't help make the case for the business to enforce strictly either. So as they use our software in an inconsistent manner they create and enable a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure. We have to work at delivering a wow/ magic moment earlier and more dramatically.

Read about the concept of the magic moment here. https://alexiskold.net/2016/06/01/what-is-the-magic-moment-for-your-startup/.

For facebook it's when users add 10 friends in 14 days. It means they are likely to stick around for a while. So FB creates scenarios to make sure you do this. We don't yet know what out magic moment is. We thought we did but every hypothesis we have continues to fail. Our new pivot should hopefully help address some of these issues.

4. Market scale fit

This is doing things at scale after all the above are completed. We are nowhere near here yet. We have numbers around 50,000 'units' (take that as the engagement metric we measure). it's growing at about 1% week on week so the journey is still long. We want to get to scale though and 1 million is the number on my mind.

There it is, our continued search for PMF. Any thoughts?

Very interesting thread.

Update Sept 2018

Someone emailed me after reading this thread and said how helpful it was to him. Wish I could update it more often but life is too busy.

I'm still working on my startup, it's still hard and we're still figuring things out. We are making a small bit of cash but not yet broken even. We're currently wooing some investors and would hope to close that soon. We are launching a couple of new products as well.

All in all, things are still moving along albeit slowly. I'm still committed for the long haul. Great businesses were not built in a day.

1k001:
Update Sept 2018

Someone emailed me after reading this thread and said how helpful it was to him. Wish I could update it more often but life is too busy.

I'm still working on my startup, it's still hard and we're still figuring things out. We are making a small bit of cash but not yet broken even. We're currently wooing some investors and would hope to close that soon. We are launching a couple of new products as well.

All in all, things are still moving along albeit slowly. I'm still committed for the long haul. Great businesses were not built in a day.

How much investment are you looking to raise?? Have you succeeded?? Or you are still open to taking investors?? Please kindly reply. Thanks.

222Martins:
How much investment are you looking to raise?? Have you succeeded?? Or you are still open to taking investors?? Please kindly reply. Thanks.

We closed the seed round but we're always talking to future investors and partners. Please let me know how to reach you.

1k001:


We closed the seed round but we're always talking to future investors and partners. Please let me know how to reach you.

Pm sent and email received. Getting in touch with you now. Thanks