Last time, I wrote about the options you have in deploying your "leftovers" — the cash remaining in your business after you pay your bills. I also mentioned that I'm working on something to help with this.
Building The Thing
Since then, I’ve started further fleshing out the ideas for Cheqin, my “financial toolkit” app for indie devs and creators. One of the biggest roadblocks I’ve had up to this point was figuring out just how I want to build this thing: a web app, or a Mac app?
Web apps are universal, in that they (mostly) just need a browser to work. The downside is that customer data must by definition be available on the internet, which means a large threat surface that I need to cover, and I don’t feel confident enough in my knowledge of this stuff to build a web-based product.
With a Mac app, data will be local to the customer, and for the microbusiness customers I’m building for, that’s fine. Macs are typically more popular with indie developers and creators than the general population, so while it does limit my total addressable market (TAM), it does let me quickly build a superior project given my current skill set.
If I need to shift strategy later to a web app, that’s something I can do. For now, doing the thing means getting to 1.0 quickly, and so: Mac app it is.
Talking About The Thing
I’ve also started working on some the more “social” aspect of the app, too. I’ve created accounts on Mastodon and Threads, as well as a super-basic, HTML-only landing page to sign up for the newsletter (yes, it will look better soon).
Why tackle some of the social stuff first? A couple of reasons, but the main goal is connecting with customers (even before they’re customers). From Company Of One by Paul Jarvis, a book I reviewed earlier this year:
A study done by Liel Leibovitz, a communications professor at New York University, found that 88 percent of consumers were less likely to buy from a company that didn’t answer support requests on social media. And for customers who took to social media to voice their concerns about a product they had purchased, 45 percent said that they’d be mad if they received no response and 27 percent said that they would completely stop doing business with that company. We have to pay attention to our customers in the places where they’re spending their time—on Facebook and Twitter.
Thus, another part of doing the thing is developing spaces where I can share progress, answer questions, and generally interact with potential customers. This is moving a bit slower than I’d like, because I’m all tangled up in developing a voice for the brand, figuring out what I want to share, and so on.
(I should do less thinking and more posting. Working on it.)
Per for iPhone
Per is the easiest, fastest way to compare price while you shop. It makes shopping decisions easy with its built-in unit converter and calculator, quickly showing you how much you’re getting for your money.