Cross-posting to reach out more MSMEs and see if there's more interest. More the merrier. Here are some of the places I think Brunei MSMEs normally hang out. In fact, I'm making a Customer profile using "Make My Buyer Persona" tool by Hubspot.
Not bad and it kinda helps drill down what kind of sellers they may be. Now for the outreach.
Facebook Groups
There's a lot of these Facebook Groups and they somehow keep spawning new ones several months later.
Because Bruneians love doom scrolling pictures and videos.
Whatsapp/Telegram Group Chats
Not everyone knows about them but if you happen to join a few, it tends to die down after a week.
But with the above channels, I should be able to reach out to as many users as possible and hopefully gain enough following and interests to get this product off the ground with active user feedback.
Tech Stack
I've already decided to go with Quasar Framework but if I want to make this more rapid developed, I would use an existing template like VueStoreFront. I'll get to it when I can. At the moment, what I believe most is trying to get a following of beta testers first. I want these MSMEs to take a small time out of their day to try out this new free product and give me feedback. But before I do, I have to convince them that its worth their time.
Communicate with Beta Testers
This means that I have to explain what this service is about, what is expected of them, what am I trying to solve, why am I solving it, and the most important question to any entrepreneur, how much for them to use this service. I could make a FB Page or an Instagram account specifically for this service but then that would mean everyone would need a FB page or Instagram account to follow those accounts for updates. Then there's the fact that I have to find a way to give them. Emailing isn't ideal and I would prefer an online forum but not everyone is keen to getting another account for online support. I could put a support email, so they can just email me their problems (it's quick, easy and free to do with Google Groups). Either I have to create a Whatsapp Group Chat (Ugh!) or a Telegram Channel (More Ugh!) and not everyone wants to sign up to either or.
That leaves to an open Landing page site where any user can just click a link and remain anonymous. I believe the users prefer to stay anonymous (at least for Bruneians) so that they can continue making money on the side.
Either way, I think a Landing page with a FAQ and a Sign Up form shouldn't be too difficult to do. I guess that's my task for the week.
Let's target for 10 beta users by the end of the week.