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How I got the First 100 paying Customers & $7k in Revenue with my side project
r/SideProject
7/12/2025
Content Summary
The author shares their journey of building The Niche Base, a SaaS tool analyzing Skool communities to identify profitable niches. Using no-code/AI tools, they achieved 100 paying customers and $7k revenue through organic growth strategies focused on community engagement, value-first approach, and natural product introduction. Future plans include affiliate programs and paid ads for scaling.
Opinion Analysis
Mainstream opinions praise the organic growth strategy and value-first approach. Multiple commenters highlight the effectiveness of 'giving value before pitching' as a key takeaway. Some debate focuses on scalability limitations of manual community engagement. Questions arise about platform dependency (Skool-focused strategy) and technical sustainability of no-code solutions. The affiliate program plan receives unanimous support as logical next step.
SAAS TOOLS
| SaaS | URL | Category | Features/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Niche Base | https://thenichebase.com | Market Analytics | Scrapes data from 12,000+ Skool communities, provides searchable insights on profitable niches |
| Skool | Not provided | Community Platform | Public community data (member counts, pricing) used for analysis |
| ChatGPT/Gemini | Not provided | AI Development | Used for building the tool with limited coding skills |
| Cursor/Bolt | Not provided | No-Code Development | Assisted in building the SaaS without coding |
| Render | Not provided | Hosting | Hosting platform for the application |
| WordPress | Not provided | Website Builder | Landing page creation |
USER NEEDS
Pain Points:
- Fear of building products nobody will pay for
- Difficulty validating niche ideas
- Uncertainty about market demand
- Lack of coding skills for SaaS development
Problems to Solve:
- Identifying profitable niches before product development
- Accessing real-time market data for validation
- Acquiring first customers without paid ads
- Scaling from initial traction to sustainable growth
Potential Solutions:
- Leveraging public community data for market analysis
- Using no-code/AI tools for product development
- Organic customer acquisition through community engagement
- Affiliate programs for scaling growth
GROWTH FACTORS
Effective Strategies:
- Organic community engagement over paid ads
- Value-first approach in customer acquisition
- Data-driven niche validation
Marketing & Acquisition:
- Identifying target audience communities
- Providing free value/demos before pitching
- Leveraging natural curiosity for product introduction
Monetization & Product:
- Tiered pricing based on data access levels
- Positioning as Skool's analytics platform
- Future affiliate program development
User Engagement:
- Direct community interaction through demo calls
- Free data sharing to demonstrate value
- Building trust through non-salesy approach