We are in the process of validating our startup idea with the target users of our platform. They are mainly people in apprenticeship (technical). We want to provide them with a free service while generating revenue from company paying to access the service. Since the product is free for the apprentices, what question/strategy would you use to see if they have real intent to use the service? When the product is meant to be sold, there are strategies where you try to close a sale. But in the case of free product, how do you do or what question would you ask?
This is a common question with "free" platforms/apps. How do I know if my users are using the platform and for what purpose. I am making the following assumptions about your product
1. Your product is in beta testing and you haven't started monetizing it yet
2. The apprentices that you speak of are freelancers who will use your platform to complete the task and the company who uses these freelancers will pay platform fees.
If I am wrong about these assumptions, please let me know and I can approach the question differently.
There are a few ways you can approach this.
1. When someone signs up or downloads your application, clearly identify that they are participating in the beta test of the product. They agree to submit usage information every day/week/month. You can then reach out to them to collect data
2. Send surveys to users to get feedback
3. Analytics if there is a way for you to monitor online how they are using your platform
Essentially, there is no Free Lunch. If they are using your platform for free, they agree to provide data in return.
Happy to chat more if you'd like to figure out a clear strategy of how to engage with your users for data collection. I specialize in customer discovery and have helped many companies with early stage development and market validation.
Best of luck with your venture!
Fehmida
Answered 6 years ago
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