After my "A Practical Guide to Building Your First SaaS Business" got so many positive responses and was widely shared, I wanted to create a follow-up focused on one of the biggest challenges founders face: finding your first users.

Many developers build great products that nobody ever discovers. Here's a practical approach to finding your first users while working on your side project:

1. Build in Public (Still very underrated strategy)

• Share your building journey on Twitter/LinkedIn
• Post weekly progress updates with screenshots
• Document challenges you're solving
• Ask for feedback on specific features
• This creates an audience before you even launch

2. Find Your Users' Watering Holes (super super effective)

• List 5 online communities where your users hang out
• Participate genuinely in discussions for 2-3 weeks
• Help others with related problems
• Only mention your product when truly relevant
• Example places: Reddit, Discord servers, Slack groups, Facebook groups

3. Create Valuable Content (Long-Term Strategy)

• Write detailed guides solving common problems in your niche
• Share your learnings from building the product
• Create comparison articles of existing solutions
• Focus on SEO-friendly content that solves specific problems
• Link to your product only when contextually relevant

4. Launch Strategy (Launch day is overrated, but you should do it anyway)

• Submit to Product Hunt (prepare graphics and clear description)
• Post on BetaList and alternative directories
• Share in "Show HN" on Hacker News
• Create launch-specific offers for early adopters
• Respond to every single comment and piece of feedback

5. Practical Tips for Early Growth:

• Focus on getting 10 highly engaged users rather than 100 casual ones
• Personally onboard each early user via video call
• Ask users to share if they find the product valuable (collect testimonials --> Social Proof is king)
• Use SaaS Starter Kits. Since you'll likely need to pivot or abandon your first product idea, it's important to minimize initial development time. Build your own or buy one from BoilerplateHub.com to save weeks of development time. Each boilerplate comes with essentials like auth, payments, and admin panels, letting you focus on growth.
• Set up a simple referral system for early users (be generous)

The Key Mindset:

• You're not just sharing a product; you're solving a specific problem
• Every early user interaction is a chance to learn and improve
• Be patient - building an initial user base often takes 3-6 months
• Focus on helping people rather than selling to them

Your first users won't come from mass marketing but from personal connections and genuine community involvement. Start building these relationships even before your product is ready.

Action Steps for Tomorrow:

1. Join 3 relevant online communities
2. Start a build-in-public thread on Twitter
3. Write your first helpful guide
4. Make a list of 20 potential users to reach out to

The goal isn't to go viral - it's to find the few people who really need your solution and serve them exceptionally well.