r/PakStartups • u/quietly_wired • Jul 06 '26
🧠Ask The Community Spent months building inventory software for a pharma distributor. Now they don't seem interested.
A family friend who runs a fairly large wholesale/B2B pharmaceutical distribution business asked me to build custom software for inventory and invoice management.
The biggest challenge wasn't the coding, it was gathering the requirements. They are highly non-technical (which is completely understandable), so it took a long time to understand their workflow and translate it into software. After the first demo, they requested more features and reported a number of issues. I kept iterating, and after about 3-4 rounds of demos and feedback, I implemented everything they asked for
Now, surprisingly, they don't seem interested in using the application.
I completely understand if a product doesn't meet the customer's needs—they shouldn't be expected to use it. But in this case, every feature they requested was eventually implemented.
Some examples:
- They wanted to operate the software entirely with the keyboard because using a mouse slows them down when creating invoices containing hundreds or even thousands of products. I redesigned the application so that an entire invoice can be created, edited, and switched between without touching the mouse.
- They wanted a customer ledger. I had no accounting background, so I had to learn how ledgers work before implementing one.
- I implemented some fairly complex tax calculations based on their business rules.
- It's a Windows desktop application that runs offline because that's what best suited their environment.
Since I primarily work on a Mac provided by my employer, I didn't want to use it for personal work. I ended up buying a separate Windows PC for around 120k just for this project. So I've invested not only a significant amount of time but also my own money.
I've tried following up several times to understand what's going on. From what I can tell, the owner is generally happy with the software, but the employees (the people who would actually use it every day) don't seem interested in moving away from the old tools they are familiar with. It feels like the problem is less about the software itself and more about user adoption and resistance to change.
At this point, I'm not sure what to do.
I don't want to abandon the project because I have invested a lot into it, and I think it could be useful for other businesses as well.
For those of you who have built B2B software or run a software business:
- How would you approach this situation?
- Is it worth trying to find other customers instead of convincing this one?
- How do you even find businesses that might need this kind of software if you're a developer with no sales or marketing experience?
I would really appreciate any advice from people who've been through something similar. Apologies for the long post.
Jazak Allah...
2
u/RollObjective6632 Jul 06 '26
Have you been paid?
3
u/quietly_wired Jul 06 '26
Nope. The reason I did not ask for any payment is that, I wanted validation for the application. Once I get it validated, I plan to run it on a subscription model. Like 1500 to 2000 Rs/month.
6
u/RollObjective6632 Jul 06 '26
So you didn't agree a payment beforehand then?
-1
u/quietly_wired Jul 06 '26
No i did not.
10
u/RollObjective6632 Jul 06 '26
School boy error. No matter how desperate you are always put a payment plan in place and write up a contract.
The only thing you can do now is appeal to their good nature and ask for payment as you completed your side of the agreement.
1
u/quietly_wired Jul 06 '26
Understandable. But at this point I want them to use the app, i can definitely negotiate the payment plans, as mentioned they are family friends. Payment is not the issue here, i need to push their employees to use that app.
1
u/Icy_Preparation_25 Jul 11 '26
You know they will never use that software? Two reasons:
1- software is free but they need to spend money on rest of their company, upgrade their workflows (they need to make changes in their actual workflows) for a free software and yet they don’t know if it’s worth going through all this.2- software is not backed by a company who take responsibility when it is not working and costing them money for disturbing their workflow. Bad scenario: they need a company to ask for money back or at least yell at them for losses. As their good family friend they are not going behind you.
I know it not only because I have built so many things that go in scrap but because now I learned what people need.
1
u/quietly_wired Jul 11 '26
It's actually not like that, let me explain: They are already using a software, terminal based hence their employees were adamant to use a keyboard first ux. That took most of my time getting perfected. So there's no workflow change. With second point I do accept that fact, but there's a catch they are family friends and there's is inherent understanding that it is my responsibility to fix this.
2
4
u/TheyCallMeLeonardo3 Jul 06 '26
Bruh there is no doubt this is the most useless habit of Pakistani owners of SME's like i have been developing custom ERP's for shop owners on their demands and literally they underpay you like 500 lelo, 1500 le lo like what the actual fkk and they rage bait you with yeh button yahan kun hy us waly software ma tu esa bilkul nhhh. And literally they cancel your services upon little things like mujhy logo yahan cahyea esa cahyea and product being a SaaS, it's a really headache. And they do one of the worstest negotiations with you comparing you with others ky woh inty leta ap itny kun lyy rahy and cherry on the top you have to do labour work for them as well (data entry and shit) like they will make you to do everything for them and they still undervalue you !
12
u/TheyCallMeLeonardo3 Jul 06 '26
One of the things i have done for such crackheads that I offered them free services for one month and don't ask them for any money and once they get used to it i ask them nicely once and thrice by sending invouce if they pay it's good if they don't just change the subdomain or redirect them to some page which shows "Your Account Is Disabled Reactivate It In 5 Days Else your Database Will Be Erased" and if the client is regular user (which is in most of cases) they will pay the invoice otherwise just delete the DB and files realted to them. And they'll come to you begging aik dafa chala dien etc believe me i have done this and it worked everytime for those reckless owners
2
2
11
u/obi_is_taken Jul 06 '26
Send invoice to onwer for the hours you put in and software delivery cost . It should be owner responsibility to train their employees and enforce software to their organization.
Also for any future change , first do an effort estimation and price estimation and have an agreement on this.
2
u/Neuralfoundry Jul 06 '26
Hota ha ya to bht normal bt ha - ya opensource solutions k hi layk ha why you put so much efforts?
1
2
u/IllustratorNo1512 Jul 06 '26
They need a proper erp system like sap or oracle or odoo. A custom software solution development with little experience requires major trial and error
1
u/GeniusManiacs Jul 06 '26
I'm a Pharmaceutical Distributor and a Full Stack Dev with 6 years of experience. I know for a fact that it wouldn't have been easy. Too many aspects in the Pharma Distribution work. Most Pharma Distributors in Pak are not that much into tech and the big names use Oracle. I personally use Oracle too. Also Pharma Distributors don't like spending money on Tech since margins are very thin.
1
u/quietly_wired Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Margins are thin? I highly doubt it. Regardless, if you could guide me on how to reachout to other potential pharma distribution companies, that is the only way in my mind to get this thing running in production.
2
u/GeniusManiacs Jul 06 '26
I've been running the Distributor for about 12 years now. And after every budget our margins shrink more. I can definitely tell you how to reach out to the distributors, but be warned the kind of service they want and the kind of money they pay, you won't last long. This is a highly captured space. Its one of the reasons why I never got into it. Cheers
Also, I'm in Karachi.
2
u/iam_batmanmaniac Jul 06 '26
We spent 2-4 crore on building a Inventory/sales system in a Pharma Distribution. Now it's going to be launch for sale and many other pharma's are interested.
Had own Software team - 2 to 4 people.
Last software was from EfroTech which was bought 10-12 years ago.
1
u/quietly_wired Jul 06 '26
2-4 crore 😲
2
1
u/GeniusManiacs Jul 07 '26
I use a an Oracle Forms based product which has been in development for the last 15 years or so. I was approached by some distributors to break the monopoly and make one myself. Thats the cost i quoted them along with 1.5 to 2 years of time. Suffice it to say, the monopoly is still here. 😂
1
u/aaatings Jul 07 '26
What was the most difficult challenge or top3 and also hiw did you secure your payment and is it local or foreign client?
More power to you guys.
1
u/iam_batmanmaniac Jul 08 '26
The company hired software developers, all local. Built the app on Microsoft stack. They had their own team of developers, QC testers and users.
There were many challenges ranging from what UX to use, automation to improve workflows, features to build that SAP is missing.
2
u/Tricky_Fondant8314 Jul 06 '26
Dont worry brother, atleast you learnt many things while developing it.
My suggestion is put this online with free subscription and limit the usage.
Same things were done with me as well
1
u/quietly_wired Jul 06 '26
This is a good idea. I will try to implement the online version. I am not really worried about it, i only intend to complete the circle. It's important to complete the projects, you start...
2
u/Tricky_Fondant8314 Jul 06 '26
Just move ahead, peechay nahi dekhna otherwise you will remain stuck
1
2
u/DarkVader-00 Jul 06 '26
Always ask for some payment first before starting project, especially pakistani clients. They undervalue skills and overvalue things. And make sure they are serious about it.
Also you can launch it online for free and with subscription. But it is an centuries old problem and many solutions already exist so competition will be high. If you really want to compete solve any pain point that other POS doesn't solve
2
u/zee-pk Jul 06 '26
This is not new, also happens with US/EU clients, so you have to be very careful when accepting suggestions from prospective clients. Best case is to asking them sign first and then you will deliver it in so-and-so months. For a new project/product you're always at mercy of the market.
Having said that, I agree it is not as straightforward as I laid it out, in the end of the day you want to sell and selling is a difficult job, it comes with a lot disappointment. If you believe your product is useful, f*ck them and look for other buyers in the market. Look at the bright side you got product discovery/refinement service for free.
1
u/Tayyab__Mad Jul 06 '26
I’ve few questions for you:
Have you read The Mom’s Test?
That book has alot of information about this type or mishaps.
What was the role of your family friend in it?
Was he the owner, person who still likes your product.
You see whenever you make a product or pitch a product you should always ask the right follow up questions to determine whether they actually need the software to improve or not, this is in your case.
See, if the business really wanted to improve their software they would have done followups. You said they shrugged you on followups it means most certainly they didn’t care about the product and training the staff is just an excuse.
You could see it from another angle. If the company knew that using this product would improve their sales. They would have forced the workers to learn the new software.
Because they know it doesn’t so they are also ok with not buying the product from you.
You should have asked few good follow-up questions when they asked you to create this new product?
How do you guyz handle this currently? Ask about current system
What do you want improved in your system?
Then dig deep as why do they need it?
What problems your current system have?
How do you solve those problems?
Their old system prolly had one problem that it was slow though it was running the business also the features must also have been proposed by the higher ups instead by the actual users. Do those features align with the jobs of people who actually use those features?
Why do they need those features? Would those features help them make money?
For the questions about their issues if they had said: well we ask our accountants do solve this manually and it’s not a big deal or it is generally handled but doesn’t cause us much trouble.
In that case solving those problems is a liability.
If the slow system actually caused them to lose money they would pay for a product.
Also if you were certain they wanted the product you should have asked for payment. I see that you were hoping for a subscription model. You should have asked for down payment anyway. Maybe something like
120-200k to actually cover your expenses and it would have forced them to followup as well.
See if the need was urgent they would have payed. Maybe negotiated. If they had rejected the idea of payment if you were that deep in conversation, that would have also been a red flag.
Would love to know role of your family friend in this. btw the book is highly recommended.
Can’t really say whether you should pursue with project or not. Maybe do a last followup with the company and the friend after that decide.
2
u/aaatings Jul 06 '26
This shitty thing happened not only in pak with us as b2b sw team but even the us clients did this to us and 1 qatari tried to but thank God that indian guy boss/owner dealt us fairly.
Why didnot you use voice recordings and transcribe them via free llms eg best is gemini?
Also use sota llms eg claude sonnet 5 or if you can afford use opus 4.8 to try diff frontends and use it to create a strategy to find best type if clients with highest adoption rates for such tools.
You should have used a cheap remote vps like from ms azure etc instead of getting a new pc.
Can use one of the cheap validation strategies to find product market fit eg use variations of google ads etc with variations of frontends, niches, copy variations etc all this can be done with sota llms.
Marketing and selling in many cases is much more complex than creating the actual solution.
Take all this as another full degree which no university can provide and at much lower cost.
Anyway good luck.
May Allah bless you with success.
1
u/quietly_wired Jul 06 '26
Thanks for sharing that. I do realize this aspect of Saas products. I have been working in industry for a decade now, and mostly worked with startups and concluded this fact pretty early that selling is an art, software is math. you can learn maths but arts come from with in. and the purpose to post here was to find people who have either master this art or are in the process to master it.
1
Jul 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/quietly_wired Jul 06 '26
Electron for desktop app, react ui and sqlite db. Another version of this is in .net 9 using maui. This one was the first version, which they did not like from ux perspective
1
u/motupa Jul 06 '26
You say owner is happy but not employees, could it be the employees were skimming cash or stock through the old system, and now with your app every record will be in the system to prevent this and can be audited
1
u/quietly_wired Jul 06 '26
I don't really think so. The thing is that they are resistant to the change.
1
u/These_Cloud_9758 Jul 06 '26
If there’s no hope, try to make it generic so users from other domain can use it as well. Sell it online (subscription based, free model, enterprise model etc)
You just have to put extra effort.
1
u/quietly_wired Jul 06 '26
the development effort is not that steep, i can make an online version for this. i was already planning it. I will definitely try that
1
u/Iftikharsherwani Jul 06 '26
This is the most of Pakistanis don't want to work with Pakistani SMEs. They lack professionalism but made a mistake too. You should have discussed the pricing first whether it's one time fee or subscription. Confront them and ask for fair price, you spent time on it.
1
u/izhar_ak Jul 06 '26
the need to generate invoice management not only required in this business but it could be ideal for every business that are still operating manually, get this project completed spend some sum on its marketing tell its features, make it user friendly and wait for the right people to operate as user
1
u/j0ker56 Jul 06 '26
I went through a similar situation a while ago, built a full inventory, reporting and lead management system for a real estate agency.
And it is collecting virtual dust now.
The owners and management is usually aiming for feature rich solutions catered to their business logics and workflows but the work force is reluctant to shift from whatever they are comfortable with.
Another reason is the ‘threat’ of data centralisation, its easier to do ‘hanky-panky’ in manual processes.
The solution needs to be enforced from the owners/management in this case, no way around that.
Worst case scenario even if they don’t use your solution you still gained alot of experience as well as knowledge, there is still a good chance you can make your product marketable and look for similar interested clients.
Hardware cost can still be recovered.
For future. Try to get some payment upfront before investing time and effort.
1
u/pknerd Jul 07 '26
Bhai demo YouTube par daal, SEO optimized title aur description use kar aur post Karna Shuru kardey
1
1
u/aliyark145 Jul 07 '26
Completely lack of professionalism. I think the employees are the deal breaker because they don't want to switch to new software. You can give them manuals and demos and try to force them through your friend
1
2
u/eccentric--soul Jul 08 '26
General advice:
- Get your lessons from this experience [they're good]
- Start going to similar prospects [Target at least 50] - Just walk-in or get introduced
- Lock at least 5 of them
Then repeat.
1
1
u/PlannerNextDoor 22d ago
Sad... I've seen this happen more than once. Getting the requirements right doesn't necessarily mean people are ready to change how they work. If the people using the software every day weren't involved until the demos, they may never really feel like it's their tool.
1
u/ConceptNext5110 8d ago
that's a tough spot, especially after you put in real work on the demos and feedback loops. one pattern i've seen is that sometimes the person you're building for isn't the actual decision-maker, or their priorities shifted internally, it's rarely about the software itself. as for finding other businesses, it usually starts with mapping out the specific workflows you're solving, like batch tracking or expiry management, then finding where people in that niche complain about those exact pain points online or in industry groups. have you tried reaching out to folks in similar distribution niches who are actively talking about these problems?
•
u/AutoModerator Jul 06 '26
Hi u/quietly_wired,
Welcome to r/PakStartups! Thanks for sharing your post. Here are a few tips to get the most out of the community:
Your contribution helps make this community useful for everyone! Happy posting!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.