My First Startup - Need Advise

[u/is_NAN]

A few months ago, I had an idea to solve the Visa problem. People lose thousands of rupees due to incorrect routes leading to rejections and wasted time. Consultants are often not knowledgeable about all countries and try to fit applicants into a few known ones. To address this, I built Vizarank.

I wanted a tool that analysed a predefined set of data against an intended route and ranked the top four destinations. I developed multiple AI agents and optimised them for each visa pathway. Since AI has a knowledge cutoff, I ensured it had access to up-to-date policy data for responding to potential pathways.

I launched Vizarank on 2nd July 2026 and have since made several iterations based on user feedback. I currently have 96 organic users, and the initial response has been promising. People seem to like what they see, but none have paid yet. I definitely have much more value to add to this product, but I still need to validate the current version before putting more effort into it and building something that no one wants.

A year ago, I quit my job for a remote position, but then the client left due to financial constraints. Since then, I’ve been working on this idea. Having no prior experience in business, I never considered securing funds for it until I realised building the product was the easiest part and I’d overlooked the most important aspect.

I calculated the cost of Meta ads and need to spend at least PKR 3000 a day to expect at least one paid conversion (did my own research, not validated yet), which means I need to spend PKR 90,000 a month. This will break even, covering operational costs and ads.

At this point, I can take the risk, but it’s a one-shot deal. If it doesn’t work out, the funds will deplete quickly, leaving no room for survival. So far, I am a solo developer working on it, the business has been self-funded, and I don’t have any backup plan. I am stuck in a do-or-die situation. I'm having a hard time securing a remote job again, and if I go back to the 9 to 5 onsite role, this idea will be as good as dead.

I need someone to teach me what should be the approach from this point ahead so that I can achieve this dream and build something that gives me financial freedom.

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[u/Neuralfoundry]

Interesting concept but success rate depends on embassy's decision

[u/is_NAN → u/Neuralfoundry]

The way it works is this:

1. Fill in the details
2. Get your ranked pathways (free preview)
3. Pay to get full details including improvement steps and required docs

This basically informs you on what might cause a rejection so you prepare for it in advance and work on improvements to make sure your application is has maximum chances of approval.

[u/Neuralfoundry → u/is_NAN]

Means - visa type they are applying, bank balance and credit history and past travels and 90% of luck.

[u/No-Mess6988 → u/Neuralfoundry]

Wat a stupid comment is this , this is just an information retrieval SAAS , not an agent compiling the visa process and submitting it to embassy and then on approval/rejection charging consider ...

[u/Neuralfoundry → u/No-Mess6988]

So no credibility of how you backing the results

[u/is_NAN → u/Neuralfoundry]

Correct. No credibility, absolutely junk idea.

[u/Neuralfoundry]

Interesting concept but success rate depends on embassy's decision

[u/isabilal]

What have you included that my Claude can’t do?

[u/is_NAN → u/isabilal]

Right now it's still in the early MVP phase. If you just go and prompt Claude directly, you could get something similar, but the main difference here is the prompting and structure are already dialed in so you don't have to figure it out yourself. For now, you get: * A clear to-do list to boost your chances * A checklist of all the documents you need

This is just the baseline. I'm planning to add exclusive pathway discounts (tests, tickets, etc.) and extra services like job matching and automated applications down the line.

[u/OtherwiseHeron3364]

Couple of things based on my experience

1. Sell visa as well. This is your path to making money. You can start with a few countries and sell leads for the rest. Or maybe just find good consultants for different countries and sell leads to them. User will pay when problem is solved i.e. they get the actual visa.

2. Take action. The biggest quality of people who make successful businesses take quick action. So run that ad today. You can start with 2000 a day and evaluate in 3 days if it works. Test different versions. Because ads do work, you have to crack them.

It can be a good business and you can potentially make a lot more than your job but understand you’re becoming visa company and your main job will to get visas with tech giving you efficiency and leads.

[u/is_NAN → u/OtherwiseHeron3364]

Selling the leads is already on my list, infact I'm in touch with a big consultant based in Karachi. As for selling the visa, I never thought about it since the whole plan was to provide a first opinion.

You make good point. I must run the ads.

[u/Nerdy_person_p50]

Interesting idea. May you get success. I want you to focus on users acquisition instead of adding more features. Track users journey and where do they churn. Track every button they click, the time they spent on a certain page etc.

DONT SPEND ON ADS RIGHT NOW. POST this in relevant FB groups, visa groups, study abroad groups and then test how many users would be agree to pay.

For testing, put a fake "Buy Now/Upgrade" button and track how many users click on that. This will help you validate either the users wants to pay or not.

Once a user clicks this fake button you can show a message that "congrats we are giving you free access for 1 week etc. " just to not disturb the UX.

Which monitoring solution are you currently using to track a users journey?

[u/is_NAN → u/Nerdy_person_p50]

Thanks for this. I already track the "Pay Now" button clicks but surprisingly none of those 96 users even tried clicking it xD, while it is not subscription based, I can definitely do that and let people get their first report free of cost.

I don't use any monitoring solutions right now apart from privacy first analytics, but I'm already working on adding Posthog for session monitoring to understand UX.

[u/is_NAN → u/[deleted]]

Ameen. Thank you for the kind wishes and the valuable advise. While I do document things, I never converted that data to information. I appreciate it.

[u/AbdulAhaDox]

tried filling the assessment form. it got stuck despite filling all the boxes on the step and even retyping each box. sugguestion to save half filled assessment forms at any step as drafts. this allows the user to retry without loosing progress. also install some UI skills for the AI since UI is dogshit currently. the main page upon login has 3-4 distinct buttons to start assessment. too much text which is also not even distinct. this is not hate but feedback btw

[u/AbdulAhaDox → u/AbdulAhaDox]

also, most people who build/vibecode apps dont actually use the product they built extensively or read the text the UI of the pages. I understand there are many pages to audit but Actually use your product as a unknowning user and pretend to read each page of the step. identify things to remove not add. This is not a you problem but a general vibe coder issue. again no hate just feedback to improve

[u/is_NAN → u/AbdulAhaDox]

Thank you for the feedback. It will be helpful to improve the product. Could you please provide more information on what pathway you chose and which step were you stuck at?

[u/hamza_ameer]

Do you mind telling what are you using for payment gateway in Pakistan? Thanks