For the first time, 01POS is profitable. And yes, it took me a year and six months. You heard that right. Building, hiring, marketing, restructuring, interacting and communicating, it wasn’t easy. From the outside, it might look effortless, but honestly, this has been the most harvesting thing I’ve done in my life, and I’ve done a lot.
I was mentally, financially, and physically exhausted more times than I can count, but I stayed in the grid. And thank God I stayed in the grid. I restarted the project twice, laying off the team and restructuring each time. We were marketing while building, but couldn’t convert because the product wasn’t finished.
When we finally completed the product, 80% of the interest hit a wall, the hardware was too expensive. Of the remaining 20%, 15% bought our hardware, and 5% used hardware they already owned. That’s when we decided to build a mobile app, hoping to cut costs by 85%. But did it solve the problem?
While developing the app, we fixed bugs and worked through other issues. Issue number one: 01Technologies, the parent company, focuses on websites and custom software development. Earnings from that business were funding 01POS’s development, which delayed progress. Deadlines from other projects would suddenly remind me to halt everything on 01POS and focus elsewhere, then we’d go back.
Instagram ads have always been our go-to-market strategy. During the app development, we moved 01POS to its own social media account, which delayed ad approval for about 2–3 months. Once we could run ads, we had to reintroduce ourselves, build followers, gain traction — it felt like starting all over again.
When we finally launched the mobile app, I realized the mobile wasn’t even the issue. In fact, the app only complemented what we already had on the ground. The 15% who bought hardware and the 5% who used what they already owned were our real customers — not the 100%. If I had just focused on that set and ignored everything else… maybe. But here’s the truth: you cannot capture everyone. That’s impossible.
Product-market fit, to me, is being able to filter enough that you’re now hitting only your people. Product-market fit is when orders come in regardless of marketing quality, without over-explaining. That’s PMF.
Would I have done things differently? Absolutely — I might have built the admin mobile app first. But regrets are inevitable, no matter what choices you make. What matters is embracing the journey: talk to people, create avenues for critique, and whatever you do — do not hide.