I set out to build a SaaS, I accidentally made a Directory

Tldr; I was building a SaaS app and via customer discovery & competitor research, I compiled a huge list of tools in the space. Saw lots of posts about how directories are a great first project, and decided to make one with the tools I've aggregated!

See it here: CRESoftware.tech

The Story

I've seen recent posts talking about how directories are a great entry point to indie hacking. Skip the coding, skip the SaaS, just find an underserved niche, document the thing, organize it, and then publish it all as a directory! Love the approach, but that's not my story.

I didn't set out to make a directory, I set out to make a SaaS. Part of building any company or product involves understanding your customer, who they are, what they struggle with, what they're using, etc. Through talking to 100s (literally) of CRE Brokers (my SaaS is for real estate: Plotzy.ai ) I began to document to tools that they mentioned they were using. I added every tool mentioned to a notion board called "competition". I also researched tools myself, adding tools to the list, making note of their target customer, value proposition, pricing model, price, etc.

Though there is a part of me that feels like this is a distraction from my "core" offering, more of me thinks it's a good use of time, plus it really doesn't take that much time to set up. I launched it yesterday and already have 8 new tool submissions, I think is going to be something that fills itself out pretty well.

One of the main reasons why this is valuable for me to do longer term, is because it's a category I'm building in! Not just with Plotzy.ai, but also with a side project, ArchitectureHelper.com . Building out the directory not only gives me a chance to drive traffic to my own tools, but also helps me get a better view of the market–what exists today, what the gaps are, etc. I think this is an underrated advantage to doing a directory. Helps you really get up to speed with the "landscape" of a potential industry or niche that you're building in or exploring.

Despite being literally 1 day into this, I've also been encouraged to see that there are already folks who are interested in sponsoring the directory! No first $ yet, but hopefully that changes very soon!

There is of course the hard work of marketing and getting the thing that makes a directory financially viable: eyeballs. But that's a tale for another day, if anyone is interested on how to drive traffic to your directory lmk, I'll make another post.

The Vision

I've been a fan of John Rush (shoutout!) and am jealous of how his products all seem to compliment one another. Almost all of his many startup products relate to one another. Though they're a little bit less connected than his, my ultimate goal is to build out a suite of applications all related to the real estate industry. For agents, for consumers, for commercial brokers, and more. Though a small one, the CRESoftware.tech directory is my first step in the direction of making an ecocystem of inter-connected, apps in the real estate space. Each app's success will drive the others' success as well.

If you're building software, content, or websites focused in the RE space and want to build an empire, hmu.

Takeaways:

- If you're on the fence about building a directory, do it! Especially if it's a category that 1) doesn't have a dedicated directory 2) you're interested in 3) you're planning on building a SaaS in later.

- It really doesn't take that long, it provides great experience (especially for newbies)

- Monetization opportunities are straightforward, but relatively minimal, and will likely take manual work shorter term

Asks:

Feedback on the site! Especially if you've done a directory before, what can be better about mine?

If you've built a RE or CRE tool, submit it! It's free and I'll do my best to get you some traffic