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Your idea for a sales commission calculation app falls into a category where market validation is crucial. The "Minimal Signal" category suggests that the problem might be very niche or not deemed significant enough by a broad audience. With only one similar product found, our confidence is low, signaling limited existing solutions but also potentially low overall demand. Engagement around the similar product, "SalesMate", is also low, with only 2 comments. This means, you need to focus on validating that your idea solves a real, widespread pain point before investing heavily in development.

Recommendations

1. Start by identifying online communities or forums where small sales teams gather. Share your idea and ask specific questions to gauge their current methods for calculating commissions, the pain points they experience, and what features would make an app truly valuable to them. Don't just ask 'would you use this?' dig deeper into their current workflows.
2. Before building anything, offer to manually calculate sales commissions for 2-3 small businesses. This hands-on approach will provide invaluable insights into the complexities and nuances of different commission structures, which can inform your app's design and functionality. Document the time and effort spent to showcase the ROI for your prospective customer.
3. Create a short, engaging explainer video that demonstrates how your app would simplify commission calculations and save time for sales teams. Focus on the core value proposition and showcase the benefits in a clear and concise manner. Track views and engagement to measure interest.
4. Gauge commitment by asking potential users for a small deposit to join a waiting list for your app. This demonstrates a willingness to pay and helps you prioritize development efforts based on confirmed demand. If it's successful, this early pre-sales could be a good way to bootstrap initial development costs.
5. Set a clear deadline (e.g., 3 weeks) to find at least 5 genuinely interested individuals or businesses willing to commit in some form (deposit, letter of intent, etc.). If you fail to reach this threshold, seriously reconsider investing significant time and resources into the project. Consider what the minimal feature set is to make something that customers actually need.
6. Given that the similar product 'SalesMate' is described as a simplified lead tracking and management solution tailored for small B2B businesses, consider how your commission calculation app could integrate with existing CRM or sales management tools to provide a more seamless user experience.
7. Since the engagement around the similar product is low, focus on understanding the criticisms and shortcomings of existing commission calculation methods. Address these pain points directly in your app's design and marketing to differentiate yourself and increase appeal.

Questions

1. What are the most common commission structures used by small sales teams, and how would your app accommodate these variations? Are there specific industry verticals where your app would be particularly well-suited due to unique commission calculation needs?
2. Given the 'Minimal Signal' category, what specific assumptions about the market and user needs are you making, and what experiments can you run to validate or invalidate these assumptions quickly and cheaply? How much are business owners currently paying to solve this problem either in time or money?
3. How will you differentiate your commission calculation app from existing solutions (e.g., spreadsheets, manual calculations), and what unique value proposition will you offer to attract small sales teams? Why won't they just use excel?