How Luthando promoted Quik MVP and attracted 100 paying customers

Meet Luthando from Pretoria, South Africa.

This is his startup story building and growing Quik MVP.

While it started as a passion project during his search for a full-time VC position after completing a VC fellowship, Quik MVP is currently his main focus

In addition to Quik MVP, he has partnerships to create MVPs as a service, and he also creates websites and provides consulting for business owners in South Africa.

The story told by Luthando

My way to entrepreneurship

I had an unconventional path to becoming a founder. Since school, I’ve been obsessed with building businesses. My first blog got 10k views very fast, showing me that I could reach people worldwide.

I created products for science expos and continued to do so at university. By graduation, I had networked with business owners and worked on a project to help micro-businesses in South Africa. Then, I decided to upskill myself and go out on my own to figure it all out.

Quik MVP

I started Quik MVP to help entrepreneurs turn ideas into startups using the Business Model Canvas, allowing you to create a solid business model while tracking KPIs and progress.

My journey of building Quik MVP began in 2023. I wanted to help entrepreneurs streamline the initial phases of product development. Most tools focused on website builders and launching landing pages quickly, but I realized these didn't serve as true MVPs.

A simple landing page lacks the minimum functionality needed to test a product in the market effectively. I wanted a solution that would not only help founders build their MVPs but also guide them in developing the business model behind their ideas, ensuring they include the necessary functionalities for genuine market testing.

Launching

Quik MVP went live in 2023. What's interesting is that I adopted a practice of building and refining the product while it was already live, continuously iterating based on user feedback.

This approach allowed me to stay agile and responsive to the evolving needs of the users, ensuring that Quik MVP remained relevant and effective in helping entrepreneurs streamline their product development journey.

Business Model Details

Initially, I offered a lifetime membership for Quik MVP, where users paid a one-time fee to access the following features:

• Unlimited business models

• Ability to build a plan for your business using our business model and project canvases

• KPI tracker to monitor business performance

• Launch ideas and gather community feedback

• API request

However, I'm now transitioning to a subscription model. This new approach will provide users with ongoing access to new features, including auto-save functionality, customizable canvases they can publish, and a KPI tracker tailored for each canvas.

Getting the first 100 users

Quik MVP hit the milestone of 100 registered users within just one week of launching on Product Hunt.

This rapid uptake not only validated the product concept but also resulted in securing paid users during that initial timeframe, underscoring the immediate value proposition of Quik MVP.

Quik MVP currently has over 1,000 registered users on the platform, with around 100 paying customers.

Marketing the product

The main struggle I’ve faced in marketing Quik MVP is outreach. As a solo founder, it’s challenging to balance building the product with reaching out to potential customers and users.

I’ve used bootstrapped marketing techniques. I’ve launched the product on various platform like:

• Product Hunt

• AppSumo

• StartupStage

• BetaList

I’ve also promoted Quik MVP by organic posting on X and reddit. Examples below:

Here is one of my reddit posts titled “Founders guide to the first 100 users”.

What has worked well is building and telling. After building a feature or fixing a bug, spread the word about it. Reporting on progress and sharing the journey has been particularly effective, as users are interested in seeing the development and evolution of the product.

Most of the traffic comes from SEO and organic keywords that Quik MVP ranks for. Early on, I focused heavily on ranking for keywords, which has helped grow search visibility over time.

Regadring SEO, I’ve focused on a few key strategies:

Content creation
I’ve developed content aimed at my target keywords, particularly around business model canvases and MVP development.

Backlink building
I’ve worked on acquiring backlinks from relevant websites in the startup and tech space.

Keyword optimization
I've optimized on-page elements, including meta descriptions, headers, and content, to align with my targeted keywords.

Paid ads did not work well for me. I tried directing traffic via paid ads on a small budget, but it wasn’t successful. I plan on trying paid advertising again in the future with a different approach.

Luthando is also working on a Venture Studio to aid innovation. If you have an idea but lack the resources or knowledge to build it, that shouldn't stop you from bringing your idea to life. Applications on quikmvp.com.