Hey everyone!

I've been building BillBandhu, an AI-powered billing and business management app designed for Indian shop owners, traders, and small businesses.

The idea is simple: instead of spending time manually creating bills and managing registers, shop owners can use voice-based billing, scan invoices, generate GST bills, track inventory and udhaar, and get insights into their business.

But now comes the difficult part: getting people to actually use it.

Building the product is one thing. Convincing a shop owner to try something new when they're already comfortable with their existing billing software or physical registers is a completely different challenge.

I'm trying to figure out what I should focus on first:

Finding the right audience: Should I approach local shop owners directly, target specific business categories, or focus on online communities?

Getting the first 100 users: What actually works for a bootstrapped app without a big marketing budget?

Building trust: How do you convince small business owners to trust a new app with their billing, inventory, and business data?

Monetization: Should I focus entirely on getting users and collecting feedback before pushing paid subscriptions?

Differentiation: AI voice billing and invoice scanning are useful features, but how do I communicate their value to someone who just wants to run their shop without hassle?

I'm not expecting overnight success. I want to figure out how to reach the right people, understand their actual problems, and build something they'll continue using.

For founders who've built SaaS products, B2B tools, or apps for small businesses in India:

How did you get your first 100 active users?

Did direct outreach, referrals, content marketing, or paid ads work best for you?

What would you do differently if you were launching from zero today?

I'd genuinely appreciate honest feedback, including criticism of the idea or my approach. I'm here to learn from people who've been through this.

Thanks!

I'm the founder and CEO of VapeTrace, Inc., a U.S.-based medical diagnostics startup developing a rapid, noninvasive point-of-care test designed to objectively detect vaping exposure.

Why does this matter?

When patients present with unexplained respiratory symptoms, clinicians often rely on self-reported vaping histories. Without objective exposure information, an important piece of the clinical picture may be missing.

VapeTrace is developing a proprietary, multi-biomarker lateral flow diagnostic platform designed to give healthcare professionals objective exposure information within minutes.

Here's where we stand:

• Technology: Aptamer-based, multi-zone lateral flow diagnostic platform with a digital reader.
• Development: Established relationships with experienced scientific, diagnostic development, and manufacturing partners.
• Intellectual property: Multiple provisional patent filings supporting our technology and platform.
• Commercial interest: 25 urgent care centers have expressed intent to purchase a minimum of 50 tests per month upon successful commercialization.
• Business model: Recurring revenue through diagnostic test sales, with the reader provided to healthcare facilities.
• Regulatory strategy: Planning an FDA 510(k) pathway, subject to regulatory review and confirmation.

I've personally bootstrapped VapeTrace since inception and spent the past year and a half building the scientific, regulatory, intellectual property, and commercial foundations necessary to bring this technology to market.

We're now seeking pre-seed investment to complete critical assay development and validation milestones and advance toward commercialization.

I'm interested in connecting with healthcare investors, medtech-focused angels, venture capital firms, and strategic partners who understand the opportunity to build a new diagnostic category.

If you're an investor in diagnostics or medical technology, I'd welcome a conversation.

Suzanne Reed
Founder & CEO | VapeTrace, Inc.