## Introduction

The goal of this document is to establish an understanding of our targeted niches for Mathesar and our approach towards their needs. We aim to start with a focused set of users in a specific niche, perfect the product for their needs, and then scale to other niches.

As we learn from our users and refine our process, we'll also encourage feedback to drive our feature development.

## Integration of User Growth Strategy with Niche Selection

> "Focusing on growth rather than sustainability is the better idea right now because a higher number of users will help us get the funding we need from foreign foundations and major donors."

Our user growth strategy is directly tied to the specific niches we focus on. Key considerations for each niche include:

- **Market Size and Growth:** Identifying the size and potential growth of the niche.
- **Existing Solutions:** Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of current market solutions.
- **User Acquisition Channels:** Tailoring our outreach strategies to channels most frequented by our target users.
- **Retention Strategies:** Engaging users through constant product updates that align with their needs.
- **Referral Mechanisms:** Building in-product referral systems to leverage satisfied users as advocates.
- **Monetization Opportunities:** Identifying sustainable monetization strategies, like premium features or tiered subscription models.

## Niches

> "A niche should be people that we can use should have enough attributes that we can easily Identify whether somebody belongs to that set or not and we can find more people like them."

### Niche: Small Businesses Using Postgres

**Use Cases:**

- Database Permission Management for Database Administrators
- Employee Onboarding for Human Resources Manager
- Expense Tracking for Team Managers
- Integration with Visualization Tools for Business Analysts
- Organizing and Structuring Raw Data for Data Analysts
- Providing Tools for Ad Hoc Analysis and Data Exploration for Non-Technical Users
- Facilitating Complex Query Execution on Unstructured Data
- Assisting Users in Understanding Data Structure to Formulate Valuable Queries

**Strategy:**

By understanding the context in which small businesses use Mathesar, we aim to enhance data access for both technical and non-technical users, while ensuring secure and efficient database management.

We recognize the challenges users might face in formulating valuable queries from unstructured data. Therefore, our goal is to aid users in understanding the data structure and developing effective query-building skills.

**Research Questions:**

- How are they currently using Mathesar?
- What challenges do they face with Mathesar?
- What additional functionalities would they find beneficial?
- Do they express interest in opening up access to non-technical employees?
- How are those non-technical employees currently using data?
- What challenges do they face related to accessing data?
- Who handles data-related problems in the organization?
- What other tools do they use along with Mathesar?
- What is their tech stack like? How does Mathesar fit into that?
- A lot of products in this segment are focused on making querying of the data easier, Mathesar offers additional functionality. How do we know if their needs go beyond just running queries?
- How do they manage unstructured or raw data, and what are the challenges associated with it?
- Do they find it necessary to have tools for structuring such data and performing complex queries on it?
- How do they maintain data integrity while handling raw or unstructured data?
- How can Mathesar assist users in understanding data structure to formulate valuable queries?
- What are the current gaps in terms of data access permissions, and how can these be addressed to better meet the needs of various user roles?
- How would they anticipate the system to scale as their data and user base grows?

**Links:**

- <https://trevor.io/>
- <https://chartbrew.com/>
- <https://www.dbvis.com/>
- <https://redash.io/>

### Niche: Individuals Using Mathesar for Personal Reasons

**Use Cases:**

- Setting up inventories for hobby projects like a Book Club for Book Club Organizers

**Strategy:**

Our strategy here is to delve into the projects of these individuals and understand what could be a game changer for them so that we can build a product that they would love to talk about and recommend to others.

**Research Questions:**

- What personal projects are they using a database for?
- What features would make these projects easier or more efficient?
- What other tools were they considering?
- What challenges do they face with these tools?
- Where do they go to learn about new tools?
- What is their experience level with databases?
- How much time are they willing to invest in learning a new tool?
- What are their expectations around data privacy and security?
- What kind of usability improvements can make Mathesar more accessible and easier to use for them?

### Niche: Individuals Using Mathesar for Professional Reasons

**Use Cases:**

- Geology Database
- Invoice Database for Freelancers
- Crypto Portfolio

**Strategy:**

Our strategy here is to delve into the projects of these individuals and understand what they need to make their projects more efficient. We aim to provide tools and features that not only aid in data handling and analysis, but also scale well as their professional needs grow.

**Research Questions:**

- What professional projects are they using a database for?
- What challenges do they face in managing their data?
- What kind of scalability do they anticipate for their projects?
- How can Mathesar cater to their growing needs?

### Niche: Businesses Using PostGIS

**Use Cases:**

- Digital Video Production for Video Producers
- Managing Assets Database for Business Administrators

**Strategy:**

Our approach with this segment is to enhance the potential of their location data handling. Even though Mathesar might not offer the full range of features that other tools do, we aim to create the best combination of necessary features and even enable data portability to other services if required.

**Research Questions:**

- What location data are they working with?
- How do they currently use PostGIS?
- What challenges do they face with PostGIS?
- What kind of improvements do they expect in a location data handling tool?
- Do they combine location data with other types of data? If so, how?
- How do they foresee their needs in terms of data size and complexity scaling over time?

### Niche: Businesses Moving from Spreadsheets to Databases

**Use Cases:**

- Bulk Import for Data Analysts
- Data Pipeline for Data Engineers
- Selective Data Sharing for Database Administrators

**Strategy:**

This segment presents a spectrum of needs depending on how they have been using spreadsheets. We aim to identify those needs, whether it's real-time sharing of actionable information or analyzing data to extract value, and ensure a seamless transition to Mathesar.

We will take into account concerns around data security, integrity, and privacy during this transition, as well as the potential need for training in the new system.

**Research Questions:**

- What are they currently using spreadsheets for?
- What challenges do they face with spreadsheets?
- What features do they most value in a database solution?
- What is their current data volume? How much do they anticipate it to grow?
- What are their expectations from a database solution in terms of scalability and reliability?
- How tech-savvy is the team expected to use the database solution?
- What data security and privacy concerns do they have during this transition?
- What support and training would they need to use Mathesar effectively?

**Links:**

- <https://www.producthunt.com/products/i-hate-my-spreadsheet>

## Next Steps

### Document more Use Cases

In order to have a representative sample of our target users, we need to find more use cases. The following categories are a good starting point to look for users:

- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Sales
- Project Management and Collaboration
- Communication and Collaboration
- Human Resources and Payroll
- Inventory and Supply Chain Management
- Point of Sale (POS) and Retail Management
- E-commerce Platforms
- Email Marketing and Marketing Automation
- Document and File Management
- Customer Support and Help Desk
- Social Media Management
- Analytics and Business Intelligence
- Website Content Management
- Data Protection

### Prepare Surveys to Validate Use Cases

Given that the majority of use cases we've collected originate from sources external to Mathesar, such as competitors and industry forums, it's crucial that we begin to engage our own user base. This includes individuals on Mathesar's mailing lists. The reason behind this approach is that we need to identify which niches are currently utilizing Mathesar and where we could potentially make a more significant impact within a specific niche.

With this information, we will be better equipped to make more informed decisions. Therefore, our strategy will involve the creation of a survey oriented towards specific niches, from which we aim to gather more details about users who believe their use cases fall within those categories.

Initially, our focus will be on the four niches outlined in this document. However, should we discover any additional niches during our research, we will also document and investigate them.

The ultimate goal of the survey is to understand the needs of these users, the other solutions they considered before choosing Mathesar, and what drove them to opt for our product. We want to decipher how we can utilize these insights to make Mathesar more appealing to each specific niche.