Built an AI chatbot for small businesses. 200 cold emails, 0 customers. Here's what I'm learning.

Hey everyone. Wanted to share an honest update — mostly the ugly parts.

I built AskFred — an AI customer support chatbot for small businesses (salons, plumbers, gyms, dentists). The idea is simple: embed a widget, add your FAQs, and it answers customer questions 24/7 in 30+ languages.

The product works. Stripe integration, live chat, analytics dashboard, multi-language, the whole thing. Technically it's solid.

The problem? Nobody's using it.

So far I've:

• Sent 200+ cold emails to home service businesses across Europe and the US
• Posted on Reddit in relevant communities
• Set up Google Ads (€8/day, minimal traffic)
• Got 66 signups — all test accounts, friends, or e2e tests. Zero real customers.

What I'm realizing:

1. Small business owners don't browse Product Hunt or Twitter. They're on the floor with clients, not looking for SaaS tools.
2. Cold email open rates might be fine, but conversion is zero. The leap from "some guy emailed me" to "let me sign up for this tool" is massive. No trust, no social proof.
3. The product is ready but the distribution isn't. I focused entirely on building and zero on finding the first 5 customers before scaling.

What I'm trying next:

• Partnering with web design agencies who build sites for small businesses (they embed AskFred, get a rev share)
• Facebook groups where small business owners actually hang out
• Walking into local businesses and setting it up for free in exchange for a testimonial

The tech stack for anyone curious:
React + Vite + Tailwind | Node.js + Express + Prisma | PostgreSQL on Railway | Claude Haiku for the chatbot | Stripe for billing

Happy to answer any questions or take feedback. Especially from anyone who's cracked the SMB distribution problem — that's the real battle here.

Site: askfred.app