Solo Developer Launching a Booking Marketplace App: How Do I Market It Without a Budget? Help Needed! 🚀

Hi everyone! 👋

I’m a solo Flutter developer, and I’ve been working on a passion project for the past year: a marketplace app for online bookings. The idea is simple:

• For businesses: They get tools to manage their schedules, appointments, and operations all in one place.
• For users: They can explore a variety of businesses, choose what they need, and book appointments with ease.

The app is set to launch in about a month (exciting, but also nerve-wracking! 😅). As I’ve been preparing for the launch, I came across the classic chicken-and-egg problem that plagues marketplaces. After some thought, I’ve decided to focus on getting businesses onboard first to establish supply before trying to attract users.

Here’s my biggest obstacle: I don’t have a budget for marketing right now. 💸

I’m looking for advice from anyone who’s been in a similar position or has ideas about growing a marketplace app. Specifically:

• Have you ever marketed a product or app like this?
• What methods worked best for you when starting out?
• How did you get your first businesses (or users) to join?
• Do you have any tips for growth when you’re starting with limited resources?

I’d also love to hear about your experiences—when did you see things start to take off, and what made the biggest impact for you?

Any ideas, stories, or advice would mean the world to me. Thanks in advance for helping out a fellow dev trying to make things happen! 🙏