07 Jun 2025
SaaS

An entity resource planning solution for small farmers that integrates ...

...with IOT devices

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.


Your are here

You're entering a crowded space in the "Swamp" category, meaning several similar solutions already exist, but haven't exactly taken off. We found 6 similar products, so confidence in this assessment is high, but so is the potential competition. The average number of comments on these similar products is low, indicating low engagement. There's no clear positive "use" or "buy" signal from similar products, suggesting that while the idea is out there, it hasn't captured significant user interest or willingness to pay. This doesn't mean your idea is inherently bad, but it suggests that the existing approaches may be flawed or the market is harder to crack than it appears. Be realistic about the uphill battle you face.

Recommendations

  1. Thoroughly investigate why existing entity resource planning solutions for small farmers have not achieved widespread adoption or user satisfaction. Are they too complex? Too expensive? Not solving a critical pain point? Understand the failures before investing time and resources into a new solution. Talk to farmers who've tried these other tools.
  2. Rather than building yet another standalone solution, consider developing add-ons or integrations for existing farm management platforms. This allows you to tap into an established user base and address specific gaps in their current workflows. This approach could mitigate a lot of up-front risk, and let you test the waters for a smaller price.
  3. Given the low engagement with existing solutions, consider pivoting to address a more pressing or underserved need within the agricultural sector. Could you focus on a specific niche, like organic farming, or a specific crop type? Or address an adjacent problem, like distribution and logistics, that might be more tractable?
  4. Instead of immediately focusing on a full-fledged ERP system, start by offering a single, highly valuable service or tool that integrates with IoT devices. For instance, precision irrigation recommendations based on soil moisture sensors. Prove your value proposition before expanding into a comprehensive solution.
  5. Carefully consider your go-to-market strategy. With several existing solutions, acquiring customers will likely be challenging and expensive. Explore low-cost marketing channels, such as partnerships with agricultural extension services or participation in industry events.
  6. Before investing heavily, create a detailed business model that outlines your target market, revenue streams, cost structure, and competitive advantages. Conduct thorough market research to validate your assumptions and identify potential challenges.

Questions

  1. What unique value proposition can you offer that differentiates your solution from existing ERP systems and justifies its adoption by small farmers, given the low engagement with existing similar products?
  2. Given the 'Swamp' category classification and the lack of a strong 'use' or 'buy' signal, how will you de-risk the development and launch of your entity resource planning solution and validate its potential before committing significant resources?
  3. Considering the high number of similar products (n_matches = 6), what is your competitive advantage, and how will you effectively acquire customers in a crowded market while minimizing customer acquisition costs?

Your are here

You're entering a crowded space in the "Swamp" category, meaning several similar solutions already exist, but haven't exactly taken off. We found 6 similar products, so confidence in this assessment is high, but so is the potential competition. The average number of comments on these similar products is low, indicating low engagement. There's no clear positive "use" or "buy" signal from similar products, suggesting that while the idea is out there, it hasn't captured significant user interest or willingness to pay. This doesn't mean your idea is inherently bad, but it suggests that the existing approaches may be flawed or the market is harder to crack than it appears. Be realistic about the uphill battle you face.

Recommendations

  1. Thoroughly investigate why existing entity resource planning solutions for small farmers have not achieved widespread adoption or user satisfaction. Are they too complex? Too expensive? Not solving a critical pain point? Understand the failures before investing time and resources into a new solution. Talk to farmers who've tried these other tools.
  2. Rather than building yet another standalone solution, consider developing add-ons or integrations for existing farm management platforms. This allows you to tap into an established user base and address specific gaps in their current workflows. This approach could mitigate a lot of up-front risk, and let you test the waters for a smaller price.
  3. Given the low engagement with existing solutions, consider pivoting to address a more pressing or underserved need within the agricultural sector. Could you focus on a specific niche, like organic farming, or a specific crop type? Or address an adjacent problem, like distribution and logistics, that might be more tractable?
  4. Instead of immediately focusing on a full-fledged ERP system, start by offering a single, highly valuable service or tool that integrates with IoT devices. For instance, precision irrigation recommendations based on soil moisture sensors. Prove your value proposition before expanding into a comprehensive solution.
  5. Carefully consider your go-to-market strategy. With several existing solutions, acquiring customers will likely be challenging and expensive. Explore low-cost marketing channels, such as partnerships with agricultural extension services or participation in industry events.
  6. Before investing heavily, create a detailed business model that outlines your target market, revenue streams, cost structure, and competitive advantages. Conduct thorough market research to validate your assumptions and identify potential challenges.

Questions

  1. What unique value proposition can you offer that differentiates your solution from existing ERP systems and justifies its adoption by small farmers, given the low engagement with existing similar products?
  2. Given the 'Swamp' category classification and the lack of a strong 'use' or 'buy' signal, how will you de-risk the development and launch of your entity resource planning solution and validate its potential before committing significant resources?
  3. Considering the high number of similar products (n_matches = 6), what is your competitive advantage, and how will you effectively acquire customers in a crowded market while minimizing customer acquisition costs?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 6
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 0
  • Net use signal: 0.0%
    • Positive use signal: 0.0%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 0.0%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

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The all-in-one system designed to elevate your gardening game. You can efficiently manage every aspect of your garden, from calculating essential plant dates to keeping track of nutrient feeding schedules, to cultivate the perfect garden schedule.


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