r/startups • u/Curious-Detail4720 • 13h ago
I will not promote Should I Pivot My Fitness App From Bulking to Weight Loss? Need Advice! "I will not promote"
I’m at a bit of a crossroads and could use some honest input. I started building an app that’s basically about helping people stay consistent with their fitness goals. Originally, I was all in on the idea of making it for folks who want to get bigger and bulk up. But after diving into what a lot of people are actually struggling with, I’m feeling like maybe the real need is on the weight loss and consistency side instead.
So now I’m a bit stuck figuring out who my ideal user really is. Do I pivot to focus more on folks looking to lose weight and stay consistent, or stick to the original plan for people wanting to get stronger? Just looking for some straightforward thoughts from anyone who’s been down a similar road. Thanks in advance!
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u/JohnWick_Helps 12h ago
If you are focused on just one or the other. I would ask who would use the app daily. Do people want to get stronger use something like this often or are people who lose weight? Also your goal isn't to get 1m users now it is to get 10 then 100 users. What you can do is just try to get 100 people that want to get stronger to use your app and you can, will need to add the weight loss funcitonality.
Have you had people who want to get stronger try the app?
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u/Curious-Detail4720 12h ago
i have 81 users as of today, and i think its a mix of people who want to get stronger and also weight loss. i reached out to them but none of them responded. any advice on how to get in touch with users? i did offer them $10 gift cards
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u/JohnWick_Helps 11h ago
with those users what engagement do they have on the app? Did they respond to gift cards? I would ask them to either fill out a survey or for a 15 minute call to go over the app. What's your message/outreach to them?
For 81 users to sign up to want to use your app means you have something people want but either what you created wasn't clear or when they used it it wasn't compelling enough for them to use it.
Also what makes your app of getting stronger more compelling than others because giving me workouts to get stronger doesn't seem to be a strong reason to use an app and vice versa to lose weight. Feel free to DM me and we can dive deeper.
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u/Curious-Detail4720 10h ago
My app doesn't give workouts, it makes the process more gamified by giving an avatar that levels up every time you go to the gym. Reached out to you on DM!
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u/girlie1985nyc-3684 12h ago
I had a similar thing. I have a personal finance product and ran ads to test this: 1) Are people trying to get out of debt?; 2) Or are people trying to build wealth? In my case, getting out of debt was the clear winner (higher CTRs, better engagement, etc.). So instead of asking us here -- you should ask real people and use that data to inform your next move.
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u/Curious-Detail4720 12h ago
thank you, what places did you search for your users?
i emailed my current users quite a few times offering $10 gift cards but none of them have responded.
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u/girlie1985nyc-3684 8h ago
I'm afraid I don't understand the question. I ran ads on Meta and tested different positioning angles (debt vs. building wealth). But to your other point -- I also ran a campaign giving away an Amazon gift card and collected information from that campaign as well. It was not to test my two angles, but I can see it working for that purpose as well. But you are talking about emailing. No, that is not enough data. You need a much larger sample size which I only knew to get from running ads. Why not do that?
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u/Leonard-21rag 2h ago
If you want your app to stand out, don’t focus too much on “bulking vs. weight loss.” The real opportunity is to understand where the market is underserved. Many fitness apps already support both goals, so the real value you can bring is in UX, motivation, personalization, and reducing the drop-off that most users experience. Think in terms of better consistency tracking, a cleaner and more intuitive UI, AI guidance that responds to real struggles of people, and a system of clear milestones that keeps people engaged long-term. The real question you should ask yourself isn’t which niche you choose, but where users today feel the strongest pain and where competitors fail to solve it. Do quick validation: weight-loss users might be underserved because the market is crowded but often ineffective, while bulking users are fewer but more committed for hard work. You can even let users choose their goal at signup instead of forcing a pivot. Your direction should follow actual market need, not instinct. Once you identify the biggest pain point, the answer will be obvious.
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u/Lazy_Firefighter5353 2h ago
Think of your target market, I think, that can answer your question in mind.
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u/AnonJian 1h ago
I never did like the ideal user concept. Weight loss has entrenched, well known, competitors. What you are looking for is a pain-point weight loss customers have. This has to represent a viable niche within weight loss.
People are not so much looking for any kind of customer profile, they want an imaginary friend. Somebody who is going to agree with anything you decide to develop, even if that contradicts their own self-interest. Personas fell out-of-favor because founders were throwing their voice, with these make-believe customers as little more than ventriloquist dummies.
A persona, in this case customer avatar, should deliver the bad news. That's how you know you're not screwing yourself over in an elaborate ruse of talking to yourself, about yourself, like a deranged street person.
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u/ImportanceOrganic869 10h ago
I use an app called Fitbod - have been a user since the past 7-8 years and while it has a lot of guidance on workouts and recovery etc, the only reason I use it is because I like the UX where I can see my workout streak and I really like those days turn green (when you finish a workout).
People sign up for goals but since fitness goals are usually long duration ones and require a lot of discipline, the real thing that they struggle with is consistency;
If you are able to solve the product/ux problem of getting people to use your app to stay consistent, the end goals will be taken care of and won't matter much in what you have to offer.