Erik's AI tool streamlines data analysis for businesses and researchers
QualAI, Erik’s AI-based research tool, provides researchers and businesses with a trustworthy and efficient method for interpreting data sets.
2
Co-founders
40 under 40
Award nomination
$0
Spent on ads
Erik highlights how his tool helps diverse users including individual researchers, organizations, and students. Customers can sign up using a custom signup button or the default floating Member Button, which also serves as content navigation upon logging in.
Highlights
A few takeaways from Erik’s success:
- Identifying and solving personal frustrations can often spark a profitable business idea. Others are likely experiencing the same pain points and seeking a reliable solution.
- Don't let the lack of a hefty marketing budget or external investors keep you from getting started. Monetizing your expertise can be done with limited resources!
- Failure is inevitable on the road to success. Embrace it as fuel for growth—each setback holds essential lessons that propel you forward.
Meet the co-founder
Interview
Erik shared his membership journey with us. Find out what he had to say in our Q&A.
Which digital product(s) do you sell?
AI-based research tool
What is the pain point you solve for your customers?
Manual data interpretations are inefficient, prone to researcher bias, and ultimately not trustworthy. By using QualAI, we’ve developed a research tool that provides a more reliable, efficient, and less biased interpretation of data sets.
What were you doing before your membership business?
Teaching and completing a doctoral dissertation
What challenges did you have in the early stages of your business? How did you solve those challenges?
Publicity — we didn’t have marketing capital so everything was word-of-mouth or referral based.
Startup capital — we are a small team and haven’t had a significant private equity investor, so we used our own money to build the tool.
Were there any keys to success, or big "a-ha!" moments that really elevated the growth of your business?
- Invitations to serve as an SME [subject matter expert] at AI and research conferences.
- Using my tool to successfully help peers and professional organizations interpret user feedback and data.
- Invitation to be featured in Technology Magazine.
- Nominated for Cincinnati 40 under 40 awards.
- Published article on our business in Experience Magazine.
Did you have a social media following or large email list before you started your membership?
No.
How do you market your membership and find new members?
Do you spend any money on paid advertisements?
No.
Have you done anything to focus on retention and reduce canceled members?
What are some of your favorite online tools for running your business?
Fiverr, LinkedIn, Canvas, WordPress, AI tools
Do you have a team helping with your membership business?
Nope, just me!
What's your source of inspiration?
While completing my doctoral dissertation, I was unimpressed with all of the data analysis tools in the market space. I thought I could do it better. I trained and became certified as an AI prompt engineer and built QualAI in response to wanting to improve qualitative data analyses for researchers and businesses.
If you could give your younger self any advice, what would it be?
Failure is inevitable. Everyone fails. It’s those who pick themselves up and try again who are successful.
What's next for your business?
Mobile app, marketing plan, TM [trademark], improved UI/UX