# The first five prepayments > A module case: read the pre-sale answers against a rule set in advance, treat prepaid money as a promise, and decide whether to start building. - Course: [From Idea to Profitable Product: Building Without Investors](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product.md) - Module: Sell before you build - Lesson 12/30, ~33 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/the-first-five-prepayments ## Twelve answers **Alex Tutor:** Results day at GarageDesk. Oscar has counted the answers to his prepayment asks and wants your advice and mine. **Oscar:** End of January. Twelve shops asked. Five prepaid, four said “call us when it's ready”, three said no. **Sofia:** Five of twelve! That's a win. **Alex Tutor:** Check it against the rule you wrote before the first ask: at least three by the end of January. Five passes. The decision was made before anyone felt anything about it. **Nina:** Then I build, from 1 February. **Alex Tutor:** And Dennis paid first. GarageDesk has just reached its first money milestone. **Oscar:** Honestly, if only two had paid, I'd have found a way to call it a win too. **Alex Tutor:** Everyone would. That's why the number went on paper first. **Alex Tutor:** Let's test Oscar's honesty with a different result. > **Exercise:** Suppose only **2** of the 12 shops had prepaid and 4 had said “call us when it's ready”. **True or false:** the founders could still start building, because 2 + 4 = 6 interested shops is more than the 3 the rule asks for. > **Exercise:** In GarageDesk's pre-sale, three shops reserved three months at 1,800 UAH and two reserved a year at 6,000 UAH, all refundable if it isn't live by 1 April. How much prepaid cash does GarageDesk hold? ## Money you can't spend yet **Oscar:** Dennis and one other shop took the year. Greg and two others took three months. It's all in the account. **Alex Tutor:** Until 1 April it's a promise, not income. If you miss the date, every hryvnia goes back. ![Prepaid coins sit in a glass box with a padlock and a calendar page taped on top while the founder works at her laptop beside it.](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/inline/the-first-five-prepayments-illustration-2.webp) **Nina:** And in monthly terms, after launch? Three shops at 600, two at 500… **Alex Tutor:** Work it out, and compare it with the 2,000 you pay for tools. **Sofia:** What if a shop asks for its money back in March? **Alex Tutor:** Give it back, quickly and politely. The promise was the point of the offer. **Alex Tutor:** Picture the call in March. Which reply would you give Oscar? > **Exercise:** In mid-March, before launch, one of the shops that prepaid three months asks for its 1,800 UAH back. The pre-sale promised a full refund if GarageDesk isn't live by 1 April. Launch is on track. What should Oscar say? > **Exercise:** After launch, the three-month shops pay the equivalent of 600 UAH a month and the two yearly shops count as 6,000 / 12 each. What is GarageDesk’s monthly recurring revenue (MRR)? ## How Greg said yes **Oscar:** Greg hesitated for a week. Then Martha told him she'd type in the client list herself if that's what it takes. **Alex Tutor:** The user pushed the decision maker. That's the roles lesson working in real life. **Sofia:** And the four who said “call us when it's ready”? **Alex Tutor:** They said “not now”. Tell them the launch date, without pressure, and note who asks first. **Oscar:** One of the four has already called back to ask whether we could help move his notebook into the system. **Alex Tutor:** Note him. That's the first sign a “not now” may turn into a yes. > **Exercise:** Before its pre-sale, GarageDesk wrote a rule: build if at least 3 of 12 shops prepay by the end of January. By then 5 had prepaid (3 for three months at 1,800 UAH, 2 for a year at 6,000), 4 said “call us when it’s ready” and 3 said no. Prepayments are refundable until 1 April, and Nina's living-costs milestone is 50 shops at 600 UAH. Which statements are true at the end of January? Select all that apply. ## The three no's **Oscar:** Two said their regulars come back anyway: small places where everyone knows the owner. One won't put car owners' phone numbers into any online system. **Alex Tutor:** The first two may simply not be your audience. The third is a worry you'll hear again. Write it down as a risk to answer, not as a lost cause. **Nina:** So before launch we need a clear line about whose data it is and who can see it. **Alex Tutor:** Yes. Shops will ask, and “we'll figure it out” is not an answer. **Sofia:** Should they worry that the two “regulars come back anyway” shops are right? **Alex Tutor:** Only if bigger shops start saying it too. From two tiny places, it's a note about who the audience is. > **Exercise:** Match each answer from the pre-sale with what Nina and Oscar should do about it. ## The first customers **Alex Tutor:** These five are your **early adopters**. They paid for what GarageDesk will become. They'll forgive rough edges, but not silence. **Alex Tutor:** Launch is five weeks away. What do those five shops need most until then? > **Exercise:** Five repair shops prepaid for GarageDesk's service reminders, which launch on 3 March with a full refund if not live by 1 April. What do these early adopters need most in the five weeks before launch? ![Five repair-shop owners in overalls stand smiling at the start of a rough, half-paved road while workers are still laying it ahead.](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/inline/the-first-five-prepayments-illustration-3.webp) *Early adopters forgive rough edges as long as they see quick progress.* **Nina:** What do I tell them now? Launch is five weeks away. **Sofia:** Can I write the message? **Alex Tutor:** Please. Thanks, the date, what you need from them, and the refund promise. **Oscar:** Dennis has already asked when he can hand over his niece's notebook. > **Exercise:** GarageDesk launches on 3 March; prepayments are fully refundable if it isn't live by 1 April, and to set up reminders it needs each shop's client list with service dates. Write a short message (4–5 sentences) from Nina to the five shops that prepaid. Include thanks, the launch date, what GarageDesk needs from them before launch, and the refund promise. ## The whole module in one case **Sofia:** Can I try the module on another pre-sale? **Alex Tutor:** Yes. ClinicSlot, Hannah and Leo from module 1, ran their own pre-sale. Their result is less clear than yours. **Oscar:** Less clear how? **Alex Tutor:** Read it and decide with their own rule. Price, prepayment, the cash and what to do next. > **Exercise:** Decide what Hannah and Leo should do after their pre-sale. > **Key ideas** > > - Read pre-sale results against the rule written before the first ask. GarageDesk: 5 of 12 prepaid, the rule needed 3 → build from 1 February. > - Cash: 3 × 1,800 + 2 × 6,000 = 17,400 UAH, refundable until 1 April, so it's a promise, not income. > - Monthly revenue after launch: 3 × 600 + 2 × 500 = 2,800 UAH, above the 2,000 of tools. The first payment is in; the tools rung follows at launch. > - “Call us when it's ready” means “not now”: share the date, don't push. > - Record every no with its reason: some shops aren't your audience; some objections (data privacy) are risks to answer before launch. > - The prepaid shops are early adopters: keep them informed and involved. **Alex Tutor:** Next module: the smallest thing that works, live on 3 March for five shops. - Previous lesson: [A yearly plan from day one](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/a-yearly-plan-from-day-one.md) - Next lesson: [Problem-solution fit: a solution is not a product](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/a-solution-is-not-a-product.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.