Aspire 2: CMS | Beta Launch - Website Management Simplified

Link: Aspire 2: CMS

If I had learned one thing from hanging around at the pub is that the older generation of Tradies are not technically minded at all. Even to the point where they hand their phones over to the bartender to put through a certain app-based deal for them. I saw an opportunity in this where my knowledge and skills collided with a clear problem that these tradies were running into.

The Problem - Being Left Behind

The world is changing so rapidly that those with solidified habits, businesses, and / or views on the world are being left behind. Demographically this is the older generation who are still operating their own SME businesses, which rely upon old-fashioned word-of-mouth (WoM) marketing, diary-based books for job-tracking. The technological platforms that they do use are either handled by other people (like their partner) or hyper-accessible simplified platforms designed to lower the learning curve to managing their business.

In addition to this, Trade workers spend all day on the field, not in an office. So they’re technological experience for managing businesses typically is turning on the TV while they go through their books with their missus. While this gap is slowly improving as these old-heads catch up to the current technological age, there’s still an apparent large gap in simplified platforms that allow old-heads to stick to what they know and minimise what they need to learn.

My Solution - Aspire 2: CMS

One of the key gaps these old-heads are missing is their marketing strategies. WoM doesn’t need to be replaced, but it can be supported. A large majority of the tradesman I talked to (or could talk to, not much clear conversation goes on at the pub) still strongly rely on existing customers and spreading their business via WoM. Only doing advertising when business is slow, and in Brisbane, business isn’t slow.

So if these tradesmen don’t need additional marketing, what does a Landing Page get them? A professional appearance, access to an online market, and the ability to connect with new customers where they are instead of solely relying on their customers.

Aspire 2: CMS while it helps generate leads yes, it is more about simplifying the transition these old-heads are already making into the digital era. Allowing their existing WoM customers to connect with and book in existing jobs without waiting on a response back to a message or hoping that the tradie will pick up this time. Instead, they can still book in for a ridiculously cheap price.

So Is Aspire 2: CMS Product-Market-Fit? - and What That Even Means

Product-Market-Fit is pretty self-explanatory (like most words tend to be, lol). It’s where the Product or Service is able to meet the demand / resolve the problem so well that it starts to naturally penetrate the existing customer base. It also lowers the amount of marketing required for growth, potentially even to none-at-all.

So is Aspire 2: CMS (as of the [12th of June 2026]) Product-Market-Fit?

The Short Answer

No

The Long Answer

No, and it’s because I missed on critical User Testing. While my UI may look fine for now. It’s overly simplistic, reducing the amount of information reaching the customer. Considering that my chosen / target customers are poor with technology, simple isn’t always best. Hyper-accessibility doesn’t mean as few steps as possible, it means that absolutely any human can pickup a phone with my website and figure out how to manage each and every individual action. Sadly I’m not there… …yet.

Going Forward - What’s Next?

No application can ever truly be perfect, the true goal is perfect… enough and Aspire 2: CMS is a decent way there, it’s just missing a few things.

1. Improving the UX

While the features are functional, the app needs to now focus on how these features are communicated and interacted with. Like for example, it currently just lists the different blocks within a page and exposes the editing options. The text doesn’t differentiate what each block is to the user clearly.

This is also clearly seen across the admin application in the services list, the pages list, and the enquiries / leads don’t fair much better. Clarifying the Admin UI for the paying users will be the first focus of the post beta-launch upgrades.

2. Improving the Modules | Differentiating Brands

Aspire 2: CMS is aimed at easing Landing Pages for tradespeople but each Landing Page shouldn’t look the same. Currently there are 12 different modules available per page (gated based on the subscription level) that have minimal branding opportunities due to the hyper-accessibility focus I had with the product.

Currently, I’m scoping out branding opportunities within the existing modules I have instead of building out more. Once I’ve clarified the UI/UX for users, building out these opportunities will be paramount as the next phase in improving the UX and product.

How to Connect with the Market - Old-Head Style

As of [13th June 2026], I have an absolutely, insane, absurd total of 0 users. So how am I onboarding my customers to my platform? I’m doing it the traditional way. Currently, I’m notifying small Trade SME’s that I’ve previously interacted with about the new business, and going forward here’s the game plan:

• Business Cards - (Slowly) designing business cards
• Cold Calling local Facebook Businesses - As much as I hate Meta Messenger, many many local trade businesses rely on Facebook as their online interface
• Pub Chats - Getting back on the drinks wasn’t on my game plan in 2026 but having a drink and a chat directly with the local tradesmen.

Hopefully once I have a few customers, WoM and Product-Market-Fit will take over business expansion as the product improves.

Conclusion?

This is very much an ongoing project and this document will be updated to reflect these ongoing changes.