I wasted a full day building a WhatsApp waitlist system… before realizing I could replace it in 10 minutes.
Here’s what happened. I’m building an app called Order Hand. It helps people who sell on WhatsApp track their sales—because right now, a lot of them are stuck using spreadsheets. My wife does this. It’s painful.
So I built a landing page with a button to join the waitlist. Normally I’d use email for the waitlist. But, my app’s users are on WhatsApp, so I thought “why not make the waitlist on WhatsApp?” Makes sense, right?
Here’s where things started going wrong. My WhatsApp number is tied to WhatsApp’s cloud API. So I can’t use it with any of the WhatsApp newsletter services that I found. Heck, it’s so locked to the API that I can’t even use it with the official WhatsApp app.
No problem, I thought. I’m a software engineer; a builder. I can whip up my own WhatsApp newsletter system. I can collect numbers now, and figure out how to send them messages later. Makes sense, right?
Wrong! I spent a day building a basic WhatsApp newsletter system, before Meta’s annoying messaging restrictions made me rethink what I was doing.
That’s when it hit me: WhatsApp channels make a pretty decent waitlist/newsletter. Sure, I still can’t use it with the WhatsApp number that’s locked to the cloud API. But, I’ve got a second number, I can use that.
The signup form complete with OTP verification that I built collapses to a simple link. WhatsApp sellers click the link, and get sent straight to the Order Hand waitlist channel, and can subscribe there.
Problem solved! Now I can focus on writing the actual app code.
I wish I’d realized my mistake earlier. Then I’d be a day further ahead. Sometimes, we get so fixated on one solution that we don’t see the better simpler one that’s just off to the side. I was too eager to build stuff.
Sometimes the best solution isn’t the one you build — it’s the one you almost overlooked.
Anyway, it’s still saved me a few days. And now I can focus on writing the actual app code. Actually, I had better do some marketing too, starting with replacing this placeholder image on the landing page, with an actual product screenshot.
I’d better get to work. See you next time.