How to Write a Unique Value Proposition (UVP) for Your Indie Project

You know that feeling when someone asks "So... what does your project actually do?" and you ramble for five minutes? Yeah, that's a UVP problem. Your Unique Value Proposition should be the thing that makes people go "oh, I get it" instead of politely nodding while secretly checking their phone.

Here's the thing—most indie projects fail not because they're bad, but because nobody understands why they should care. A solid UVP fixes that.

Step 1: Find the Real Pain

Forget the fluff. What genuine problem are you solving? And I mean the kind of problem that makes people curse under their breath at their computer.

Take freelancers tracking time. They're not just "managing projects"—they're losing money because they forgot to hit the timer again. That's real pain.

Before you build anything, validate your idea in 48 hours first. Trust me on this one.

Real example: "Freelancers lose 2+ hours per week trying to remember what they worked on."

Step 2: Promise Something Concrete

What exactly will your thing do? Skip the marketing speak and get specific.

Better: "Automatically logs your work time without you having to remember anything."

Step 3: What Makes You... You?

Every problem has seventeen solutions already. Why should someone pick yours? Maybe it's stupidly simple. Maybe it costs less. Maybe it actually works (revolutionary concept).

Example: "No setup, no training videos, no 47-step onboarding process. Just works."

Step 4: The Magic Formula

Here's a template that actually works: For [people] who [struggle with this thing], [your project] is the [category] that [does this specific thing] without [the usual nonsense].

Our take: "For indie hackers drowning in business advice, Indie10k is the AI coach that gives you one clear task per week—no overwhelming masterclasses or generic tips."

Step 5: Reality Check Time

Show your UVP to people. Real people, not your mom (sorry mom). If they squint and go "huh?", you're not done yet.

I've rewritten our UVP maybe fifteen times. It's never perfect the first go.

Quick Template (Because Templates Are Nice)

For [target audience] who [pain point], [project name] is a [category] that [promise] without [the annoying thing competitors do].

How We Did It

Here's our actual UVP after way too many rewrites:

Indie10k: "For indie developers who build cool stuff but suck at business, Indie10k is the AI coach that gives you one focused mission per week—no generic advice or overwhelming courses."

Could it be better? Probably. Does it work? We'll find out.

The Bottom Line

Look, writing a UVP isn't exactly fun. But it's the difference between "another random project" and "oh, that thing I actually need."

Once you nail it, everything else gets easier—your monetization strategy, your messaging, even avoiding the traps that kill most side projects. You'll be ready to start building profitable websites and working toward your first $1000 online.

And hey, if you want help staying focused while you figure this out, Indie10k breaks it down into bite-sized weekly missions. Because sometimes you need someone (even an AI) to tell you what to work on next. Once you've got your UVP sorted, learn how to build faster with vibe coding tools and scale your way to reaching $10K MRR.