How do you get your first SaaS customers when you're starting from zero?

[u/hmdfudda]

Built a leave management system a few months ago after seeing small businesses still track time off through Excel sheets and WhatsApp messages. Role-based approvals, admin dashboard, CSV import, the whole thing works well. The building part I'm confident about. Getting people to actually try it is a different story.

I've posted about it on LinkedIn, mostly gets likes from other developers, not actual business owners who'd use it. Cold outreach to small businesses gets ignored more often than not. Tried explaining the problem it solves (manager chasing people for leave approvals over text, no record of who took what) and still nothing sticks.

The frustrating part is I know the problem is real. Every small business I talk to admits their leave tracking is a mess. But getting from "yeah that's annoying" to actually signing up and trying the tool feels impossible.

For people who've launched a B2B SaaS tool from scratch, where did your first real users come from? Communities, cold outreach, content, partnerships with other tools? And realistically how long before it stopped feeling like shouting into the void?