A 50-person accounting firm loses internet connectivity at 2 PM during tax season. The office manager calls their IT guy (who's part-time). He drives over, checks the router, checks the switches, checks the firewall. An hour later, he finds the problem: a switch in the server closet failed silently 45 minutes ago. The firm lost 2 hours of productivity across 50 people — 100 person-hours — because nobody knew the switch was dying until everything stopped working.
Small and medium businesses have networks, but they don't monitor them. Enterprise companies use Datadog ($15+/host/month), PRTG ($1,899+ perpetual license), or Zabbix (free but requires infrastructure expertise). These tools are built for IT teams with networking knowledge. The 50-person accounting firm doesn't have an IT team — they have a 'tech-savvy partner' or a part-time consultant. They need to know when something is wrong, not detailed packet analysis.
Domotz ($21-199/mo) is close but still feels like an IT tool. The opportunity is a 'set and forget' network health monitor at $29-49/mo for SMBs without IT staff: auto-discover all devices on the network, monitor uptime and health, alert the designated contact (office manager, owner) when something fails, and provide simple status ('network healthy' vs 'printer offline'). Not deep network analytics — just 'is everything working?' Think 'check engine light for your office network.' Target offices with 10-100 employees, no IT department, and a network they don't understand.
💰 Revenue Blueprint
Three-tier value ladder to monetize from day one
Up to 25 devices, uptime monitoring, email alerts, simple dashboard
100 devices, SMS alerts, monthly health reports, bandwidth monitoring
Unlimited devices, multiple locations, advanced alerting, API, priority support
📊 Market Evidence
The Market Gap
PRTG/Zabbix require IT expertise. Datadog is cloud-focused and expensive. No simple $29-49/mo 'check engine light' for SMB office networks with auto-discovery and plain-English alerts.
🏆 Competitor Landscape
How existing players stack up in this market
| Competitor | Pricing | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| PRTG | Free (100 sensors) / $1,899+ perpetual | Network monitoring, Windows-based |
| Datadog | $15+/host/mo | Cloud monitoring, infrastructure |
| Zabbix | Free (open source) | Enterprise monitoring, self-hosted |
| Auvik | Contact sales (~$2-5/device) | Cloud-based network monitoring for MSPs |
| Domotz | $21-199/mo | Network monitoring and management |
Network monitoring, Windows-based
Cloud monitoring, infrastructure
Enterprise monitoring, self-hosted
Cloud-based network monitoring for MSPs
Network monitoring and management
🛠️ Recommended Tech Stack
Suggested tools and technologies to build this idea
Score Breakdown
Good market signals with room for growth
Market (20%) + Revenue (20%) + Trend (15%) + Competition (15%) + Build (15%) + Pricing (15%)
🚀 Start Building
Copy a prompt into your favorite AI coding tool and start building this idea right now.
Build a SaaS product called "SME Network Health Monitor". ## Product Overview Simple network monitoring for businesses without IT staff ## Problem Simple network monitoring for businesses without IT staff ## Solution Build SME Network Health Monitor ## Target Audience indie hackers, small businesses, and solopreneurs ## Tech Stack - Next.js 15 (App Router) with TypeScript - Tailwind CSS v4 for styling - Supabase for auth, database, and storage - Vercel for deployment - shadcn/ui for UI components - Framer Motion for animations ## MVP Features to Build 1. Landing page with clear value proposition 2. User authentication (sign up, sign in, forgot password) 3. Core product functionality based on the solution above 4. Dashboard for users to manage their data 5. Pricing page with at least 2 tiers (free + paid) 6. Basic settings/profile page ## Known Competitors PRTG, Datadog, Zabbix, Auvik, Domotz ## Key Risks to Address Standard market entry risks ## Deployment 1. Set up Supabase project and configure environment variables 2. Deploy to Vercel with `npx vercel --prod` 3. Set up custom domain 4. Configure Supabase RLS policies for security ## Instructions Start by creating the project structure, then build the landing page first. Use server components where possible. Make it mobile-responsive from the start. Focus on getting the core value loop working before adding polish.