6 months ago, we announced a Cyprus startup called KuiQ (link: kuiq.site). 2 months ago, we gave an update. Here’s another one.

Remember KuiQ? Probably not. Nobody asked for another update, but here it is.

KuiQ is a small startup we’re building to make it easier to find and contact local professionals in Cyprus without digging through Facebook groups or relying entirely on word of mouth.

Since our last post, we’ve had over 1,000 users visit the website. We’re seeing more clicks to call professionals, fewer people leaving immediately, and longer sessions — sometimes 2–3 minutes among users in Cyprus.

We’re also starting to see some organic traffic on both the website and social media. It’s still small, but encouraging.

We now have 50+ registered users, around 40 active. We’ve been testing Meta Ads, fixing bugs, and improving the platform. We’ve also improved the professional profile cards to make browsing and comparing professionals easier.

Some ads performed well; others basically burned money.

Analytics has become one of our biggest challenges.

We deliberately let clients browse professionals and contact them directly without creating an account. We want to keep it that way.

The trade-off is that it’s harder to know what happens after someone clicks to call. Did they actually speak to the professional? Did they hire them? We can track some actions, but not the whole journey.

Another issue we’ve noticed is profile photos. Many professionals don’t have a profile picture, which can make profiles feel less personal and potentially less trustworthy. We’re still figuring out how to encourage professionals to add photos without making onboarding more complicated.

So, how does KuiQ work?

• Clients: Browse professionals and contact them directly for free, without an account.
• Specific requests: Clients pay €3 to submit a request. An account is required, and only professionals can see the request. It stays visible for 5 days so relevant professionals can contact the client.
• Professionals: Pay €7 for 30 days of visibility. If they don’t pay, they don’t appear on the platform. There’s no automatic renewal — we want to avoid unexpected recurring charges, something we’ve experienced ourselves.

We initially offered free lifetime access to early professionals, but those offers have now ended.

We’re still trying to prove the business model and figure out how to grow both sides of the marketplace without spending endlessly on ads.

I’d genuinely appreciate some advice, especially from people living in Cyprus:

• How would you market KuiQ locally without burning money on ads?
• How would you convince professionals to pay for visibility instead of relying on Facebook groups or word of mouth?
• How would you encourage professionals to add profile photos?
• Does the pricing and business model make sense?
• Would you pay €3 to submit a request and have relevant professionals contact you?

We’re building this from scratch, learning as we go, and have no idea yet where it’ll lead. Honest criticism and practical suggestions are very welcome.

Website: https://kuiq.site

PS: Here is the previous update we posted here.