The days when you just want to sell...
Are there days with other solofounders that drain the energy right out of you trying to run everything. From marketing to developing to planning the future. Today was one of those days... It made me really want to sell BotList.
Let me back up a bit. BotList didn’t start out as a solo project. It started with 3 people at the helm and over the years it dissolved to just me running it. I’ve put my own time, energy, and money into BotList and it’s grown to the #1 place to discover bots.
BotList actually provides more traffic to bot pages than Facebook. True story. Our community members reported that a majority of bot traffic comes from this solo-run company.
So, why would I want to sell it? Well, as some of you know, being a solo founder is extremely difficult when the company doesn’t provide enough recurring revenue to pay all of the bills.
It’s exhausting! I know by talking about this emotional weakness jeopardizes the stability of the company, but I think it’s important for founders to discuss how to overcome these emotions.
Does anyone else get this way? Maybe a founders virtual lunch / IH mastermind would help. 🤔
100% Seth.
The journey of the solo founder is a very lonely one. I always compare it to a rollercoaster because of the constant ups and downs. The ups are amazing but the downs are sometimes devastating.
Unlike a 9-5 where you have that safety blanket, when you work for yourself you're on your own. Each day brings fresh challenges (which I love) no day is the same - new issues, problems, hurdles etc. It forces you to think outside the box and like yourself, I have to wear many hats but this builds your character and also makes you a better business person.
I embrace the failures because each failure comes new learnings.
Life is about growth and nothing makes you grow quicker than going out on your own.
Stay strong brother.
I think it's important for founders to open up about the lows. So many people talk just about the successes that they've had. This was my moment to do so. :)
I feel 1000x better after hearing from the IH community. Thanks for the support.
Seth, I salute you for your openness and honesty. What you're experiencing is part of the journey. It's how you crawl out of the hole that matters.
I've been in the hole many times. Being somewhat of an underdog within our space (no VC or Slack partnership). At times I've wondered if we would be able to keep the HeyTaco! dream alive.
We decided early on that we didn't want to ride the VC wave and wanted to build a company on our own terms. This time last year we barely had enough money coming in to pay a modest salary. Today we have a profitable business and are looking to make our first hire.
What I believe has helped keep the dream alive has been our fierce focus on developing personal relationships. We operate with a mission to help people, no matter if it means pointing them to a competitor.
My advice when you're out of the hole is to reach out to the people you've crossed paths with. Discover how BotList impacts their life. Learn what more you can do to help them.
Helping is the new selling 😉
I love what Hey Taco is doing and your backstory.
Ever since we've started on this path with BotList, our mission has been to help bots and bot makers with everything. So, I totally agree that helping is the new selling. :)
Hiya Seth - Dude, I can feel the exasperation through your words. If it's any consolation I assure you that you aren't alone. I've felt like this several times.
My thoughts
If you do then the pain will be worth the effort. If not, then the feeling and stress won't go away and maybe the best option is to sell. I spent 7 years building a business I wasn't passionate about. I did well, but in the end selling it was the best thing I did.
If the answer to #1 is yes, then you gotta pay the bills. I have a bunch of projects I don't care about that much, but they make money! It's hard to be creative with fiscal responsibilities hanging over your head. If this is your sole income then maybe use your skillset to build something simple that will generate income for you. Affiliate site/lead generation/ebook on creating a community for example.
I'm as guilty as the next person of negative self talk. That's how I spot it ;) . Being vulnerable is not a weakness. It's a strength! View it as such!
Amen!!!!!
I know those days... Sometimes can be weeks too. In the end I found it good to detach my personal happyness / self-perception from the product and business. Then on bad days you can mentally just "leave work" for a few hours. And also ignore the looming fact that nothing gets done meanwhile...
But yes, having somebody to discuss or even just to vent helps a lot! Regular masterminds would be overkill for this in my point of view - but feel free to reach out next time ;-)
Do you work from home? I need a better setup to detach my personal self from work while working from home.
Thanks for the support. :)
Yes i'm working from home 99% of the time. Thankfully from a seperate room.
This helps. But I think its also about the mental decision to stop and do something else instead - at least at some days of the weeks.
I definitely need to learn when to take a mental break.
Dude, your site is awesome. I think you can't have a better product for what you are trying to sell.
Now if it ain't working, it probably is because the market is narrow. You don't sell MORE, because no one wants to buy MORE. You can't really push people to buy things they don't want to. Marketing is all about finding the people that already wanna buy your product, and than "kaboom" you sell. It isn't anything else.
So if you wonder if you should do more marketing, i don't think thats a solution for you. Either you should wait the Bot dev market to grow, and your business will definitely grow with it if you stay in the game. Or just sell and get in a business that is more hyped/has a larger market.
Because again, your product is awesome.
Very well said and thank you for the compliments. I do feel that we are a bit all over the place at times, but we have a solid foundation. Just need to fine tune the machine a bit.
Running a community and figuring out the value for your users is super hard. I bet @csallen has some thoughts on that.
I really appreciate the support. :D
very good said