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$1000 in total revenue (2.5 years to $1 // 2.5 months to $1k)

Last week, my ecommerce store, Maker Threads, hit $1000 in total revenue.

It took me 2.5 years to generate my first $1 online (I recently wrote about it here), then just 2.5 months to hit $1000.

Compared to some indie hackers, this number is minuscule, but I'm proud to say that I've finally achieved this milestone.

Throughout every failure along the way - which there were many - I almost started believing that I just wasn't cut out for this.

Despite a pandemic destroying my last product, then having to start again from scratch, I've showed up every day and worked hard to reach this milestone.

My biggest takeaway from this experience has been around the process of idea generation.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, there's nothing innovative about my product. I literally sell shirts to makers and founders.

Despite what I'd always believed, this lack of innovation has been the key factor to my progress.

The concept of buying a shirt is nothing new. People are accustomed to exchanging money for clothing all the time.

By building off this validated concept, it helped me streamline the entire process of finding product/market fit.

If you're new to indie hacking and you're looking to get a run on the board, remember to start as simple as you possibly can.

This might not be the product that helps me reach my bootstrapping dreams, but it's taught me so many valuable lessons along the way that I can apply moving forward.

  1. 2

    Great work Lachlan. Respect for going for simplicity. It's so tempting to dream up a new cool app. The reality is it's a much better bet to go with a business model people understand.

    1. 1

      Always appreciate it mate!

      Absolutely, having access to so many incredible tools has always slowed down my validation process.

      Slowly learning with every attempt.

  2. 2

    Cool! What are you doing to acquire your customers?

    1. 1

      There's been a few key strategies so far.

      1. I've spent the past few years building a small audience on Twitter. This definitely helped get my first few customers.

      2. Forming collaborations has also been effective. A few weeks ago I launched a collection of tees in partnership with Makerlog. This was a great way to leverage their community, as well as give back to the founders.

      3. Product Hunt. Whenever I launch a new collection of tees, I'll create a small Product Hunt launch. My expectations are always low for these, but they'll usually help drive 1 or 2 sales.

      Hope this helps!

  3. 2

    Congratualtions ...it's a celebration...

    1. 1

      Thanks! Never thought I'd reach this milestone, but excited to work towards the next goal.

  4. 2

    Congratulations on reaching this milestone!

    1. 1

      Thanks! Very excited to see where I can take the product.

    1. 1

      Appreciate it mate 🙏

  5. 2

    Congratulations! This is so inspiring on so many levels. Staying persistent makes a huge difference.

    1. 1

      Thanks Wyeem! Still just at the beginning of the journey too.

  6. 2

    Way to go buddy! Some grow faster, some grow slow, some grow tall and others short. Regardless, perseverance is what maximises growth for all.

    1. 1

      Cheers! Looking forward to seeing where I can grow this in the long-term.

  7. 2

    Congratulations Lachlan! Keep going. Great work.

    1. 1

      Thanks mate, always appreciate it!

  8. 1

    Your product is a slow growth product so it is a good idea to shut it down and focus on something that has a higher rate of return.

  9. 1

    Congratulations! great achievement :)

  10. 1

    Is it a Print on demand business with services like Printful or Printify ? :)

    1. 1

      Yeah, I've been using Printfuls integration with Shopify. Would definitely recommend if you were interested in building something similar.

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