What is your opinion on revealing that your product (SaaS, etc) is actually developed/maintained by a solo developer?
What is your opinion on revealing that your product (SaaS, etc) is actually developed/maintained by a solo developer?
Do you think it would turn potential clients away (e.g., thinking your product is potentially nothing more than a hobby) or perhaps attract clients (e.g., they imagine they would get a more personable service)?
Perhaps mention nothing at all in hopes that one day 'I' becomes 'We' and 'My' becomes 'Our'.
I would go with 'we', deep inside I feel I would have 'suspicious' about quality (surely biased! to 'more people, more established' ).
If your product is targeted at devs/indiehackers they will be more understanding. For other niches, I probably wouldn't reveal it.
My customers are as far away as you can get from devs/indiehackers and I always tell them if they ask.
I wouldn't recommend starting a business relationship based on a lie.
I'm not suggesting that anyone lie, but no-one needs to broadcast the fact they are running solo.
There are definitely industries/products where being a solo founder won't be viewed as a positive.
Ah, gotcha.
The way you said it, I thought you meant you wouldn't reveal it to them if they asked. 👍
I have been selling a saas as a solo for 4+ years and don't hide the fact that I am solo.
I felt insecure at first for sure, but now it feels more like an advantage.
Some customers aren't going to be comfortable that you are solo, and that's fine. Would lying to them about being larger be better for them? No.
Some of their concerns can be mitigated with some planning on your part.
The biggest concern of my company size is will I stay in business?
If you are honest and transparent with both your advantages and disadvantages, I think it helps build trust.
People like helping an underdog, too.
My view - if someone asks, be honest, but don't go out of your way to raise it.
It's probably not going to be relevant outside of certain direct enterprise sales, and it probably wouldn't even occur to other customers to ask.
I'm building enterprise level b2b software, and I'm fully transparent and embrace that I'm currently a one-person show. Be honest. Be transparent. Be forthcoming with your intentions. Put it all out there. That's the approach I took, and I've head clients reach out specifically due to my manifesto.
https://sport-keeper.com/manifesto
I usually use "we" in the official resources like in the release notes, but in the conversation or on a forum like IH I'm okay to reveal my solopreneurship.
Even for solo developers, it is ever really just "I"?
If you can answer affirmatively to any of those, then I think that 'we' is more than appropriate.
Not sure how much this matters, although in saying that; I realise now that my copy is littered with 'We' as opposed to 'I'. Even for instance, the contact for my SaaS is simply my shane@survais.com
I've never really thought about it but perhaps some people would assume a single dev wouldn't be as reliable as an actual team.
Perhaps this is overthinking though and it really is a non-issue in the grand scheme of things.
No, it's not. I actually test it, and "We" get more leads from new visitors, while "I" get more from people you know or you have talked to before (like they were on the line of buying a product etc.)
Thanks, this is an excellent insight. I am (or should I say: we are) struggling with the same thing as the OP, and as I'm looking for new visitors, I'll confidently go for "we".
I advise this - go for "We" but have a spare version of "I" ready. Then once every month or so change your copy to "I" and get back to all leads that did not convert and try to push them to your site. After 2 days change to "we" again. You can use this to increase the leads when you are struggling and every lead counts.
Well I applaud your for your efforts. Interesting indeed!