I just came across this comment by @csallen and thought it needed to be shared more widely...
I just came across this comment by @csallen and thought it needed to be shared more widely...
A lot of IHers seem to be suffering from the same problem.
Raise your expectations. Aim higher. Charge more. #fyi
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I think this comment is 100% accurate for most IHers. If I were willing to drop my current project, focus on solving B2B problems, there's lots of money to be made.
However, I rather like being a solopreneur working less than 20 hours/wk, my current customers and the personal nature of the problem I'm solving. Who knows. If I see a B2B problem I want to solve, maybe I'd sell and tackle that, but for now getting to $10K MRR is just fine a target for me.
Generally the goals we set for ourselves are optimistic. If we project we'll make $10K MRR by the end of the year, that's usually based on a roadmap in which everything goes right. But the reality is that many things usually go wrong. So that $10K MRR often turns out to be $500 or $1K or something like that.
That's why my advice is to aim higher. Work on something where, if things go according to plan, you can make $30-50K MRR. That way when the plan goes awry, or if you decide to work 10 hours a week, you can still hit your goal.
Yes, this is easier said than done, but I think many would be surprised. I regularly see businesses that require mountains of work to get to $1. I see businesses where it's harder to get to $1K MRR than it was for other businesses to get to $20K MRR. It turns out that what customers are willing to pay + how easy it is to find those customers is only very tenuously correlated with the amount of hours you're putting in.
You don't even have to be B2B. There are plenty of opportunities in B2C. I generally think it's harder and more volatile, but that's only generally. Specifically, consumers are happy to pay lots of money for a variety of things. And there are plenty of business models that involve building for consumers while charging businesses for access to these consumers.
Agree wholeheartedly and I bet you see the gamut of ideas and execution. Good question is why more don't shoot for those ambitious stars, either setting higher goals for their existing project or switching to an idea that is easier to reach those financial targets.
I gave it a bit of thought, but I don't even have a definitive answer for myself. Here are some reasons/excuses that come to mind.
It may be an emotional as opposed to analytical response, but the perceived risk/pain/loss of switching is currently higher than the perceived benefit. Being in Silicon Valley, I know many people who've lived the roller-coaster life and it doesn't sound appealing at the moment. My highs are lower and my lows are higher. For now, that's just fine.
Seems very accurate. I was in a situation in the past where "don't want to start over" combined with "don't have new idea" played a tremendous role in my decision making. But I wasn't making enough money to afford my desired lifestyle, so I was forced to get over those humps, start over, and come up with a new idea. It was either that or go get a job.
If you're actually fine with the status quo, and you don't want to change your lifestyle, you absolutely shouldn't! Lifestyle is the whole reason we're doing this. As they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
I've been mentally confronted by this comment repeatedly for over a week now ;)
Thanks for bubbling this up!
I don’t think this comment is about charging more.
I think what @csallen tries to advise here is to give up on what the OP and Harlem are doing there and "work on [other] ideas that … can make more", "work on the right things".
And honestly, I think this comment is kinda toxic. It implies that low (ahem) MRR is not the right things. Now how are IHers who don’t make even that (like myself) supposed to feel about that?
Didn't mean to cause offense with my comment, but I don't think it's anyone's goal to have a low MRR. 99% of people here are here because they want to find out how to make a higher MRR than they're currently making (and/or to help others do the same). The definition of improvement is to find and correct the wrong things.
You also said this to @louisswiss:
The good news is: you don't have to do this! Nobody is advocating that you make a cookie-cutter product, or even a SaaS product. In fact, quite the opposite. I think both approaches are less likely to succeed than alternatives.
The universe of ideas is absolutely vast. There are more promising business ideas than there are people on this planet. There are practically infinitely many business ideas if you consider the unique spin that every founder could put on them to ensure the idea fits their ideal lifestyle and personality and makes them happy.
This really is good news. I mean it. It means that if you're working on something you believe in but it has a low chance of getting you to where you want financially, you can almost certainly find an idea that you believe in even more that also has a better chance of succeeding financially.
I think he's saying "aim low and you'll achieve low..."
And I agree.
It's fine to achieve low (in $ terms) if that's your goal.
But for Harlem and the OP, that isn't their goal. If you want to reach, say $10k MRR, then spending a whole year to get to $1k MRR probably isn't the best/most efficient way to go.
I think it's right to give people a gentle push when they need it.
If it's your goal (as in this case) to make high MRR, then aiming for low MRR is probably 'not the right things.'
If it's your goal to make low MRR, then maybe nothing ?
If it's your main goal to make a high MRR and you've been spending ages working on something to achieve only a low MRR so far, then maybe you're supposed to feel frustration and hope.
Frustration at the time spent working on things that didn't move you closer to your goal, hope at the realisation that you can achieve your goals if you just aim for them...
My goal is simple: to not hate my life.
If getting to high MRR would mean giving up on a project I believe in and instead start making some cookie-cutter high-market SaaS, it will hardly get me anywhere closer to my goal. At this point it would actually make more sense to just return to 9-to-5 — at least the payroll would be stable.
A link to the original conversation for context would be really helpful.
Here you go: https://www.indiehackers.com/Harlem/post/a8fabfd148
So it's not just ideas are worth nothing without the execution. It's also execution is not worth as much without the right idea.
I'm still a believer that the idea is a much bigger part of the puzzle than people give it credit for.
I always welcome pep talk but at the same time would also think there is nothing wrong with setting what one thinks are realistic expectations.
I see it this way.
I'd be more upbeat and confident if I reach my "attainable" goals rather than being disappointed and losing confidence by setting myself up to unattainable goals. Learn to take baby steps before taking the big leap.
That said, I totally respect @csallen or anyone else who might have a different opinion. Just my thoughts.
It is hard to accurately measure what you yourself are capable of accomplishing. What you believe is attainable might be underselling yourself. You have personal biases and self imposed mental giants you must defeat that might not be as big as you think once you get to fighting against them.
I think @callen was talking about pushing the envelope on what they believe is attainable, not just the size of their MRR.
I think @csallen is giving us a cold, hard reality check. He sees the reality daily. I also think there is a complicated calculus with significant emotion that drives which decisions we choose to make. With a 99% failure rate, stakes seem high to venture into the unknown; again.
Some survive failure much better than others. Some are willing to give their left kidney for money, others, not so much. Whatever, the decision, I appreciate the challenge his comment has put in front of many of us.
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