Bootstrapping a productized service to $40,000 MRR in 6 months

Hey @orliesaurus !

• Currently our profit margin is between 25 to 50%. This month it is closer to 25%!
• We have a team of designers in Indonesia. We pay them more than twice the average graphic designer salary there (sometimes even 3x that amount or more depending on the seniority) and we finance them a MacBook Pro (they have to pay 5 to 10% of the original purchase price every month)
• The focus will always be on our customers and trying to see how the market will involve. Today anyone can replicate Manypixels but what is important is answering the following question "Will people order design services in the next 2, 3, 5, 10 years as they do today?", probably not so we have to build the future a little bit in advance so we remain competitive I guess!

Not an expert on this but basically I always try to provide valuable content + entertaining and... if possible content that hasn't been already written about a thousand times.

We also focus on one specific type of post: Behind the scenes posts / transparency posts.

Hey Steven, thanks!

You're spot on: At the beginning it was very, very basic. We were only providing a design "retainer" service and everything went through email. No dashboard, no structured brief: We just asked a couple of questions via email.

So you're right at the beginning we were not a productized service.

The only way to "productize" is to create very clearly defined "service packs" where you exactly say what you'll do / what you won't do, for how much, with which steps, at which speed, etc.

A good way to do so is by breaking your service into "pieces" and thinking of an assembly line where the customer will review separate items of that whole project.

Productized services are more about customisation than creation from the scratch (which is what services are about)

Hey Zaid! Not a programmer, I bought an HTML template and then added Paywhirl to manage subscriptions.

@engmsaleh I definitely think our model can work for other industries!

My biggest advice would be to really come up with service packs. Try to come up with something that a lot of people need developed or fixed (and if it is on a recurring basis that's even better) and try to put together a service pack with immense value. I know it might seem vague but one way you can do it is by looking at your problems or looking at development/fixing bugs types of projects that have a very low customer satisfaction / high level of distrust. Then you come in, put together a service pack, your customers trust you and you guarantee their satisfaction --> That's what productized services are all about IMHO!

Finally I just want to say something: We were also lucky and what worked for us might not work for others. So do your own thing, try a lot and always provide value!

Human service vs Digital Commodity:

In the design space, the most common needs that people have are usually straightforward. But for web/mobile app development complexity makes the whole story different.

What I have seen people do is build platforms/products/tools that helps other people do what they do manually in the logo design, animation and video making space.

This is the direct opposite of hiring more people to deliver the service.

Very good idea on the niche like "You give us one of your KPI and we offer you a solution to improve it". People when ordering services want the certainty of having results and when you "sell" results you're gold.

Thanks for the heads up for the footer, will fix!