Hello from the other side!

tl;dr - The hard work and grind is worth it. It will be more difficult than you think. But having a profitable side project is one of the best feelings in the world.

I wanted to say “hello” from the other side - the “other side” being the owner of a successful SaaS that I’ve spent nearly 4 years building, growing, and automating.

Over the years, I’ve read every story and forum like IndieHackers I’ve stumbled across, taking inspiration from others, and dreaming of building a “real” side project that contributed to my overall income and family’s financial well being. I’ve always been especially drawn to the indie hacker stories, the person who is able to leverage software to create a business that operates at scale, doing something not possible a generation ago. In my mind, a “real” side project has always been personally defined as $1K+ per month in profit, and requiring as little of my time as possible to run. There were many projects tried over the years - an eBook, mobile apps, web apps, etc. None of them took off. I made a few hundred dollars on the better projects, and most ended up being shelved quickly. It’s safe to say I have more than a decade (closer to two decades now) of these projects to look back on.

That all changed a few years ago, when I started the journey to build another SaaS...and this time was different. From the time I started the project in earnest, over the course of 9 months, I spent 200+ hours building it. I’m a Ruby developer at heart, and this side project was a way to do something I love - spend focused time in code creating. Countless evenings and weekends were spent writing code, apart from my family. It took twice as long to build and release as I’d planned, but I was determined to see this project launched. I felt this one had a real chance to succeed. More importantly, I had a purpose. This project was built to pay for some family expenses that were coming up. I didn’t set out to buy a Tesla or a boat with this project, I had a real purpose for it, were it to succeed. The day I launched, customers started signing up, paying, and it grew quickly. I fixed bugs, automated as much as possible, and within a few months I was running a “real” SaaS, making ~ $3K per month.

I don’t want to make this part sound easy - it was far from it. It’s hard work to create something of value and bring it to the world and those who need it. Don’t kid yourself, anything of value will be hard work, but it’s worth it.

After launching, the initial burst of customers over the first three months was a welcome surprise. When growth slowed down a bit, I set about focusing on the long term. For example, I launched without the ability to handle renewals (it’s a yearly service model), so I quickly built that feature. I added support tooling, setup the public web site, rolled out some simple marketing, etc. Growth in the subsequent three years has been slow and steady, and now I’m at $7K+ in monthly revenue.

At this point, as I approach the 4th anniversary of when I started, I’ve automated nearly everything in the business, and now spend just 1 or 2 hours per week running the company, if that. I had always been skeptical this was possible, but now that I’ve experienced it, I can tell you it is very much possible. If you automate the mundane tasks and delegate, you really can build something that runs on autopilot. I have pretty much everything wired up to Slack, so I can make quick adjustments / fixes via my iPhone or iPad while on lunch, on a trip, etc. I still have a day job that requires most of my focus and energy, and I used this commitment as motivation to automate and streamline everything possible.

Over time, it has grown into a perfect side project. And I have to say, the feeling of waking up each morning having already made money while asleep, going to my day job all the while knowing this side project continues to cruise along on autopilot...it’s one of the best feelings ever. It’s intoxicating in a way, and it leaves you wanting more. I’m not quite to the point where this could be my main source of income, but it’s close...and that’s the next goal.

So, to conclude, I’m proud of what I’ve built. Most of my friends have no idea what I’ve done, let alone the appreciation for it. I don’t get to talk about this project much, thus this post. I’d like to be more public about the details, but not yet. Hopefully some day. But to all of those reading this who are in the position I was in 4 years ago, let me tell you, it’s worth it. So very worth it. Focused, intentional work is the key. I was setting aside 2 - 4 hours per night, sacrificing time with family and friends, while building this project. Sure, there’s some luck and timing involved. But I’d say that’s 10% of the overall recipe. If you’re just starting out, or deep in the weeds of building, stick with it. Do a little bit each day, and keep your project moving forward. Success, even moderate success, will make all the work you’re doing now worth it.

Thanks to Indie Hackers for the inspiration and ideas while I was deep in the grind of building!