How I've Started A SaaS Business All Alone For Almost Free So Fast.
It's hard to be a SaaS CEO. You got to deal with a lot of shit and sometimes there is as much work as a brick and mortar business. If you want to have success in this field, you and your team either have to burn a lot of hours into it or burn a lot of money or both :)).
Sounds kinda harsh, I know. But I think there is a better way. If you make the right decisions along the way, the bootstrap dream becomes real. You will love this article if you hate teams and asking for money.
Build once, ship everywhere
So, when building a Saas, you need to launch for at least IOS, Android, and Web. That's 3 apps to build and maintain. It's insane to try to do those all alone.
But there is a better way. What if I told you that you can build all 3 of them with 1 codebase that is half as big and twice as simple as anyone of those 3. Even if you are not a programmer and you don't want to be one, consider what I'm about to tell you.
The free Flutter framework built by Google made my(and others) apps possible. You can build for all 3 popular platforms, Web, Android, and IOS in no time. First of all, it's super easy(I learned the basics in 1 day, not kidding) and even if you are not a programmer, I suggest you try it. You might learn it in less than a week if you are focused enough and you might release your first app in less than 6 months.
The course that I followed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S59b-XFsyY8. Every time you have a problem with programming, there is a 99.99999% chance that the internet will have a solution. Either a Medium article or a StackOverflow post. If you have trouble learning Flutter, I suggest you learn the basics of Object-Oriented Programming first(the language doesn't matter because the principles apply everywhere).
I know it sounds hard, but you will get used to it very fast. Programming is about solving a never-ending stream of problems, and hiring a team is very pricy and will waste you a lot of time. Start small and build up from there.
Some additional resources:
Flutter in 100 seconds(I like how this guy explains it, even though it make everything sound twice as complicated :)) ): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHhRhPV--G0&list=PL0vfts4VzfNiQYtnn1TZ6U0Ec_vjCN9VY&index=17
Flutter widget of the week(if you think of flutter as a puzzle, here you will find what all the pieces do): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_sQ9bMltGU&list=PLjxrf2q8roU23XGwz3Km7sQZFTdB996iG
Flutter tips and tricks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdgDgcrDeNI&list=PL0vfts4VzfNiQYtnn1TZ6U0Ec_vjCN9VY&index=11
This is a very simple article about how to build a database in Flutter: https://medium.com/@suragch/simple-sqflite-database-example-in-flutter-e56a5aaa3f91
Here you can get all the flutter packages, think of them as extensions of flutter, helping you show a notification for example, or display a special widget in your app: https://pub.dev
How to use flutter for web: https://flutter.dev/docs/get-started/web
Free Domain?
You can find a 10$ domain on Namecheap, and I recommend you do that for a lot of different reasons, mainly Google Search and Trust, but if you still want to go free, use freenom.com
Notes: Freenom is buggy sometimes and you need to search your domain with the extension as well if you want the domains to be found as not used. For example instead of searching for the domain "my-domain", search for "my-domain.ml"(.ml is one of the best extensions for your site that Freenom freely provides)
Easy hosting
Right now, everywhere you look you see influencers sponsored by BlueHosting, Squarespace or Wix. Sure, these might be good services, but they cost money :)). Google Cloud Platform gives you 300$ free to host your website there. It's harder to start hosting there, because the platform is targeted for programmers, but not impossible.
Creating your landing page
Once you signed into GCP and entered console, follow this tutorial to set up a simple WordPress site https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UDD-9cPXA8
If you don't know how to use WordPress, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7es6KVFBUmA
Some good plugin recommendations: Drift, MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress, WP Statistics, Hustle(if you want to create exit-intent popups).
Hosting your flutter web app on GCP
This one took a long time for me to figure out, so I will try my best to teach you how to do it here because there are no tutorials.
Create a new Compute Engine in GCP
Click the "ssh" button
Once the command window pops, write the following commands
sudo apt update && sudo apt -y install apache2
sudo cd /var/www/
sudo rm -rf html
git clone <your GitHub repository link with the RELEASE web app>
How to do that? (if you do not know git watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9XZQO1n_7c )
On your pc, navigate to <your flutter project>
Run "flutter build web" (assuming that flutter for web is enabled)
Then run "cd build/web"
Init git there, connect to GitHub repository and add, commit and push to that repository
sudo mv <the name of the repository, hitting tab may pop up the name automatically> http
Now try to navigate to the external IP address of the Compute Engine instance, the website might pop up :))
Use this to make your website use https:
Link your domain with GCP - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iciq0ck8Ns
Free services
Drift
Drift is a free service that lets you talk to your customers(right now all the websites have a circle button in the bottom right part of the screen that lets you talk with the support). Most of them use a service called Intercom, but it costs a lot. So, Drift is free and easy to set up. It works with WordPress, Android, and IOS. If you want to integrate it with flutter, you need to integrate with the native platforms first, then use the method channel to connect to flutter.
Revenue Cat
https://pub.dev/packages/purchases_flutter
This is the best way to handle subscriptions with flutter, use their docs to implement subscriptions in your flutter app https://docs.revenuecat.com/docs
Other tips and resources
With the path laid out in front of you, you may realize that it is still a lot of work, so here are the best "Other tips" I've got for you.
Follow Indie Hackers Starting Guide
https://www.indiehackers.com/start
The Trio of Best Youtubers
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKQvGU-qtjEthINeViNbn6A
https://www.youtube.com/user/samovenstv
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8JNIm02zw8h_3NBrP_zsZA
Those 3 YouTubers are action-based, focused on discipline and/or business. Especially Alex Becker has improved my life a lot.
Focus and OMAD
It is essential for me that I have focus periods where I just work. Also, I eat once a day. I am not a nutritionist and don't follow my advice, but personally, this just cleared my brain. Also, x2, try meditating, exercising and reading 1 book a week
Time management
If I would to sum time management in a couple of words it would be: remove and measure
Measuring(or, in other words, tracking) my time has made a BIG difference in how I act throughout the day. So, that's why the app that I built using all the methods above, is about time tracking and time management. By the way, it was the biggest pain to build and use your app at the same time :)).
Check it out @ effectivenezz.com :)))
Thanks for reading
Hi guys. Thanks for reading it. If you have any questions please let me know. I'm looking forward to network with other Saas founders so hmu :))