The first two years I was kinda hopeful and honestly I didn't run the numbers, I think if I had I would've switched back to consulting.
I kinda assumed it was going to take a while. And I loved what I was doing and the feedback that I received. It just took me a long time to figure out that I should be charging more for my products and license them differently.
From October 2018 and on I saw a slow increase in subscriptions and things started to get better. By mid 2019 I was convinced this was gonna work out.
Initial licensing was single purchase lifetime updates (envato model). This doesnโt work as new clients pay for support and updates on existing clients.
Now itโs a perpetual license and yearly subscription. If subscription expires customers can still use the product but donโt get updates/support.
I hadnโt thought about it that way. I guess this is a good post to show that if it isnโt an overnight success time and effort can still make it work.
Nice! Love to hear about how FilePond is used. Sounds like Doka could be a great addition. :D
This is why I set up the products in this way. If you're already using FilePond for image uploads and you get value from it, Doka Image Editor is kind of a no-brainer if you want to offer image editing.
Thanks. Working fulltime i couldโve come close, I worked 32 hours back then (still do). My consulting income back then was around 15K EUR a month. Kinda though to say goodbye to that. But felt it wouldnโt scale, only with hours, so hoped product development would be a temporary setback :)
I very much do, but it would be healthy to not have the 9-5 spirit constantly whispering in my ear that 8 hours a day should be the minimum to yield results.
Congratulations Rik! You say "products". Is this revenue from multiple products? If yes then how many? Do you find it tough to run multiple products at the same time?
I have some additional income from older products on CodeCanyon around USD 500 a month and falling.
I've tried to launch other products (and it's very tempting for example to launch Doka Image Editor as a plugin on Shopify) but I find it very difficult to manage multiple products at once and have decided to form partnerships with developers in respective markets (WordPress / Shopify) instead. That allows me to focus on the core product and allows others to launch successful projects as well.
Fantastic achievement Rik, I hope to achieve the same! Do you have any key learnings from the last ~6 months as you appear to have grown a lot over that period.
Thanks! That's mostly recurring revenue on top of recurring revenue, but also in December I raised prices in anticipation of new version 7 release of the editor.
It feels good to give back to the open source community and my products that are free are very much in the โnice to haveโ category and difficult to monetize (in my experience)
I'm amazed about your persistence and patience. 5 years is just.. a lot! Congrats ๐
I wonder - what kept you going?
The first two years I was kinda hopeful and honestly I didn't run the numbers, I think if I had I would've switched back to consulting.
I kinda assumed it was going to take a while. And I loved what I was doing and the feedback that I received. It just took me a long time to figure out that I should be charging more for my products and license them differently.
From October 2018 and on I saw a slow increase in subscriptions and things started to get better. By mid 2019 I was convinced this was gonna work out.
What do you mean by licensing your products differently? What was it like before and why did you change it?
Initial licensing was single purchase lifetime updates (envato model). This doesnโt work as new clients pay for support and updates on existing clients.
Now itโs a perpetual license and yearly subscription. If subscription expires customers can still use the product but donโt get updates/support.
I can imagine it makes a huge difference. Thanks for the answer :)
To get to where you are as a one man show with a product that will have no churn, 5 years is a massive accomplishment. Congrats!
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Yeah I think 5 years is long enough to create something worthwhile, and short enough to see if your efforts are pulling off. Congrats!
I hadnโt thought about it that way. I guess this is a good post to show that if it isnโt an overnight success time and effort can still make it work.
Big fan of your work RIk. Filepond is fantastic. I'm using it in my product https://www.slip.so for authors to upload cover art.
Probably going to purchase doka within the next few months :)
Nice! Love to hear about how FilePond is used. Sounds like Doka could be a great addition. :D
This is why I set up the products in this way. If you're already using FilePond for image uploads and you get value from it, Doka Image Editor is kind of a no-brainer if you want to offer image editing.
Congratz! Did you make that 240K a year in The Netherlands as a consultant?
Thanks. Working fulltime i couldโve come close, I worked 32 hours back then (still do). My consulting income back then was around 15K EUR a month. Kinda though to say goodbye to that. But felt it wouldnโt scale, only with hours, so hoped product development would be a temporary setback :)
Great job man! I assume that was your own biz and not as an employee?
Do you have an income goal in mind? Or is it more about the fun of growing.
Exactly, freelance consulting business. The later, just focussing on building a great product :)
Congrats Rik, that's an amazing achievement! I hope this a step towards more freedom :)
Thanks! It's so strange how even now, with income detached from hours spend, I still feel like I have to work from 9 to 5 to generate revenue.
It sounds to me like you're enjoying your current work situation so why change it....
I very much do, but it would be healthy to not have the 9-5 spirit constantly whispering in my ear that 8 hours a day should be the minimum to yield results.
Haha, I guess that will be a difficult feeling to shake off!
Congratulations Rik! You say "products". Is this revenue from multiple products? If yes then how many? Do you find it tough to run multiple products at the same time?
Thanks Cous! To save space I mistyped, I'm horrible at Twitter :D
It's one product Doka Image Editor ๐ pqina.nl/doka/
I have some additional income from older products on CodeCanyon around USD 500 a month and falling.
I've tried to launch other products (and it's very tempting for example to launch Doka Image Editor as a plugin on Shopify) but I find it very difficult to manage multiple products at once and have decided to form partnerships with developers in respective markets (WordPress / Shopify) instead. That allows me to focus on the core product and allows others to launch successful projects as well.
Cool! Smart move to partner up with others :).
Really good looking product and I'm going to remember this if I need it for my vue-apps sometimes. Congrats again.
Fantastic achievement Rik, I hope to achieve the same! Do you have any key learnings from the last ~6 months as you appear to have grown a lot over that period.
Thanks! That's mostly recurring revenue on top of recurring revenue, but also in December I raised prices in anticipation of new version 7 release of the editor.
I've added some additional tweets with tips : )
Hats off to your tenacity!
Huge congrats! Love the persistence.
The fact that you're still doing this through Gumroad is also amazing.
Thank you :) I really hope Gumroad will pick up some dev steam with those new investments.
This is awesome! Big congratulations!
Thanks! ๐
Huge contracts, Rik. That's inspiring.
(I notice that we kinda have similar last names. You ever run into any Nunninks in the Netherlands?)
Thank you! โบ๏ธ I donโt know any Nunninks I believe we Schenninks are originally from the Gelderland province. This starts to feel very hobbitty.
Haha. Very hobbitty indeed.
Nice product.
Congratulations.
Thank you : )
Gouda!
Congrats.
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Thanks! Hope it worked out :)
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Thanks!
Everything is free and open source except Doka Image Editor which finances the whole enterprise :)
Are you going to continue with this pricing structure? Have you thought about testing other structures?
Probably will.
It feels good to give back to the open source community and my products that are free are very much in the โnice to haveโ category and difficult to monetize (in my experience)
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My MIT licensed doors are open ;)