Stay a side project or pursue startup?
Howdy!
Love reading through the site. Taking (and using) a lot of advice through this forum, but I'm at a bit of a crossroad. I'm working on a fun side project (https://shelf.bike) which tracks your bike parts. It's been fun to write code with new technologies, juggling family/work/home priorities, and learn about marketing (I'm a software developer). I have some great ideas on where to take to project if I wanted to turn it into a business. Some of those ideas require some "real" work of reaching out to corporations, etc.
Where is the line between side project and potential startup? Is it time invested? Users acquired? Features added? I know the common answer will be "it's what you decide," though I'd love some input/discussion on how people handle the side project/startup distinction. Side note, I wouldn't be able to make the full-time move to startup until it can replace the 9-5 salary.
Thanks!
I think everyone has 4 fundamental considerations for putting more time into their side project and turning it into a business:
Can I afford to do this at all, and if yes, in what capacity?
Is this going to cause more stress and problems in my life than it's worth?
To what degree to I want to work on this every day, or, am I just chasing the shiny here?
Will I be happier in the long run if this is a business?
The first 2 are the easiest filters. Many people either can't or are unwilling to spare the time and money to work on it often enough to turn it into a business. And even if they can, the stress of it may not be worth it.
The last 2 are much more about being honest with yourself, and probably getting some objective second opinions from those who know you. Not every artist wants to sell their art because it in some way ruins it for them. Programming is a form of art as much as anything. And if you don't want to work on it every day it probably isn't interesting enough to you to be your new business.
I had a start on a dynamic ad platform that let podcast hosts and businesses find each other, sell an ad, target specific demographics and locations, and automatically insert ads into the podcast only for the people who matched up. Great business idea, I still think it is, but I decided I hated working on it. I didn't want to be the one who brought another ad network onto the world. Everyone has their own choices to make.
Thanks Carter! Fantastic points that I need to think through, I haven't done enough of that yet. Maybe the holiday break can help with that :).
Also, I really enjoy the work, so that's not a problem.
Depends on what you mean by "startup." Here it seems you mean full-time business.
But as far as I know there's no official distinction. A startup is simply a fledgling business enterprise — an early-stage entrepreneurial venture. Shelf.bike is your startup for all intents and purposes.
Granted, when people think of startups, they tend to think fast growth, venture capital, five hackers in a living room. But continually as people think of "indie hackers" (as opposed to "startup founders"), hopefully the image they'll see will be broader and lack all those assumptions.
Curious: how invested are you in making this transition?
Exactly why I posted the question! I think you're spot on with the middle ground, "indie hacker", as that's a broader connotation. And you're right about how "startup" leans toward the typical Silicon Valley stereotype, not what I'm going for.
Right now? Not at all. In the future, absolutely. There's enough market to build a viable business. It's the time/effort ratio I'm trying to balance. With limited time, do you go for SEO or that new shiny feature?
I base my rule of thumb in these situations on whether I use the product.
If I use it and it scratches my own itch, I add new features that enhance my enjoyment and increase my motivation to do more work.
If I don't use it, I do growth activities in the hope that an increase in new users will motivate me down the road.
If you have time to work on SEO or new features you have time to do sales. It sounds like you are just not wanting to leave your comfort zone of being a dev. I’d recommend some introspection to find out do you really want to wear the other hats our are you using the not enough time excuse while simultaneously spending time on other things. Or a more aggressive approach, stop all things not related to sales, if it requires an IDE don’t do it. If you press on, this is a business. If you lose interest, it’s not the business for you. Hope this help, good luck and I hope you find the motivation to press on.
I thought startup was defined as technology enabled business designed to be scalable for fast growth.
And yes McDonald's comes under that, unless you knock out age in which case you might have to.exclide google too.
Hello, I think what makes the difference is your mission , many developers do apps just for fun, for challenge and for money, that is enough for many of them. But the moment when you start to think about you can do something that improve the life of many people , you can change the things in the world or your country and you wanna take the risk of work full time with a low salary, I think this is when a project start to be a startup.