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Ask HN: Which is the most successful one-person business you heard of in 2019 ?, Hacker News


            

                  
Ben Tossell of Makerpad. He made about $ k in the past year from a site that teaches others how to build interactive sites and apps without writing code.
Lynne Tye of Key Values. She made about $ (k in from a site that connects software engineers with companies that share their intangible values, eg diverse team, good for parents, fast or slow-paced, etc.

Robert James Gabriel of Helperbird. He struggled a lot with dyslexia growing up, and even had a teacher tell him he should give up and drop out of school. Luckily another teacher encouraged him to learn to code, and he’s been quite prolific since. Helperbird is a browser extension that helps others with learning disabilities browse the web easier. Robert recently brought on a co-founder, but he’d grown the app to a “comfortable five figures a month” in revenue.

Plenty more on

https://www.IndieHackers.comsharing their stories via interviews and on the podcast, and also posting about hitting revenue goals and other milestones here:https://www.indiehackers.com/milestones

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I’m a one man show. I made a SaaS targeted towards a specific company. I did all the work up front, got them to trial it, and when they loved it they singed a contract for just over $ (k / year.
I have a site with ads on it that makes ~ $ – 2019 / m in ad revenue.

I also do some hosting / maintenance for clients. 4 clients and it’s about $ 1, / m .

All in it’s about $ k / year and it requires about 5 hours a week of my time. It has freed up the rest of my time to keep building similar projects that can both boost and diversify my MRR.

I’m very grateful that I’m able to work on projects I enjoy now, but more importantly it’s given me time to spend with my family and be around for my kid. ******************

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Wow, those number sound so high for a third world country that I can’t help thinking that if I were in your situation I would give half of that salary (5k monthly) to my brother and father so they wouldn’t have to worry about money again. Congratulations for being in that situation!

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Coming from scandinavian welfare state, it is really difficult for me to understand why someone would give to their relatives some of their income. Especially if you earn it by working, and the reasoning being so that they don’t have to worry about money=have less pressure to work.
I don ‘t want to judge anyone, just wanted to state that there is clearly quite a big cultural gap here. I don’t know anyone around here who would do similar things.

            

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My non-European partner gives money to their parents despite being fairly middle-class and fiscally stable. You’re right, it’s cultural – theirs expects grown children to contribute to the parents after spending their childhood paying for them. It’s an investment into the family unit as a whole, as the family will support you beyond what the state welfare could provide. Had a car accident and need some money? The family can help. Want help with a deposit for a place? The family will contribute.

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I can’t comprehend how you could judge someone negatively for wanting to provide for their family. So yes there does seem to be a huge cultural gap here and in this case I don’t think Scandanavia does it better. Even if I lived in a country with a good safety net I would want to share my success with my family.

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Your country has a welfare net. For the third world countries usually children are the welfare net. It’s not that hard to understand.

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There is factually / intellectually understanding it, and then there is being able to see things through that point of view, which opens up in depth discussions from it.

As parent said, he may have the first type, but not the second, so it’s hard for him to answer on it without making it sound like a culture clash.

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I think “for a third world country” here means “from (my) third world country perspective. “

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You can broadly talk about how you came up with the idea, how you contacted the company?


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An acquaintance worked for the company and asked for help replacing an existing paper process with an excel document. I helped, but mentioned a web app would work much better. The company trialed the excel version but came back with some concerns. I talked it over with the friend and decided to spend my free time building it out. Once I had a beta ready they trailed it in their location and they loved it. We got it into 2 more locations (all free at this point) and everyone loved it. That raised interest and other stores in the district started asking for it. We launched it across the whole district and finally started to charge. After a year the company decided to launch it nationally. It was a risky move to do the work up front since it could have fizzled out, but it worked out in the end.

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Beautiful! one again, “find Excel use case and replace with web app” seems to have worked:)

Thank you for responding.************************

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Absolutely, I think there’s plenty of money to be made finding problems companies don’t know they have. The hard part is identifying them, and picking one where the value added by a web app is worth paying for.

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Asking here, unable to reply to the comment below. (******************************************** (The hard part is identifying them, and picking one where the value added by a web app is worth paying for.)

As *** someone who does not have any contacts with companies (I’d assume this is true for most people here), any pointers on how to go about doing this? I tried the cold email route (even made a friend this way, we still keep in touch after two years, though we haven’t met and probably never will), but I did not succeed. I probably could have, but it made me so uncomfortable writing to total strangers: (

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>As someone who does not have any contacts with companies ( I’d assume this is true for most people here), any pointers on how to go about doing this?

You need to develop contacts at companies! There are lots of different ways to build your network, but the bottom line is that to be successful with this line of work, which is essentially consulting (at least in the beginning stages), you need to meet people and earn their trust. If you are introverted this will likely feel awkward and uncomfortable (which is why it’s called getting out of your comfort zone).

It takes a fair bit of effort to get someone to the point where they are willing to walk you through their business processes. Showing genuine interest in their operations and asking lots of good questions is key.

                         

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Not particularly, I started a bit higher than I really wanted so They could negotiate down a bit, but it’s a reasonable price for what they get. I think the trick is pricing based on value provided by the solution; What’s it worth to them?


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I run a one-person company [1] whose tech makes Reading on screen easier / faster / more accessible. The B2C tools (iOS app and browser plugin) bring in 5 figures, but in (the IP licensing took off.) **************** We have large educational clients that are integrating the tech because of its benefit for students (especially those with ADHD and dyslexia). IP licensing is great because it means I don’t need to spend time building the integrations myself, and I don’t have any costs attached to the licensing deals, so it’s pretty much all profit. In 21908577 the IP licensing will greatly exceed the B2C revenue, and we may even make the B2C tools free at that point. 1: www.beelinereader.com

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Pull Reminders. Launched in (*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************, acquired by GitHub in June
. A very good product that does one specific task really really well. I assume it was acquired for at least a few hundred thousand, if not a few million.********************************

            

                  

Sorry to hijack slightly, but figured it’s related: I am trying to build a “lifestyle” side project into something profitable, as a goal to replace my job. I think I have a good product and niche.
What I want is some sort of mentor network. Someone who has already succeeded where I haven’t, and that I can pester with questions, check I am on the right track, vent, etc, every now and then.

Does such a thing (or something like it) exist?

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Drop me a message. I’ve started and run several ventures, a couple of which became more than lifestyle. Nothing is done alone though – there are always people who help you on your journey; employees, friends, mentors, family. Happy to point you in a direction

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Yes, they exist, but the ones I’ve seen are typically executive forums (ie a group of CEOs meet together). There also seem to be a lot of startup mentorship groups.

However, you might get the most mileage from finding a few people who have been successful where you would like to be, and reach out to them for mentorship. Such connections can make a huge difference.

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Note that the lines are blurry and a lifestyle business can turn into a startup or a hybrid model if you run across something with good enough traction.********

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I’m a one-man army, too. I’ve built SaaSHub https: // www .saashub.com& LibHunt. I left my job a few months ago and since then have focussed on developing and growing SaaSHub.
It’s been growing steadily for the last 2-3 months. My expectations are that it will generate ~ $ 2, in January and $ (k in

given the current growth.

I have a massive list of ideas that I will work on next. Yet, I’d like to be fully sustainable (in an expensive city like Sydney) before jumping to the next project / idea.

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with proper incentives. Every day I’m featuring 4 projects (2 over the weekend) on the SaaS Tribune (homepage). These projects are usually selected 3 weeks in advance. During that period, product owners are reminded that their software will be higher in the list if they have more reviews.

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************** p.s. another very successful one-person business should be levels.io. The person behind “Remote OK” & “Nomad List”.************************

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Drew DeVault’s SourceHut ( (https://sr.ht) ). It may not make as much revenue yet, but it provides value to the open-source community by developing a set of developer collaboration tools that actually improve on existing workflows and embody the Unix philosophy.
            

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I heard that the site builtwith is still being run by the single founder, maybe he has recruited help by now, but if he still run i t all alone then it is most successful one person business I have heard of in **************

            

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Yes, I’ve heart it’s a one-man army project . His / their office is based on the other side of the bridge where I live. One of my small goals for SaaSHub is to be as successful as BuiltWith:)

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Depends a lot on your definition of “successful” and “business “.
Most very successful one person businesses I know of are specialty consulting businesses.

            

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This is a very good point. The definition I would use is (not selling your time

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