Comment by iambateman
2 years ago
Depending on your goals, have you considered freelancing?
If your purpose is cash flow, freelancing can quickly generate $2000++ with much less risk than starting a SaaS.
That’s not to say starting a SaaS is a bad idea…but if pure short-term cash production is your goal, I’d consider finding clients who trust you to pay you hourly on the side.
FWIW, I’ve started 2 SaaS companies with a collective revenue of $0, and my side freelancing currently makes more than $2k/mo.
Lastly…it’s very possible that you have lots of other goals other than cash, and if so, good luck with your SaaS! I started MoneyHabitsHQ.com and it was one of the most fun learning activities of my career, despite not producing revenue.
I was much more successful in creating a SaaS product, I've reached almost 3 digits of profits. But I still wouldn't suggest someone to do consulting because it's a different mindset. You can only earn money if you decide to work, while having a working SaaS project has great scaling potential, but I totally agree that it's far more riskier when you factor in opportunity costs.
>almost 3 digits of profits
I hope this is a typo, because $99/mo is nice to have, but I'd honestly consider the SaaS I'm building a failure if it made less than 4 digits a month.
Not a typo, just a snarky joke on the project's total income :)
I guess it depends what level someone considers a failure. It it keeps making money and trends are improving I wouldn't consider it a failure. For example 500 EUR would pay my rent so the bar is lower for me, but sure anything more than 1000 is already nice, especially if it doesn't require constant attention.
I’ve tried freelancing a few times, I never manage to make it work. The clients I find all end up paying less than a “normal” job so I end up going back to that.
I’m working as a Solutions Engineer now. Its basically freelancing without sourcing customers and a consistently big pay cheque every month. Any tips on starting freelancing?
in my experience, the only thing that matters is who you know.
Being connected to the right business folks seems to be the key.
I would like to consider freelancing. Any pointers on how to go about in getting freelance projects? I am a full stack developer.
All of the projects listed were clearly a lot of work to build, but a) have the potential to scale up a lot in revenue and b) have the potential to scale down a lot in terms of active effort. I couldn't quit my job for a $2k/month project, but if I could spend some months of hard work building it and then just have a passive income stream, that would be super cool.