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Ask HN: How to sell your app/side project while working full-time?

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Re: Ask HN: How to sell your app/side project while working full-time?

#51

Post by bowersbros »

throw2bit wrote: post #43
andysinclair wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stripe is not US only, it's available in 25 countries: https://stripe.com/global

It was when I tried it way back. Didnt care to check back. My customers are from everywhere around the world. Not only from those petty list of countries that Stripe supports. I cant tell them, sorry you cannot buy my product because the payment processor dont support your country. What a turn off it will be for the customers.

Those 25 countries are where to _seller_ can be based. Stripe allows purchases from over 135 countries.

https://stripe.com/docs/currencies#charge-currencies

Re: Ask HN: How to sell your app/side project while working full-time?

#52

Post by daliwali »

robinjfisher wrote: post #29

I'm just beginning to push my product (it's been around for 6 years) and have certainly noticed the customer requests increasing. I agree with a lot of the advice here and in particular I've just started building out the knowledge base in Intercom to mitigate some of the support queries. Sales is tough but can be worth it. I've spent lunch hours walking round the business park where I work on the phone and those call…

Care to explain how your product has been around for 6 years and you're just beginning to push it?

Re: Ask HN: How to sell your app/side project while working full-time?

#53

Post by dahart »

debt wrote: post #8

Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, quit your job and do it full-time.

I agree with the other responses here, but I don't feel like this deserves to be downvoted to death either, so I'm upvoting.

I did this, quit my job and ran my startup idea full-time, without enough funding, and I have a family and a mortgage. I loved it, and I regret it, and I don't regret it, all at the same time. I had some savings, but I've used it all. I've been going full-time for a lot longer than I thought I could, but I have to get a job again. My startup is making money but not enough to pay the founders, and it will be a while before we can go full-time again. I underestimated how long bootstrapping takes, and I've since watched other people underestimate how long bootstrapping takes.

It has been more fulfilling to go full time. I'm doing exactly what I want, and I'm responsible for my own success or failure. I have learned more than I would have by doing the side project on the side. We did run our project on the side for a couple years, and it was really frustrating. Going full time was a huge breath of fresh air, and a lot more fun than adding 20-40 hours a week on top of a 40+ hour full time job. I've also have a lot more time for my family, it just came at the cost of not having a lot of money for my family.

My main takeaway from having tried this is next time I'm going to do more preparation and have a runway in place before I quit and go full-time. Whether it's savings or VC funding or whatever, not having control over the end of the runway has been a mistake.

Re: Ask HN: How to sell your app/side project while working full-time?

#54

Post by throw2bit »

bowersbros wrote: post #51
throw2bit wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was when I tried it way back. Didnt care to check back. My customers are from everywhere around the world. Not only from those petty list of countries that Stripe supports. I cant tell them, sorry you cannot buy my product because the payment processor dont support your country. What a turn off it will be for the customers.

Those 25 countries are where to _seller_ can be based. Stripe allows purchases from over 135 countries. https://stripe.com/docs/currencies#charge-currencies

Don't you understand ? Using Paypal anyone can sell from anywhere in the world. Why are you still insisting on Stripe ? "Stripe allows purchases from over 135 countries". I want my product to be sold all over the world. Stripe don't do that. Stripe has a good API than Paypal and it ends there. I ditched Stripe for Paypal and I never looked back, sales from everywhere in the world, rather than customer's emailing me..."It says cannot accept my card"

Re: Ask HN: How to sell your app/side project while working full-time?

#57

Post by bobwaycott »

daliwali wrote: post #52
robinjfisher wrote: post #29

I'm just beginning to push my product (it's been around for 6 years) and have certainly noticed the customer requests increasing. I agree with a lot of the advice here and in particular I've just started building out the knowledge base in Intercom to mitigate some of the support queries. Sales is tough but can be worth it. I've spent lunch hours walking round the business park where I work on the phone and those call…

Care to explain how your product has been around for 6 years and you're just beginning to push it?

It’s been a side project?

Re: Ask HN: How to sell your app/side project while working full-time?

#58

Post by hw »

philip1209 wrote: post #19
codegeek wrote: post #7

Automate as much as possible. Payments ? Slap a stripe checkout form (unless you happen to be in a country where Stripe is still not supported) or Paypal for others. Onboarding: Make it as easy and smooth as possible for clients to get started after signinup. Show them exactly where and how to start. Documentation & FAQ: Create tons of it. If a client has a question, thy should be able to resolve it through your docu…

Suggestion re: phone calls - setup a Calendly.com page to avoid back-and-forth about your availability.

I second Calendly. We at Reamaze use Calendly to schedule our demos to customers, and I strongly recommend you do the same too for demos / phone calls.

All of codegeek's points make sense, especially automation, getting a good helpdesk (we can hook you up @ https://www.reamaze.com), and hustling. I wouldn't worry too much about perfecting documentation, unless it's an integral part of your project, like if you're heavy on your customers using your APIs.

Customers initially are going to be hard to come by, so every single potential lead that lands on your site and contacts you are extremely important. Always follow up on customers, as soon as possible. Keeping up a good rapport with them especially those that are using your project, would help immensely when time comes to get them to do some co-marketing with you.

Re: Ask HN: How to sell your app/side project while working full-time?

#60

Post by ipapi-co »

What worked for our SaaS (https://ipapi.co):

- Extremely responsive and flexible with customer's requests. We've implemented some features overnight in response to a customer query. Turns out, some of the features have helped us with revenue growth :)

- Honesty. Even though you might lose a subscription in the short run, word of mouth helps to win back a lot more. It's delightful to break your rules if it eases a cash strapped customer. We frame such "thank-you" e-mails for motivation.

The goodwill garnered has helped us grow by word of mouth.

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