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Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

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Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#481
post #79

I turned a software development blog into a profit-generating asset in 2 years. I then used it to market my skills as a Software developer and it helped me gained employment. I highly recommend any developer to start a blog, and just see where it takes you. My blog is https://zeroequalsfalse.com

How many views per month do you have and what are your income streams? Partnerships or ads?

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#482

Everytime I see these threads I end up feeling inadequate. For the rest of the folks like me, I will share a small tidbit of wisdom: Starting a business is really hard and it's totally OK to just go work for Salesforce. You do you.

It's not just really hard. I think the hard part most people can get by. It's the luck part that a lot of us are missing. You have to be lucky enough to be that 1 person who catches the train at the right time. Imagine the odds of that. That's what gets me. It's not necessarily how hard you work. It's the window of opportunity that most people miss.

This, 100%.

  hard == difficult && unlikely

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#483
post #460

I'm working on NanaGram ( https://nanagram.co ). The tagline: Text or email your photos and we'll send 4x6 prints to your loved ones. It doesn't provide the majority of my income (yet) but by far and away it provides the majority of my life's meaning. I haven't crossed the mental hurdle of sharing all my numbers publicly yet but let's just say it is turning a profit and there are thousands of happy NanaGrammers. I go…

That looks like a nice service

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#486
post #476
post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am sole proprietor / Einzelunternehmer. A GmbH works too. Cons: - more work to set it up - more paper work - unnecessary in some cases Pros: - cash flow for you as a founder is more stable / taxes can be calculated and predicted more easily (only relevant if you expect a good year and then a bad year) Neutral: - Your personal liability is supposedly limited. This is only partially true. There's still the liability…

German here. I am mulling over the type of business because I want to grow a B2B company where there is potential for loss of service for a big corporate customer, and my fear is getting hit with a justified (or frivolous) lawsuit that will wipe me out. So, to come back to your comment: Is there ever a situation where you as a solo-founder/owner would consider a limited-liability corp (GmbH/UG) for reasons of liabili…

I honestly can’t answer that, because I’m not in the B2B sector. Some people wouldn’t do anything without a GmbH. They say it’s an absolute necessity. Others see it differently.

I just want to add to this discussion: Think about risks and insurance first and then about limited liability. If you think about it: what actually happens to your company if a scenario happens that triggers the limited liability aspect? It goes bust, if I’m not entirely mistaken. Every asset will be seized, except for your personal assets. But the company is basically gone afterwards. This scenario should be avoided in any case I think. It’s probably not fun.

I can only say that in my case with many independent customers paying a small amount of money, I managed my risk with insurance as far as possible. But maybe an accountant would be the better person to discuss your individual case.

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#487
post #460

I'm working on NanaGram ( https://nanagram.co ). The tagline: Text or email your photos and we'll send 4x6 prints to your loved ones. It doesn't provide the majority of my income (yet) but by far and away it provides the majority of my life's meaning. I haven't crossed the mental hurdle of sharing all my numbers publicly yet but let's just say it is turning a profit and there are thousands of happy NanaGrammers. I go…

That looks like a nice service

Thank you!

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#488
post #361

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My #1 frustration is having ideas that are pretty good (I know this because I see them done by someone else within 1-5 years of me wanting to do it), but not yet knowing how to raise capital. I see all the crazy shit like WeWork and other companies where people have millions thrown at them while never making a profit (and even actively cheating their investors). I don't want to be one of those guys, but I would like…

If you are struggling with being overly invested in your day job I suggest you go contracting. Get payed a day rate for a fixed number of hours a day, either work a day or don't no inbetween. Bill for the number of days you did at the end of the month (or week). Sick days and holidays cost you hundreds of dollars per day. You will learn to value your time (even if it costs a small amount of your soul). As an added bo…

The problem with contracting is that you have to learn to sell. Which is also one of the main skills of raising money, something that the GP post struggles with.

I myself would love to have a more independent job but I suck terribly at selling myself.

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#489
post #129

I run a popular Quiz website. I make around $6,000 per month from Google adsense. I work between 2-3 hours a week usually posting quiz links on my Pinterest page. My only expense is hosting which is around $20 per month (Digital Ocean). I have never advertised my website and it gets all the traffic from Pinterest Organically. Compare to my salary, I'm an IT Administrator in my day job and make $400 per month. I live…

What is the url for your quiz website?

Re: Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

#490

My business is in my bio, don't want to link it here. Pays about the same as my previous job at Microsoft did, but with a lot less involvement — I haven't touched the main code in about a year now. I probably spend about two or three hours a week on customer support, that's it, really. No marketing spend, all word-of-mouth and Google. The idea came about when I wanted to post to Instagram, but the API didn't allow it…

Why do you use phones for that? Couldn't you do the same through headless browser sessions?
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