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Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?

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

#661

Post by tonixx »

yccheok wrote: post #230
WA wrote: post #47

I have a consumer app with a subscription model. I'm a single developer with no employees. I work between 10-30 hours per week. Last year, my EBIT was close to 300,000€. This year, it's going to be around 370,000€ (and since I live in Germany, my income is in the top 0,5% or so). In the first year, my EBIT was merely 30,000€. It's been going up steadily since then and my product has been around quite a while. Please…

Thank you for sharing your success. I hope I can learn one or thing from your sharing. Currently, I'm selling a consumer productivity app (Android only) in Google Play store. The characteristics of this category are large consumer demand, and low barrier to entry. Because of this, there are a lot of players in this category. My pricing model is pretty simple - $20 one time payment to unlock everything. I know I can e…

Do you know what percentage of your traffic comes from the app's website? I have a tool that can double that number. Please get in touch if interested: http://contact.do/toni

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

#662

Post by tonixx »

duanem wrote: post #419

I develop Flowx [ https://www.flowx.io ], an Android weather app. It makes around $2,500 USD/month with about $500/month in costs excluding my time. It covers about 60% of my total costs including my time which is 40+ hours a week. I cover my remaining costs through contract work. This might not seem like a success but the business allowed us to move to the Rarotonga, Cook Islands from Auckland, New Zealand. Lifestyl…

Do you know about Weather Extension? Check out the interview: https://www.indiehackers.com/interview/how-sharing-helpful-k...

I would get in touch and maybe join forces :)

PS: Do you know what percentage of your installs comes from the app's website? I have a tool that can double that number. Please get in touch if interested: http://contact.do/toni

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

#663

Post by robjan »

nyokodo wrote: post #395
robjan wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's easy to change from independent contractor to employee if you really want. The experience on the CV is just as good and you probably get paid (a lot) more. The only real risk is that during economic downturns it may be hard to find contracts but your employer could fire you as well.

It depends on the market. I worked with contractors back in 2008 who said it became easier to find work during the crash because they were seen as Capital Expenditure while Full-Time Employees were considered Operating Expenditure and were being laid off en-masse.

This benefit is always true, especially in locations where you can write off CapEx against your taxes. My main point was that if you are a contractor and want a perm role you can just apply for a permanent job. You don't even need to write whether or not you were a contractor in your application form / CV, the hiring manager only cares about your projects and roles within the project.

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

#664

Post by donmb »

esquire_900 wrote: post #163
throwaway21212 wrote: post #108

I have a one-person lifestyle business. I like it primarily because it gives me the flexibility to live anywhere in the world. I hated my old desk job and the idea of 2 weeks vacation every year. I run a SaaS product that integrates with ERPs. I pretend to my customers that I have a team (so much so that I have multiple email addresses to people that don't exist that actually just forward to me). One of our customers…

Don't you find that whole pretending part to be unethical? With those kind of revenues it shouldn't be hard to either hire 2 and make factual claims, or just drop the whole we're-a-team claim. I can't imagine that building a foundation on these kind of lies towards your clients is going to be sustainable in the long run?

I rather find it stupid that in B2B companies seem too only "trust" bigger companies than small startups. We also always have to claim how big we are and how successful just to build trust. Companies don't seem to understand that you can be good in what you're doing even if you're small or a one-man-show. This is the real unethical part imo.

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

#665

Post by marionzualo »

WA wrote: post #388
technics256 wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for the response. Are you GmbH or selbständig for this? Wondering which is better for a situation like a one man job. I'm in a similar situation.

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…

> Get paying customers first, you can still incorporate a GmbH later. On the other hand: If nobody pays you money, you don't need a GmbH or be a sole proprietor.

is it possible to sell the product first and then register as Einzelunternehmer later (within the same fiscal year)? Or you have to register before?

After registering as Einzelunternehmer, if the business stops existing, does one have to "close activity" as Einzelunternehmer somehow?

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

#666

Post by tonixx »

WA wrote: post #47

I have a consumer app with a subscription model. I'm a single developer with no employees. I work between 10-30 hours per week. Last year, my EBIT was close to 300,000€. This year, it's going to be around 370,000€ (and since I live in Germany, my income is in the top 0,5% or so). In the first year, my EBIT was merely 30,000€. It's been going up steadily since then and my product has been around quite a while. Please…

Do you know what percentage of your installs comes from the app's website? I have a tool that can double that number. Please get in touch if interested: http://contact.do/toni

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

#667

Post by tonixx »

I've launched https://contact.do for me initially, at the beginning of 2019. Here are the stats since launch: - 132,775 messages sent - 1,196 contact links - 133 custom links

If you think you'll use it, I can offer you a custom link for free. Please get in touch: https://contact.do/toni

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

#668

Post by fastbmk »

stephen wrote: post #162
fastbeef wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you read the latest blog post? I has financials for 2019

Hey! Been using pinboard for years, so I love it/huge thanks... but please make the web UI a responsive layout so that it's usable on mobile. :-) (I use the Android apps, and recently flipped from PinDroid to Pinkt, and both are usable but not enjoyable. The Pinkt UX looks great, it's just slow on all my bookmarks. If you don't like Android, maybe do a mini-partnership with the Pinkt guy to polish it into a great exp…

You should try https://fastbmk.com/

Responsive 100% and better in every other aspect ;)

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

#669

Post by fastbmk »

fastbeef wrote: post #27
woutr_be wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a shame he hasn't updated the financials since 2017 tho. I always liked reading up on it.

Did you read the latest blog post? I has financials for 2019

Hey, I invite you to https://fastbmk.com/

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

#670

Post by temp_throw »

kohanz wrote: post #311
temp_throw wrote: post #106

I have a UK based e-business, I've turned over between £750,000 and now £950,000 over the past four years (ex VAT). (~76% net profit margin) Its just me, I'm a developer, which meant I could bootstrap the whole thing for zero cost (time not included) but I've always felt I knew I had what it takes to make a small business successful. Its an online service, we have a web site and apps in the app stores. I'd rather not…

As someone running a business with some similar characteristics (solo, not a subscription, B2C branching into B2B), but at a much earlier stage, I would love to learn more from you, if you're willing. Feel free to reach out to me (e-mail in profile).

Hi, is the app you are building in your bio? Vidhug?
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