diff --git a/opensaas-sh/blog/public/banner-images/2024-12-03-coverlettergpt-550-mrr-amazing.webp b/opensaas-sh/blog/public/banner-images/2024-12-03-coverlettergpt-550-mrr-amazing.webp new file mode 100644 index 0000000..17a943b Binary files /dev/null and b/opensaas-sh/blog/public/banner-images/2024-12-03-coverlettergpt-550-mrr-amazing.webp differ diff --git a/opensaas-sh/blog/src/assets/coverlettergpt/coverlettergpt.webp b/opensaas-sh/blog/src/assets/coverlettergpt/coverlettergpt.webp new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a73bff2 Binary files /dev/null and b/opensaas-sh/blog/src/assets/coverlettergpt/coverlettergpt.webp differ diff --git a/opensaas-sh/blog/src/components/Tweet.astro b/opensaas-sh/blog/src/components/Tweet.astro new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca2bd4e --- /dev/null +++ b/opensaas-sh/blog/src/components/Tweet.astro @@ -0,0 +1,48 @@ +--- +interface Props { + id: string; +} + +const { id } = Astro.props; +--- + + + +
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+ + \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/opensaas-sh/blog/src/content/docs/blog/2024-12-03-coverlettergpt-550-mrr-amazing.mdx b/opensaas-sh/blog/src/content/docs/blog/2024-12-03-coverlettergpt-550-mrr-amazing.mdx new file mode 100644 index 0000000..40e1bc4 --- /dev/null +++ b/opensaas-sh/blog/src/content/docs/blog/2024-12-03-coverlettergpt-550-mrr-amazing.mdx @@ -0,0 +1,68 @@ +--- +title: My SaaS only makes $550 a month and I think that’s amazing +date: 2024-12-03 +tags: ["indiehacker", "saas", "sideproject", "webdev", "marketing"] +--- +import Tweet from '../../../components/Tweet.astro'; +import { Image } from 'astro:assets'; +import coverlettergpt from '../../../assets/coverlettergpt/coverlettergpt.webp'; + +Yesterday I posted a video on [Twitter](https://x.com/hot_town/status/1863553258586820976) and on [Reddit’s r/sideproject](https://www.reddit.com/r/SideProject/comments/1h4t8vk/my_saas_only_makes_550_a_month_and_i_think_thats/) expressing my opinion that I think super simple SaaS apps that only make a small amount of side income should be your goal when starting out. + +And the response was overwhelmingly positive. + + + +Let me explain what I mean in more detail: + +**I often think that developers trying their shot at building a side project take it too seriously**. Yep, you read that right. + +They should think of their side project as an experiment, not a business. + +Because in the early stages, that’s what it is. It’s just a test to see if people are willing to pay for a (software) product that you offer them. + +So instead of following all the “rules” around building a profitable SaaS, you should be breaking some of them. + +Here are some examples of what I mean: + +- Forget a shiny landing page, just take your user straight to your product and let them try it out, if possible. +- Keep your initial product as simple as possible. Make it easy for the user to comprehend and get started with. +- Don’t spend more than a month building it. +- It doesn’t matter if it’s ugly, you can improve it later. +- Use the tools that help you build the fastest, not the ones that others tell you you should be using. + + +CoverLetterGPT + + +These tactics are exactly what I used to build and launch [CoverLetterGPT](https://coverlettergpt.xyz) and get it to ~$550 monthly recurring revenue (MRR) after a year. + +It doesn’t have a landing page. + +It’s not optimized for SEO. + +I built it in about a week. + +The UI is… not the prettiest. + +It’s a .xyz domain (not .com or .ai). + +And I do little to no maintenance on the app, nor do I have to deal with customer service. + +And I love it and will probably be keeping it that way. + +By the way, here’s my favorite tech stack that I used to build it, but you should use whatever helps you build & launch fast: + +- Framework: [https://wasp-lang.dev](https://wasp-lang.dev/) + - TIP! Use their [free, open-source SaaS template](https://opensaas.sh) to build even faster +- UI Components: https://www.chakra-ui.com/ +- Deployed to Railway: https://railway.app/ & Netlify: https://netlify.com/ +- Costs ~$15/month to run including OpenAI API fees + +In my opinion, it’s all about tradeoffs. + +Personally, I’m lazy, so I want maximum reward for minimal effort. That means I don’t want to spend a lot of my free time maintaining apps I’ve already built (to be honest, I’m a lot like most developers and I like to try out and work on lots of new ideas, rather than focus a lot of energy on stale ones). + +So, for me, $550 MRR is amazing! It’s enough side income for me because It’s an app that basically runs on auto-pilot next to my full-time job, that I don’t have to worry about. + +If you’ve been thinking about building a SaaS app for a while, but haven’t taken the plunge, remember this: it’s just an experiment. \ No newline at end of file