I develop an open source project which I might offer as a paid-for service at some point. But the open source bit is highly beneficial to me, because it provide

I develop an open source project which I might offer as a paid-for service at some point. But the open source bit is highly beneficial to me, because it provides: - User testing, often from the clueful. - Feedback and ideas from users. - Hence, an idea of where I should take the project to keep my customers happy and interested. - Motivation, because I'm doing something for me and not just other people. We're social animals, even if we're also hackers ;) I find that right now (two months after starting the project) I have plenty of enthusiasm and my objectives are perfectly aligned with my users'. If I'm hunting a bug for someone, it's not a case of "why do I have to do this when I could be doing 'real' programming?" I want the bug fixed, he wants the bug fixed, we both benefit (and I've got some free user testing and bug identification into the bargain). Now, maybe you can't open source your stuff, either because you don't want to, or it doesn't fit your business model, or it's just not that kind of product. But maybe you could try (if you haven't already) finding some early testers who can give you the benefits I'm getting from my users: feedback, ideas and (critically in your case) an indication of whether or not your product is going anywhere. Maybe you can find a small re-alignment you can make which will allow you to reach a tipping point - it's often the small things which do it. Maybe you could get readers here to help you with this..? Also, I would say (having worked on many programming projects of varying sizes) there is always a point in any project where you think it's not going anywhere, you're discouraged and wondering if you should go on. You have to push through that. I'm doing some client work at the moment which is really dragging me down, I was unhappy with the database structure and the presentation was ordinary. I showed it to the client and they loved it. It was a real boost. So at least I have them on-side, even though the project overall I'd love to complete and move on.