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I'm at a stage where I have a side project that works well for me. I'd like to open it up and allow other people to start using it, but I'm not really sure how

I'm at a stage where I have a side project that works well for me. I'd like to open it up and allow other people to start using it, but I'm not really sure how to take it from fun project to side business. Do I need to hire a lawyer to draft a Privacy Policy and ToS? Do I need to incorporate an actual business in order to open an account with stripe to accept payments? Anyone have resources on the legal/operational part of this process?

hopia 7y ago
I'd advise getting other users to use it for free first before you dive into any paperwork. Basically, make sure you're solving a problem worth money for others first.
- uaas 7y ago
  I am in a similar situation, but we are already open for free (that is a must i think at first) I was thinking selling support, offering consulting with the setup etc. but what would be the strategy for having paid support and open github issues at the same time?
  - hopia 7y ago
    Yours is an open source project? The revenue logic there could be very different from a conventional web business. I don't have any first hand experience with such a situation myself, but perhaps studying some successful cases could get you to the next step: https://www.indiehackers.com/interview/how-charging-money-for-pro-features-allowed-me-quit-my-job-6e71309457 https://www.indiehackers.com/interview/how-charging-money-fo...
  - sah2ed 7y ago
    If there's some element of open source in your business, you can start here [0] for various ideas on how to monetize. 0: https://github.com/nayafia/lemonade-stand#table-of-contents https://github.com/nayafia/lemonade-stand#table-of-contents
buzzy_hacker 7y ago
If you're already looking into Stripe for payments, you should check out Stripe Atlas: https://stripe.com/atlas https://stripe.com/atlas It might be too much for what you're looking for, but could give you an idea
heliodor 7y ago
Go to https://IndieHackers.com https://IndieHackers.com, copy paste the story you explained here, give a brief description of your product, ask for a few people to try it out. The crowd there is helpful and is willing to spend the time with you.
- jkeuhlen 7y ago
  I've been thinking about joining the site but wasn't sure how helpful it would be; thanks I'll give it a shot.
gnicholas 7y ago
The good news about ToS and Privacy Policies is that every company you do business with makes theirs publicly available. So find a couple companies that are similar to yours in terms of business model and/or size, and read theirs. Then put together something of your own. If you have a friend who is a lawyer or has worked on these sorts of issues at a startup (as a non-lawyer), have him/her review it. But don't stress out about this part too much, since you're not much of a target for enforcement actions when you're very small.
- landon32 7y ago
  [not a lawyer but] Also you don't legally need a ToS—It's fine to go without it for a while (especially while you have 0-100 customers)
jv22222 7y ago
Hiya, I've written some stuff about this. Hope it's helpful. Don’t Form a Company https://blog.nugget.one/upstart/dont-form-a-company/ https://blog.nugget.one/upstart/dont-form-a-company/ Debunking Some Conventional Startup Wisdom https://blog.nugget.one/upstart/thanks-for-the-advice-grandpa-debunking-conventional-startup-wisdom/ https://blog.nugget.one/upstart/thanks-for-the-advice-grandp...
- crowdbloom 7y ago
  “Don’t form a company” means you are personally legally exposed. I’m not a lawyer, I may be wrong, but this seems risky.
  - i_v 7y ago
    I think it's more up to a person's accepted risk and the nature of their business concept. One thing mentioned in the linked article is the advice that you use an existing entity if you've previously formed one for consulting or some other business. I'm 100% in favor of that since the early stages of a startup are often full of non-starts.
    - crowdbloom 7y ago
      Sure. I can agree with that part. One doesn’t have to form corporations for each idea, but if you are taking payments and offering a service or product that may impact another person or business then being protected is important.
      - ska 7y ago
        Agreed - the risk/reward seems off here. It will probably be fine, but you could potentially end up in legal hell and risk your family assets. Why not a "parent" company you keep going indefinitely, spin off other entities as needed? This all varies by jurisdiction of course, but last time I did something like this I filled out the paperwork myself and it cost a couple hundred only. Gets more complicated with more structure, etc. and any legal work you need - but you don't need to pay for that before it's justified.
grantsch 7y ago
you can sell it to my team then you won't have to open to potentially doing a profit-sharing deal as well if it's good. grantschiller18 at [google's email service] dot com
- jkeuhlen 7y ago
  Just curious, without any other information presented at all, you just buy up people's side projects? How does this work?
  - grantsch 7y ago
    We want to work on something cool and this is one way to jump in. I think it's really case by case if it works or not.
- megablast 7y ago
  You have a “team”, yet Gmail is your primary email? Ok
  - sonicxxg 7y ago
    Let me guess, his LinkedIn bio is just "Entrepreneur".

hopia 7y ago

I'd advise getting other users to use it for free first before you dive into any paperwork. Basically, make sure you're solving a problem worth money for others first.

uaas 7y ago
I am in a similar situation, but we are already open for free (that is a must i think at first) I was thinking selling support, offering consulting with the setup etc. but what would be the strategy for having paid support and open github issues at the same time?
- hopia 7y ago
  Yours is an open source project? The revenue logic there could be very different from a conventional web business. I don't have any first hand experience with such a situation myself, but perhaps studying some successful cases could get you to the next step: https://www.indiehackers.com/interview/how-charging-money-for-pro-features-allowed-me-quit-my-job-6e71309457 https://www.indiehackers.com/interview/how-charging-money-fo...
- sah2ed 7y ago
  If there's some element of open source in your business, you can start here [0] for various ideas on how to monetize. 0: https://github.com/nayafia/lemonade-stand#table-of-contents https://github.com/nayafia/lemonade-stand#table-of-contents

buzzy_hacker 7y ago

If you're already looking into Stripe for payments, you should check out Stripe Atlas: https://stripe.com/atlas https://stripe.com/atlas It might be too much for what you're looking for, but could give you an idea

heliodor 7y ago

Go to https://IndieHackers.com https://IndieHackers.com, copy paste the story you explained here, give a brief description of your product, ask for a few people to try it out. The crowd there is helpful and is willing to spend the time with you.

jkeuhlen 7y ago
I've been thinking about joining the site but wasn't sure how helpful it would be; thanks I'll give it a shot.

gnicholas 7y ago

The good news about ToS and Privacy Policies is that every company you do business with makes theirs publicly available. So find a couple companies that are similar to yours in terms of business model and/or size, and read theirs. Then put together something of your own. If you have a friend who is a lawyer or has worked on these sorts of issues at a startup (as a non-lawyer), have him/her review it. But don't stress out about this part too much, since you're not much of a target for enforcement actions when you're very small.

landon32 7y ago
[not a lawyer but] Also you don't legally need a ToS—It's fine to go without it for a while (especially while you have 0-100 customers)

jv22222 7y ago

Hiya, I've written some stuff about this. Hope it's helpful. Don’t Form a Company https://blog.nugget.one/upstart/dont-form-a-company/ https://blog.nugget.one/upstart/dont-form-a-company/ Debunking Some Conventional Startup Wisdom https://blog.nugget.one/upstart/thanks-for-the-advice-grandpa-debunking-conventional-startup-wisdom/ https://blog.nugget.one/upstart/thanks-for-the-advice-grandp...

crowdbloom 7y ago
“Don’t form a company” means you are personally legally exposed. I’m not a lawyer, I may be wrong, but this seems risky.
- i_v 7y ago
  I think it's more up to a person's accepted risk and the nature of their business concept. One thing mentioned in the linked article is the advice that you use an existing entity if you've previously formed one for consulting or some other business. I'm 100% in favor of that since the early stages of a startup are often full of non-starts.
  - crowdbloom 7y ago
    Sure. I can agree with that part. One doesn’t have to form corporations for each idea, but if you are taking payments and offering a service or product that may impact another person or business then being protected is important.
    - ska 7y ago
      Agreed - the risk/reward seems off here. It will probably be fine, but you could potentially end up in legal hell and risk your family assets. Why not a "parent" company you keep going indefinitely, spin off other entities as needed? This all varies by jurisdiction of course, but last time I did something like this I filled out the paperwork myself and it cost a couple hundred only. Gets more complicated with more structure, etc. and any legal work you need - but you don't need to pay for that before it's justified.

grantsch 7y ago

you can sell it to my team then you won't have to open to potentially doing a profit-sharing deal as well if it's good. grantschiller18 at [google's email service] dot com

jkeuhlen 7y ago
Just curious, without any other information presented at all, you just buy up people's side projects? How does this work?
- grantsch 7y ago
  We want to work on something cool and this is one way to jump in. I think it's really case by case if it works or not.
megablast 7y ago
You have a “team”, yet Gmail is your primary email? Ok
- sonicxxg 7y ago
  Let me guess, his LinkedIn bio is just "Entrepreneur".