3 ms·

While difficult initially, a small business doesn’t need as much volume though - you might “only” have a few customers, but that’s gonna be enough to feed you a

While difficult initially, a small business doesn’t need as much volume though - you might “only” have a few customers, but that’s gonna be enough to feed you and maybe your family. Plus, small business customers can stick around for longer, because you develop an authentic relationship with them, while delivering similar or better quality product at a fraction of the price of the big ones. I.e. you have an inherent edge, and it’s more about quality than quantity, while the bigger ones simply can’t afford that.

lapcat 3y ago
> a small business doesn’t need as much volume > a fraction of the price of the big ones These two things are inherently in conflict. low volume * low price = low income
- dinvlad 3y ago
  They are not. Low is relative! Where a big company charges you 300,000K/year, I will charge you 30K and I have 10 of you, so still a win for me :-)
  - lapcat 3y ago
    > Where a big company charges you 300,000K/year, I will charge you 30K and I have 10 of you, so still a win for me :-) I think you're inventing an entirely unrealistic hypothetical scenario. The original commenter asked, "What about tackling a large-ish market but competing on price?" How many large-ish markets are there with $300,000K/year products, and moreover, how many $300,000K/year products can be delivered to 10 different customers for $30K each by a 1 person team? This seems completely absurd.
    - dinvlad 3y ago
      Every consultant and successful indie developer does this :-) And no, I’m not talking absolute numbers here. In fact, absolute numbers are sometimes even greater - I know a few prominent solopreneurs who are making millions/year while we argue whether this is possible on HN ;)
      - lapcat 3y ago
        > Every consultant and successful indie developer does this :-) I'm an indie developer. > I know a few prominent solopreneurs who are making millions/year while we argue whether this is possible on HN ;) That isn't the argument. It was never the argument, and nobody has disputed that. So you've clearly just misunderstood the discussion here, which may explain why you keep saying absurd things.
        deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
        dinvlad 3y ago
        Before calling someone's genuine thoughts "absurd", I'd suggest exploring https://readmake.com https://readmake.com book, which goes into much more detail on these thoughts. It was written by one such highly successful indie dev, and I think it's worth giving these ideas a shot. The author also describes many of them on his personal blog: https://levels.io/contact/ https://levels.io/contact/ Another good resource is "It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work", where the authors describe how they've built a highly profitable bootstrapped business, and their philosophy around that, which shares many of these thoughts.

lapcat 3y ago

> a small business doesn’t need as much volume > a fraction of the price of the big ones These two things are inherently in conflict. low volume * low price = low income

dinvlad 3y ago
They are not. Low is relative! Where a big company charges you 300,000K/year, I will charge you 30K and I have 10 of you, so still a win for me :-)
- lapcat 3y ago
  > Where a big company charges you 300,000K/year, I will charge you 30K and I have 10 of you, so still a win for me :-) I think you're inventing an entirely unrealistic hypothetical scenario. The original commenter asked, "What about tackling a large-ish market but competing on price?" How many large-ish markets are there with $300,000K/year products, and moreover, how many $300,000K/year products can be delivered to 10 different customers for $30K each by a 1 person team? This seems completely absurd.
  - dinvlad 3y ago
    Every consultant and successful indie developer does this :-) And no, I’m not talking absolute numbers here. In fact, absolute numbers are sometimes even greater - I know a few prominent solopreneurs who are making millions/year while we argue whether this is possible on HN ;)
    - lapcat 3y ago
      > Every consultant and successful indie developer does this :-) I'm an indie developer. > I know a few prominent solopreneurs who are making millions/year while we argue whether this is possible on HN ;) That isn't the argument. It was never the argument, and nobody has disputed that. So you've clearly just misunderstood the discussion here, which may explain why you keep saying absurd things.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
      - dinvlad 3y ago
        Before calling someone's genuine thoughts "absurd", I'd suggest exploring https://readmake.com https://readmake.com book, which goes into much more detail on these thoughts. It was written by one such highly successful indie dev, and I think it's worth giving these ideas a shot. The author also describes many of them on his personal blog: https://levels.io/contact/ https://levels.io/contact/ Another good resource is "It Doesn’t Have to Be Crazy at Work", where the authors describe how they've built a highly profitable bootstrapped business, and their philosophy around that, which shares many of these thoughts.