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Living legend! Lifestyle biz bootstrappers ftw. Since I cannot ask you your actual ARR, can you answer if you believe it's feasible to reach high 7 figures/low

by mezod 2y ago

Living legend! Lifestyle biz bootstrappers ftw. Since I cannot ask you your actual ARR, can you answer if you believe it's feasible to reach high 7 figures/low 8 figures in ARR as a solopreneur over a long period of time? I don't mean 1 year $10M ARR AI trendy apps, but a consistent $10M ARR business year after year >20 years.

busymom0 2y ago
Lookup the reddit and hacker news posts about Photopea. If I remember right, he's doing millions: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=Photopea&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
hermitcrab 2y ago
I can think of 1 solo bootstrapped founder who says he is doing ~$1 million dollars per year. But he is an outlier. The more sales you make the more admin/sales/support overhead there is. Eventually you reach a point where your sales plateau or you take on staff to keep growing.
aqueueaqueue 2y ago
Yes. Not me, but check out indiehackers as they show stripe-verified revenues.
- hermitcrab 2y ago
  But not their expenses? Revenue != Profit.
  - aqueueaqueue 2y ago
    Most of these businesses are software as a service so it is mostly profit. There will be some hosting and marketing costs sure. Unlike startups they are solo operated and usually won't hire people unless they can really afford it an need it.
    - hermitcrab 2y ago
      Advertising can be very expensive.
      - aqueueaqueue 2y ago
        90%+ of those IH businesses must be making a profit. They are bootstrapped by frugal people. They aren't likely to blow all their profit on ads once they hit 1M arr.
jwr 2y ago
>$300k ARR is definitely doable with a B2B product and it lets you live comfortably in most places in the world without worrying about money. I think >$1M ARR is hard, you need an exceptional niche (high margin, low support load, easy marketing) and luck. I can't see a >$10M ARR happening for a solo-founder business. At least not for my business niche. Bear in mind that growing a SaaS takes time and it's a multi-year project.
sgerenser 2y ago
I'm sure its possible, but I'd be very surprised if this particular product (due to being fairly niche, and one-time purchase vs. subscription) was earning > $1M ARR, let alone $10M. But I could be wrong!

by mezod 2y ago

busymom0 2y ago

Lookup the reddit and hacker news posts about Photopea. If I remember right, he's doing millions: https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&query=Photopea&sort=byPopularity&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

hermitcrab 2y ago

I can think of 1 solo bootstrapped founder who says he is doing ~$1 million dollars per year. But he is an outlier. The more sales you make the more admin/sales/support overhead there is. Eventually you reach a point where your sales plateau or you take on staff to keep growing.

aqueueaqueue 2y ago

Yes. Not me, but check out indiehackers as they show stripe-verified revenues.

hermitcrab 2y ago
But not their expenses? Revenue != Profit.
- aqueueaqueue 2y ago
  Most of these businesses are software as a service so it is mostly profit. There will be some hosting and marketing costs sure. Unlike startups they are solo operated and usually won't hire people unless they can really afford it an need it.
  - hermitcrab 2y ago
    Advertising can be very expensive.
    - aqueueaqueue 2y ago
      90%+ of those IH businesses must be making a profit. They are bootstrapped by frugal people. They aren't likely to blow all their profit on ads once they hit 1M arr.

jwr 2y ago

>$300k ARR is definitely doable with a B2B product and it lets you live comfortably in most places in the world without worrying about money. I think >$1M ARR is hard, you need an exceptional niche (high margin, low support load, easy marketing) and luck. I can't see a >$10M ARR happening for a solo-founder business. At least not for my business niche. Bear in mind that growing a SaaS takes time and it's a multi-year project.

sgerenser 2y ago

I'm sure its possible, but I'd be very surprised if this particular product (due to being fairly niche, and one-time purchase vs. subscription) was earning > $1M ARR, let alone $10M. But I could be wrong!