Ask HN: None of my SaaS projects succeeded, how can I improve?

[m0wer]

Hi! I'm m0wer, a software engineer living in Spain.

Since a very young age, I have been creating software projects and trying to monetize them. See https://sgn.space/ for a full list with description and revenue of each.

My dream is to become a solopreneur and work on open source projects.

Despite multiple attempts, and having learned a lot on the way, I'm still very close to 0 in terms or MRR. I'm not sad about it, but I definitely want to improve.

Should I just keep trying? Am I on the right track? How can I improve?

Hope this post helps others who are in a similar situation.

Cheers!

[mouse_]

I'm no VC, so take my advice with a grain of salt.

The problem is not your skillset. The problem is your scope. I've browsed through your projects and none of them are something I feel many people would have a need or desire for.

You need to look at people's complaints about the current ecosystem, you need to find out what it is people want that they don't currently have. Offer solutions.

[m0wer → mouse_]

Thanks for your answer!

Do you have any suggestions on how to get started on that? Finding out what people want and don't have. Specially things that many people would want.

[mmarian]

You've earned c. 400 EUR more than me by the looks of it! There's a few options you have:

1. Partner up with a business-minded person. I've tried this before, didn't work. You still need luck finding a person who's able to identify the right opportunities.

2. Acquire sufficient experience through your day job. But you still need to be in an industry where it's possible to start something of your own.

3. Find an area you're genuinely interested and dive into it - including networking with other people.

[m0wer → mmarian]

I think number 3 is the way to go. Maybe it just takes time.

Thanks for your comment!

[sabrina_ramonov]

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I'd suggest partnering with someone who already has distribution in an area that's genuinely interesting to you. Distribution could be in the form of an existing social media following, blog, or email list. At a minimum, you will learn a lot, really fast, by building for an existing audience with real problems and iterating with their feedback.

[m0wer → sabrina_ramonov]

Sounds very reasonable. Thanks for the idea!

[dimitrisnl]

You're building low-effort apps for developers. The last 1 is called `shitcoins.club`. Why do you expect me to pay for it?

Try working as a contractor, building apps for companies, and then you'll see actual opportunities and missed chances.

[m0wer → dimitrisnl]

Thanks for your answer.

The app you mention is not something that I developed, I developed an app on top of it (notifications for crypto ATM fees changes). But I get your point.

Some apps have much more effort than that one, but that hasn't changed their performance.

The thing about contracting is that I personally find it much harder to fix problems that I don't have. And I generally see the advice of fixing your own problems. I'm a freelance software engineer, and that is going well. What I would like to improve at is at building SaaS tools.

[billconan]

maybe it's a marketing issue?

[m0wer → billconan]

Why do you think so? How would you promote this kind of projects?