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A comment on Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?. Parent comment

Re:Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop stil... by caseysoftware on Tuesday December 13, 2016 @11:21AM (#13167930)
I did exactly that ~10 years ago and made pretty good money with it at $50/install.

My plugin allowed you to put in your hotel when you traveled. Then it showed a list of your current & past customers' offices that were within X miles. Now you can fire off those "btw, I'll be in town in 2 weeks, we should talk about X" emails well in advance.

If I had to do it now, I'd tie into Tripit or Google Calendar to get the most accurate info, pull the data from your CRM, and send you an email with some "last contact" info & links to email them.

Oh.. and I'd make it a monthly charge instead of a one-time purchase.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop stil... by seibelj on Tuesday December 13, 2016 @11:25AM (#13167985)
Absolutely about the recurring revenue. Make it monthly or annual with a steep discount, but auto-renew. When I make mobile apps with advertisements, removing the ads is a yearly fee, not a one-time payment. Otherwise, they get lifetime benefits which does not accurately compensate me for my time, and I need to keep making new sales in perpetuity.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop stil... by kkoomi on Tuesday December 13, 2016 @01:38PM (#13169335)
This sounds great, but it doesn't seem easy to pull off. Does it sit well with them and are they willing to pay for something like this? EDIT: wording
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop stil... by seibelj on Tuesday December 13, 2016 @03:05PM (#13170415)
I would rather get die-hard users who would pay yearly, than constantly have to game the rankings to be high enough to get more sales. Even if the rankings change, you can get longterm value out of those who do pay, even if annual payments make less total customers.
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Re:Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop stil... by caseysoftware on Tuesday December 13, 2016 @11:48AM (#13168195)
Yes. If I had just known that 10 years ago. ;)

I think the more important aspect is that the benefits happen regularly. If you close an extra deal a year or lower churn a tiny bit, it's a huge ROI. Which says to me that the price should be non-trivial..

[ Parent | on HN ]