Got an offer, should I sell or keep building?
I am looking for your feedback. I am building FlatGA, it has attracted a potential buyer. I released 2.0 very recently, I have not yet tried enough customer acquisition channels, so I don't know its true potential. I would love to know your view on the product, whether it has a good potential or selling is a better option.
The value of the product, i.e. whether it is "good" or not, lies in the eyes of the beholder (in this case, the buyer) - so I'm not sure I can answer that for you.
To sell or not to sell:
Do you have a figure in mind? Have you said to yourself, "For $x I will let go of this project, and start on the next one"? Because I'm quite sure you have more than one project going on, as most indie makers do. Selling this one may just be the catalyst you need to start on and fund your next project.
Do you enjoy the building process, and want to continue being behind its growth? Not ready to let go of this baby yet? If you love building, is there a way to work out a deal where you sell the biz yet retain involvement as a paid employee of sorts? Re: Courtland Allen > Indie Hackers > Stripe.
You haven't indicated how far in the talks you are with the buyer. In my experience, a lot of buyers are just "shopping around". The sale may or may not end up going through, but these are some things you might want to decide on anyway, to prepare yourself for future potential buyers.
Ultimately the decision is yours. I hope things work out for you either way - all the best!
Thank you Carl, I had a number in my mind, this number is close enough. The emotional side of letting go of my project is huge here, but as you said, it could act as a catalyst for my next project. I do enjoy the process, I built it out of my own need. But I am not sure if I can act as a paid employee, but that's an interesting point. We have just started talking, so yes it could go either way. I will keep you posted.
hmmmmm … hmmmmm … hmmmmm
or selling is a better option.
well, nobody can answer that for you, because there are too many factors at play. where you can get some help is with the questions you should be asking yourself.
- How attached are you to this project?
- How badly do you need money?
- How much energy do you want to put into it in the future? <- very important
Starting from the product, website statistics are always in demand. it has a reason why google have this in its portfolio. But your product only has potential if you put energy into it. And that is the basic question for you, how much of your time and energy do you want to put into it (in the next month, year, years)?
and then you have to see if the offer makes sense for you
additionally you need some math, how much energy do you have to put in to get 10 / 100 customer. your average price will be 5$ per user. How much do have currently and how much energy did you put into it (not the dev time)
eq: if you needed for 10 customer 12 hours a day and 4 weeks (that would be very intense, 5124) at an hourly rate of $50 = 12000$, so it would be cost you 12k$ to get 10 customer. (this is all just a quick estimate)
but if you let the whole thing go through your head with your numbers, then you know about, hey how much do I need to live on it and how much energy do I have to put in, does it pay off … then you can consider all this easier.
BUT no one can figure out the emotional side of it. You have to know that for yourself. :-)
//edit btw, 50$ an hour is very cheap for IT stuff. We calculate with 100€
Thank you, yeah, I need to make a call based on a number of factors. More importantly, selling could motivate my maker journey at the cost of letting go of my first popular project. Whether I can build a bigger audience or not is the question that keeps running on my head now.
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