I would not do any business that will not have a healthy gross profit margin when bootstrapped. I am looking at ideas where the volume will make up for the free cash that per-sale generates.
There are a lot of 'lifestyle' plugin makers that do this.
PS: I do value the input and the time you took to answer. Thanks!
Thanks, Marcelo! One idea I have is to build an email open tracker that does not sell data to third party. Doesn't take time to build and can be priced at a dollar a month. I am looking for tools like these that are not that hard to build if your ambition is not to scale.
Danielle (if you read this), I was rooting for you to succeed (as a fellow entrepreneur in the same space). I hope you would write soon on what worked and what didn't.
Data business is hard for a few reasons:
1. Data is a commodity until it is not. People's contact information is a 'done to death' problem but not solved yet (and probably not solvable completely)
2. Data is capital intensive
3. Data businesses (and the modern ones at that) are more annuity businesses and less like SaaS. Monthly recurring patterns take time to emerge and you need investors that understand this dynamic. They will if you prove that your core hypothesis works and customers are buying more (if not following a strict monthly pattern).
4. You need to have enough money and execution speed to prove your hypothesis. Unlike software where customer development and execution discipline can help you launch a good product, in the data business you need to stitch partnerships early on with data sources. That's not easy.
You tried. Again, I'd love to read your reflections on what you could've done differently.
So how deep does it get when you say, unified control panel? The challenge with myriad tools and unifying them all in one place would mean too much of context overlaps. How do you handhold the users?
Perhaps more than traffic, conversion should be the measure. Good content converts, while link baits could get traffic. Seems like common sense, but would love to see some stats or experiences if anyone has.
Perhaps. Also the economic momentum has made people more driven and those who are not that driven, would still get to work due to peer pressure. We need a 'slowdown movement' of our own!