5 Lessons I Learned Building A $400/month Micro-SaaS Side Hustle

[@YourAverageTechBro]

I built a database of case studies of startups that have successfully grown through organic social media marketing for you to learn from their playbook: thecontentmarketingblueprint.com/?

[@cody_codes_youtube]

I just came on to back up the idea that it's totally a good idea to steal other ideas. No matter what, you will make something that's a little different and you'll have your own flair. Steal Like An Artist

[@rizztraininghamster]

Yeah, a good business trainer in my country always said: steal as much as you can from a successful business in your niche

[@heelercs]

This is funny to me, because in another corner of the internet, artists claim they don’t steal and are always 100% original, but AI art is just theft. In reality, they both steal, because it’s literally impossible to escape the influence of what you’ve seen and learned from other art. I guess people always want to create something that’s truly never been done before, 100% their own and nobody else’s, but that’s literally not possible. You’ll ALWAYS be standing on the shoulders of giants.

[@evangelinemmayie6116]

Cool video. How about a credits purchase billing system? New users could get a limited amount of credits that could be quickly used up and then they'll be required to buy more credits to keep accessing the service.

[@YourAverageTechBro]

Totally possible as well and a model I love since it is also pretty similar to a one time purchase system. My apps never really needed it but with the right app I think the credit buying system is great. iirc OpenAI even just changed their billing to be credits based too.

[@evangelinemmayie6116]

@@YourAverageTechBro nice. I'll use it in my saas

[@CalculusCoder.]

Great work and advice bro.

[@sammydennis4867]

Don't you think a one time purchase is more of a drawback since you need to maintain the saas overtime??

[@YourAverageTechBro]

It varies for each product for sure. I just think a lot of builders immediately default to subscription when they should try to offer as one time purchase as one time purchase increases conversion rate.

[@deFreijtas]

Regarding the subscription vs one time payment, you have to look at your audience. If you are targeting businesses, a subscription model would be more suitable otherwise you are leaving money on the table. Monthly payments aren't that of a turn off for businesses in my experience as a consultant (I often recommend purchasing something that helps them be more productive), they will easily spend monthly + they can easily write it off.

[@alvincodes]

I’d say the pricing model depends on the product. For instance, if you’re building or have an AI product, offering a one-time purchase is not feasible because you need to pay for the AI API. For other products it’s doable.

[@neverstop6088]

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS THINKING, I'm integrating the open ai API to my project and was just thinking how is he doing it because I believe his product is also a AI product

[@Grudanthegrim]

Credits could be a good option. It's still a one-time purchase in that it is not automatically recurring, but still usage based. Also, unless you're rate-limiting the AI API requests, there is still room for abuse even if you're using a subscription model. That goes away if you set up the credit system correctly taking into account your token usage.

[@JakeLYT]

Great video! Small critique from a SaaS marketer, a one-time purchase may convert better but the lifetime value will usually be lower. Getting 0.5% of people to subscribe can still be better than getting 1.3% of people to buy once (depending on how long you're able to retain the customer).

[@hn-ei6fe]

As a SaaS builder, if you're developing a service with a subscription plan that generates an MRR of $400 which means ARR of $4,800, then you can typically exit your SaaS at a multiple of 5x, which is approximately $24,000. On the other hand, with a one-time payment model, it is more challenging to exit the business. therefore, A subscription plan is still a very attractive option

[@YourAverageTechBro]

that is true. there are pros and cons to each. I will say (imo) reaching $400 MRR is much harder than $400 one time purchase. very different game

[@blasttrash]

I am HR at your company. You are not permitted to work on separate app. I will be talking with you tomorrow and we will be taking all money that you made since you made that app while employed with us and therefore that app and all of its profits belong to us. However if the app has any losses, you are free to take them, in fact I insist you take all losses.

[@YourAverageTechBro]

very cool thank you blasttrash

[@Meritumas]

+1 - read NGINX story....

[@sukremez1870]

tell me this is a joke lmao, how is that legal in the first place

[@blasttrash]

@@sukremez1870 I am the HR involved in this case and I have ensured that this person loses all his profits related to this side hustle. P.S. I am just kidding. But I have heard similar crazy things on reddit. Also there is an exaggerated version of this in the tv show called "Silicon Valley"

[@TheHexebus]

​@sukremez1870 because you are working on this app on company time. I don't agree with this but this is what companies do.

[@pandalife1313]

Thnks for that Marketing point/part, Because i think most of us developers usually only tend to focus only on building and building. Without thinking of the marketing part

[@YourAverageTechBro]

100% engineers need to either find a marketing/growth cofounder or dedicates multiple weeks of pure marketing and no engineering imo

[@TheSocialDeveloper]

I’d say become inspired by others ideas instead of stealing them. Definitely want to have your own unique twist. McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy’s all sell what? Burgers, Fries, etc. in different shapes and sizes!

[@YourAverageTechBro]

Yep, agreed!

[@Jackc16F]

finally someone who doesn't claim to make hundreds of thousands a month

[@YourAverageTechBro]

broke boys united

[@captaincrazy138]

thats crazy i was literally thinking about making an app like this lol good to know its a good idea

[@YourAverageTechBro]

just need a marketing edge and if you have one you can definitely still make some money

[@The-Sentinel]

if 1 time purchase is 2-3x better conversion, what would you charge for that versus a monthly subscription price? would it be 10, 20, 30x the monthly price seeing as its 'lifetime'?

[@sarcodian]

I like the one time payment model but how do you handle that in an AI app where you are covering the cost of the AI api calls? Can you give specifics on what works?

[@porobertdev]

it's been 3 months. Did you find an answer to that question yet? I'm curious as well.

[@sarcodian]

@@porobertdev hey. Nope. But testing out one time with pay per use credits. Only thing that’s made sense so far but if you have any other ideas please share.

[@EcomCarl]

Fantastic insights on leveraging existing ideas and targeted marketing! This approach not only validates the market faster but also maximizes reach efficiently, especially when paired with content that resonates with your audience. 🚀

[@userfriendlyi7067]

Hey, i love your videos, i'm a total beginner in coding, i want to start learning to build a web application/ SaS, since you are the expert, can you please guide me with a learning path, i though about html/css- JavaScript with nod.js or express (backend)/react(front). Or ruby on rails (backend) and react frontend. Otherwise Can you please guide me with ur experience which learning path is best for me ?. Regards

[@YourAverageTechBro]

I'd say just use NextJS and host your app on vercel. that should be more than enough to deploy your first web app!

[@remusomega]

I think you’re wrong about a lot. I run a very similar app, and it’s monthly vs yearly subscription. I’ve tested everything. MRR is extremely important since you are paying for the underlying AI. And you are missing out on so much by not running meta ads. For reference, I make 11k MRR, LTV of a customer is 57$ and cost per acquisition is 2$. Pure viral marketing leaves very little in your control and is not sustainable.

[@YaBoyfelipe]

Impressive bro

[@CodeZakk]

Hi how do you handle the ai cost.or do you train your own ai?🎉🎉

[@YourAverageTechBro]

I pay for OpenAI 🙂

[@Neverhood.]

Hi! For which one(AI)? Are you planning to make a full course, where you'll teach us from the beginning to the end? BTW you got my sub. even if this is the 1st video i watched from your channel! Solid content what you bring, nothing fluffy :)

[@ZitoxLD]

What if someone pays for your product (nexus $10/month) but the user uses it so much that it costs you $500 of OpenAI API ?

[@YourAverageTechBro]

We have rate limiting in place to prevent that. Plus if we have bad actors that try to do that, we can always stop them/reduce their allowed usage. Also if the issue is that a user loves the service so much that they use it that much, that's a problem I would be very happy to have haha.

[@Emmanuel-is7gm]

Nice video. If you setup a one-time purchase, would that affect your cost of running the software and MRR?

[@YourAverageTechBro]

Yes but that's where you have to figure out what the usage of your product is going to look like. Not every SaaS is ideal for one time purchase, but I do think a lot more SaaS is better as a one time purchase than people think.

[@arrecismario]

Hi, thanks for sharing your experience with us. I'm just wondering: how do you sustain a One-Time-Purchase model over the time, like forever? How can you plan and budget future growth, features and current users support if there's no recurrent income to support it? I'm not saying it cannot be done or it is not a good approach. I just cannot see how it can be done and I need some light to find my way to implement a On-Time-Purchase model. Being a custumer, I also like the One-Time-Purchase over subscriptions. But, what happens if at some point you stop getting new users to your SaaS? Thanks for sharing your experience. It's very inspiring and helpful. Cheers!

[@YourAverageTechBro]

I think if you stop getting new users on your SaaS then that is a separate problem that needs to be looked at. I mean, even huge companies like Airbnb/uber are still getting new users to this day too so I think your TAM is quite large. Also looking at your LTV/how regularly your users use your product is impt. I don't think one time purchase works for all tools necessarily but I think it works for a lot more SaaS tools than people think.

[@abdullahebrahim4045]

Make more in-depth video on how to advertise. Starr ting from 0

[@YourAverageTechBro]

Planning to!

[@EngineeringFun]

There are people out there who make hundreds of thousands even millions in monthly revenue who sell subscriptions. I guess you need to start producing 20--30 apps to gain more real experience.

[@YourAverageTechBro]

and there are people making hundreds of thousands/millions in revenue with one time purchases. I'm not saying one is better than the other - I only bring up one time purchases because it is a payment model that isn't talked a lot about in SaaS, that's all. I know I can def gain more experience I'm still very early in this whole product building thing. relaxxxxx my friend

[@saas.alexferreira]

tô nessa mesma pegada aqui na minha cidade com meu saas de catálogos e cardápios digitais usando até marketplace tipo ifood já para não ter pessoas envolvidas diretamente na operação. Tenho até ajudado outros a fazerem o mesmo e graças a suas dicas tenho devagar alcançado meu objetivo. Obrigado.

[@navya-s3v]

The course addressed a wide range of topics, including HTML, CSS, and user experience. It offered a complete understanding of web design.

[@PedroS-nv1sl]

I loved this video, but Id like to ask, how can you sustain a one-time purchase for your AI app. I assume you are using 3rd parties like OpenAI, as well as other overheads (server costs, app store fees etc etc). Also, I could see why your conversion rate would be higher for one-time purchase vs subscription, but wouldn't the subscription revenue over a long period of time be more beneficial?

[@mayurjoshi952]

Thank you for the genuine insights on both the product! Really helpful :) How much time did it take for you to build it from scratch -> launch? Did you create an MVP for this?

[@hendoitechnologies]

post micro SaaS Ideas

[@mantisshadow8990]

Great video with lots of excellent insights. However, please do a video where you breakdown all the apps that you have built and the profit you are generating from each.

[@YourAverageTechBro]

hahaha they are all $0 😬 but i can look into reviving old apps

[@mantisshadow8990]

@@YourAverageTechBro Alright thanks for the honesty

[@farid9323]

This one comment has so much honesty in it that it would be enough for me to subscribe to your channel. 😊

[@jagdish1o1]

new to your channel, good stuff. About the subscription and one-time payment, marc louvion has the same opinion on this, in his recent videos he has said something similar. gonna go with pros advice.

[@Under510]

Your insights are incredibly valuable. Thanks for sharing!

[@Hajjat]

My router (eero) wouldn't allow me access ur website: "The site you are trying to visit is not secure."

[@jonatansantos1391]

First thank you for the video, about the one time purchase vs subscription, how to manage long term costs? if your app uses open IA for instance, how you deal with long term costs of using those services?

[@nyan-cp5du]

That sound whenever you display a caption is painful -_-

[@davidjustice8087]

What tools do you use to make demo video for your site?

[@YourAverageTechBro]

www.screen.studio/ is the tool I use

[@JohnDoe-ji1zv]

What else Chinese can suggest 😂😂😂 copy paste is the culture already

[@tanko.reactions176]

lol true.. but innovating is so hard. the last couple of ideas i had, which i thought were extremely unique and genius, turned out to already be on the market, with many alternatives. people have already thought about all imaginable things. its much easier to compete as a better alternative!

[@Fexyy]

What are your monthly running costs? I saw you mention Vercel in another reply. What do they charge to host? Any dns costs or ssl cert costs?

[@vikastiwari6780]

Without your own brain don't work on someone's idea. 😂 Ye to Aisa hua andhi bheed me chalna Bhedchal😁

[@muhammadsaad-ul-haq2210]

How much time did you take to build this app?

[@pequod4557]

3 weeks

[@rohanmarar64]

Nice video

[@Nova-m8d]

Bro, you are talking way too fast. I want to watch the video but it's just too fast. Slow down.

[@ypathan420]

very ali abdaal like thumbnail

[@YourAverageTechBro]

He is definitely an inspiration for content and 100% thumbnail style as inspired by ali abdaal

[@broskisnajdy]

Question tho, having a one-time payment plan.. What if only few people buys your product, and then you decide after some time to shut down the app. As the people paid for the product already - can you even do it? So does it mean you need to maintain your app forever then if they paid for it to not get into troubles ? :D thanks for the answer eventho this might sound as a stupid question, but i was thinking about this

[@YourAverageTechBro]

eh I think it's one of those things where you cross that bridge when you get to it. Worst comes to worse i'll probably just keep the website up to allow them to use it for as long as they want

[@andyborch9886]

So is your 400/month app also a single-time purchase and not a subscription based one? :o

[@YourAverageTechBro]

The one I talked about in this video is a subscription one but I have another app called perfectinterview.ai that’s one time purchase doing ~$500/month

[@mubindid]

TBH I think, marketing is the key right now when it comes to AI wrappers.

[@YourAverageTechBro]

Agreed

[@jzajzz]

Am I missing something? Isnt Nexus research a subscription model?

[@YourAverageTechBro]

Yes it is but I have another app (perfectinterview.ai) that's one time purchase - sorry I should've clarified :)

[@divsyntax9720]

New sub! 👏 Thank you for this advice!

[@faezansar5417]

Such useful content ❤

[@eddiekuo8332]

Hey! just have a quick question about Webstorm. Is it ever laggy to you? Laggy to where any action takes about 3-5 seconds to execute and display on the screen. Initially it was working fine but just recently its been unusable

[@YourAverageTechBro]

I think once in a blue moon it freezes up when refactoring code? but force closing usually fixes it. I haven't had any issues of really bad lag outside

[@GeorgeCy332]

Hello and thank you for the video. Have you got an email. I can contact you with regards to this ? I am really struggling with living costs in the UK and would like to give this a try. I would be grateful for some help. Thank You

[@sam-h5r6j]

How to purchase your app?

[@marianpazdzioch5437]

How do you know that apps that you copied earn mone?

[@YourAverageTechBro]

because the creators of the apps reveal their revenue on Twitter :)

[@krowhenkvothe6010]

u just got a new subscriber

[@hansivann]

Hey man, been loving your content! just a quick comment- not sure if it was on purpose but when you said free trial, video said free trail. @ 5:49 Anyway, keep up the videos man!

[@YourAverageTechBro]

woops, forgot to correct the typo. thanks for pointing that out!

[@healthbarsarchive]

Hi! love watching your videos coz I find them interesting. BTW you can add your new and/or old app(s) URL in your video description.

[@YourAverageTechBro]

sure thing, will do.

[@roronoazoro12373]

May I ask what kind of tool did you use to build your application?

[@YourAverageTechBro]

I have a video up that goes over my entire tech stack 🙂

[@benismailwassim1384]

Gold. Thanks

[@ChrisCleverhead]

Hello and thank you for the video. Have you got an email? I can contact you in regard to this ? I am really struggling with living costs in the UK and would like to give this a try. I would be grateful for some genuine help. Thank You

[@jopadjr]

935th...Thanks

[@12WhiplasH123]

How do you build your apps? From scratch or no code/low code tools?

[@YourAverageTechBro]

from scratch - my day job is a developer so I code everything myself

[@12WhiplasH123]

@@YourAverageTechBro Impressive - I really get inspired by your videos and account!

[@vinaybichave2156]

Thank you for your transparency, a struggling app dev here

[@YourAverageTechBro]

Happy to help! Planning to make more content talking about marketing/growing an app. I feel like a lot of devs (me included) the building part comes pretty naturally and it’s the marketing/growth part that is hard for us to wrap our head around.

[@aecsar]

Thanks!

[@YourAverageTechBro]

No problem - hope you found it helpful!

[@footballfrenzy365]

Hi man , Glad to see your video. I want to learn python... Can I build such apps with it??

[@YourAverageTechBro]

Yep you definitely can!

[@footballfrenzy365]

@@YourAverageTechBro I will definitely love to know how. The internet is very vaste and intemiditing. Like what to use for the front-end and back-end.

[@pablovillarroel6582]

@@footballfrenzy365 Python is a great language, but it depends what your goal is. If you want to make web apps like the one in this video, I recommend you look into React and JavaScript instead of Python!

[@mehamada1]

would you provide the link of that app

[@YourAverageTechBro]

nexusresearch.ai/

[@bunnystrasse]

Free trail

[@thesunshinehome]

*Please timestamp your videos*

[@YourAverageTechBro]

thanks for the suggestion - just added the timestamps.

[@bharathkumarj8842]

Great video and thanks for sharing your insights 👍

[@YourAverageTechBro]

Glad it was helpful!

[@AbhineshAV]

Last sentance is gem.. Not an overnight success...

[@aaronzhong]

[@kaycampbell364]

how did you learn?

[@antwarior]

you have to learn piece by piece, get a small piece of code in JavaScript, rewrite that piece of code over and over every single day, just focus on learning what each line is doing, after you've achieved muscle memory in writing that code without notes then try and add your own code to it without tutorials, i did it with a color changer and a button, click the button the button changes the background, i worked on that one piece of code for months until i didn't need to use a tutorial or notes to finish the entire code, i had so many folders on my screen from me building that color changer over and over everyday but suddenly I start understanding the code and started adding my own pieces of code to change some things in the program, it was beautiful when i finally achieved that

[@elhadji1730]

Can you make a video of how you built this app?

[@Divyv520]

Hey Man , really nice video ! I was wondering if I could help you with Viral Content ideas in your niche , Script , editing , thumbnail , SEO , Growth and analysis , Leads and appointments for your business , etc in all to you ! Pls let me know what do you think ?

[@YourAverageTechBro]

nah i'm good

[@JeffBourke]

Bro you need to learn how to market your videos. “$400:month”??? You should Call it $400k / month to get more views 😂😂😂

[@DerClaudius]

You're right about one-time-purchases... However, especially AI software that needs to use APIs that cost money cannot be financed that way, because ppl will use your app till their api usage eats all your profit

[@YourAverageTechBro]

Yep it is very app dependent. Not every SaaS fits the one time purchase model.

[@sashirkl]

And a worthless app

[@hamzaaqassim7297]

Ok

[@eygs493]

keep lying

[@YourAverageTechBro]

Thank you eygs493 very cool!

[@ericd8909]

Hi, I love your content, I'm currently founding my second saas startup. Want to connect?

[@YourAverageTechBro]

No thank you - just doing my own thing for now. Best of luck!

[@ericd8909]

@@YourAverageTechBro No worries! Wishing you the best of luck too