Comment by lynx234 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lynx234 | Hacker News Reader

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It sounds like you want to build a successful business, but end up building another coding project. I think that this is very common withs devs and the vision involved in each (business vs project) is incredibly different.

For one, a good business does not have to be innovative, it just has to be something you can sell. You might be able to make the most innovative AI to do X, but if it is not useful to anyone, it won't matter how innovative it is.

It's fantastic for a coding project, just not for a business.

I think the big difference is doing the non-technical part well (sales, marketing, branding, networking) and having the vision for what your business should look like.

Personally, I like to read IndieHackers to see what others have done well. A lot of it tends to be overcoming technical challenges and then business side work. Seems like you can handle the technical challenges!

There is. while book series on this very topic. The authors style doesn't suit everyone, but I agree with him.

Michael Gerber's The E-Myth Revisited should be required reading for anyone thinking about starting a business or for those who have already taken that fateful step. The title refers to the author's belief that entrepreneurs--typically brimming with good but distracting ideas--make poor businesspeople. He establishes an incredibly organised and regimented plan, so that daily details are scripted, freeing the entrepreneur's mind to build the long-term success or failure of the business.

The 3D printer repair one seemed like a straightforward small business. However it is a very small or local market - hobbyists tend to know how to fix them on their own and big businesses get support plans from manufacturers. Not impossible though.

The bloom app could be either improved or even pivoted. Quite promising, but unless it becomes a real business or is really the best of is class it can easily be cloned and undercut.

The "smart" watch of this kind litters the Kickstarter for example... and it is too nerdy to scale.

Others are random hacks. :)

Rentals (not repairs), to be clear, but man were they heavy to ship. I did have a few rentals to bigger companies (Google, Samsung), sometimes it's easier for them to rent.

Yeah, most of them are random hacks. I don't mean to imply they were all intended to be businesses, though some were. More just meaning I have a lack of direction and haven't produced much of real value, despite thinking I was. After ten years, you realize the code and time spent starts to pile up.

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