IndieHackers - 🗞 What's New: Level up with coworking

Coworking spaces have great benefits:

• From higher productivity to better mental health, coworking can be great. Vet spaces by checking socials and talking to people who work there.
• Launch mistakes to avoid: Not having a range of offerings for all budgets, not charging enough, and spending too much on paid ads.
• Starting a marketing agency helped Javier Velazquez fund three SaaS projects. He's not opposed to debt, but he is opposed to paying interest.

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by James Fleischmann

Working from coworking spaces can pay dividends in the form of higher productivity, better product, more connections, and better mental health. It's also expensive and, according to the news, a pretty terrible business model.

The pros of coworking

Alex Hillman:

I think the top benefit of coworking is it can be a mental health tool. Isolation and loneliness are quiet killers, and folks don't even realize how bad it is until it's too late. Having a place where you can go as a part of your routine is a total game changer.

Charlie Ward:

Assuming you can currently afford it, and have access to a quality space of like-minded folks, coworking is right for:

• People who don't have a productive work setup.
• People who feel their current work setup deprives them of in-person connections.
• People who want to connect with and learn from people with complementary skillsets and experiences.

A good coworking space is not just the physical building, it's the community you join. The right community can change your life.

Lydia Stepanek:

As someone who used to work from home most of the time, splurging on a coworking space gives me a separation between home and work. That keeps me more motivated because I get time to relax every day when I’m in my “home” space.

The cons of coworking

Charlie:

If it's out of your budget, or you're more introverted, then you may prefer to work by yourself or join an online community instead.

Drew Thomas:

Half the point for me is to actually be at home.

Going to a coworking space = Going to an office, IMO.

Choosing the right coworking space

Alex:

Check their website and social media. Look for photos of people instead of empty spaces.

Look for any events they have coming up, and attend them. Talk to folks who work there.

Ask if they have a trial period, either free or paid. Put yourself in common areas, rather than hiding in a corner.

In all cases, I suggest noting whether folks actually talk to each other. Look for signs of life, creativity, and member contributions.

Charlie:

Look for spaces that you can afford, are convenient to get to, and have a good vibe. Most importantly, the space should focus on building a community of like-minded people as its mission.

Discuss this story.

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Check out Growth Trends for more curated news items focused on user acquisition and new product ideas.

by Mark Woodhall

I launched my productized software development service in June, and in the first month, my product hit $10K+ in revenue. But I made some major mistakes along the way. Let's dive in!

Not having a cheaper offering

My product is relatively expensive (~$6K per month). However, the pricing is below what you would expect to pay for a seasoned senior software engineer on either a permanent salary, or a day rate contract.

Around 70% of my leads have shown great interest, but could only make it work at a lower price point. Most of these are early-stage startups without much funding, or indie hackers with a limited budget.

I should have anticipated this, and tried to make the product work for a range of price points.

Going forward, I'm planning to reevaluate the pricing tiers and try to come up with a viable, more affordable plan for startups. I've been considering several ideas, but want to make sure I get it right!

Running paid ads

As someone with little experience in advertising, I believe I've probably wasted money running paid ads. Even worse, I've wasted a lot of time.

Running ads on Facebook resulted in leads that looked a bit like this:

I'd respond politely and say that I didn't think I could help right now, and I'd often receive a lot of abuse in response.

Running ads on LinkedIn didn't really result in any leads, but at least that meant a lot less abuse!

Going forward, my plan is to focus on building my own personal brand, contributing relevant content to social media networks, and relying on word-of-mouth. Maybe I'll evaluate paid ads again, but they will likely be in targeted newsletters or similar.

Not charging enough

Even though around 70% of leads couldn't afford the price, the remaining customers could. Feedback from those customers indicates that they would have paid more for the service provided, particularly customers for whom our services have directly reduced other costs, such as cloud hosting.

In addition to reevaluating the pricing tiers to accommodate lower-budget clients, I also need to consider those with higher budgets. I wouldn't want to increase the base price, so that means coming up with a unique offering for those who can pay more. As of yet, I'm not sure what that is!

Discuss this story.

🛠 What are you working on? Posted by Alucardvania.

😬 So much stress and anxiety. Posted by Dubbeltje.

👀 What I learned from my failed business. Posted by RickLateOne.

🤓 Feedback on my Product Hunt launch strategy? Posted by Dan Chadney.

🙅 I'm done with all these "success stories" online. Posted by Enos Codes.

🌟 Describe your ideal customer in 10 seconds with this tool. Posted by Dan Kulkov.

Want a shout-out in next week's Best of Indie Hackers? Submit an article or link post on Indie Hackers whenever you come across something you think other indie hackers will enjoy.

by James Fleischmann

Javier Velazquez started a marketing agency and used it to fund and build three profitable SaaS products. Indie Hackers caught up with him to talk about the numbers behind his success.

The numbers

Javier breaks it down:

• Formwise revenue: $6.7K MRR.
• Formwise founder pay: $0.
• Total revenue from Brandlyft (marketing agency), Lead Dragon (SaaS), and White Label Chat GPT-3 (SaaS): $35K MRR.
• Other income streams: <$100K (marketing agency, SaaS, and CMO consulting).
• Personal savings: ~$50K.
• Business savings: Six months of runway without revenue.

Formwise's expenses are pretty minimal, and they're paid by Javier's marketing agency:

• Server: $200 per month.
• Webflow: $50 per month.
• Monday: $100 per month.
• Canva: $12 per month.
• Loom: $14 per month.
• Bubble: $150 per month.
• Marketing: $2K per month.
• Total: $2,876 per month.

And here are his personal expenses:

• Mortgage: $1.6K per month.
• Insurances: $500 per month.
• Utilities: $500 per month.
• Food: $500 per month.
• Gas: $100 per month.
• Miscellaneous: $500 per month.
• Total: $3.7K per month.

Cultivate the right mindset

When Javier got out of high school and started paying bills of his own, he came to realize how quickly money comes and goes. So, he decided to enjoy the money he had. That doesn't mean he spends it willy-nilly, but he also doesn't stress about it.

He also surrounded himself with good mentors and advisors that he could draw experience from.

Build businesses that fund new businesses

Javier started his marketing agency, Brandlyft, right out of high school, bringing on a partner a few years later. He soon became interested in the SaaS world, but didn't have the technical background, so he found a third partner to build the ideas he had.

He already had a good reputation in the agency world, so he was able to cross-sell and build another revenue channel. That's how he built LeadDragon and White Label Chat GPT-3.

Then, this March, he launched Formwise, which has already hit $6.7K MRR. Currently, it's a side project.

And the great thing about all of this? Formwise is fully funded by the marketing agency. It pays nearly all the bills, including a $2K month marketing budget.

Javier and his partners have decided not to pay themselves from Formwise's revenue until they hit $10K MRR. The amount they take will then increase at certain financial milestones.

They do take home money from the other two businesses.

Never pay interest

Javier isn't opposed to debt, but he is opposed to paying interest.

He always has $1K-$3K debt on his zero-interest credit card. Whenever the offer is about to expire, he refinances to another zero-interest card.

That said, he does have a mortgage and a car loan.

He keeps it lean, and focuses on getting revenue before investing in things that aren't completely necessary.

Discuss this story.

by Tweetmaster Flex

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Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to James Fleischmann, Darko, and Mark Woodhall for contributing posts. —Channing