IndieHackers - 🗞 What's New: Feedback > revenue

Feedback is worth its weight in gold, especially if you're just starting out:

• Feedback helps you achieve product-market fit and create sustainability. But be sure to gather feedback only from high-quality sources.
• People need to organize their life and work. Create, grow, and monetize Notion templates that help them do that.
• $6M ARR in 3 years with an e-commerce brand. Ben Leonard focused on stellar customer service and outreach to grow, then exited for 7 figures.

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by Jay Tan

I know what you're thinking: How can feedback be more important than runway? But it is, especially in the first 6-12 months after launch. Why? Because feedback is what leads you to the coveted product-market fit.

It's what turns your fledgling side project into a sustainable long-term business with a working business model.

Source only from high-quality feedback channels

The best place to get feedback is from people who:

1. Don't know you (strangers).

2. Fit your ideal customer profile (ICP).

3. Are put in a spot to pay, preferably right at that moment.

Friends make the worst customers

It might seem tempting, even natural, to launch to your friends, family, online circle, and others in your safe space. But this is one of the best examples of why you wouldn't want revenue over feedback.

First off, this "revenue" doesn't count. Worse still, it muddles the data and gives you false validation.

Secondly, their feedback is likely to be useless, since they're tiptoeing around the truth, trying to be polite, and trying not to hurt your feelings.

Plus, most of them probably don't even fit your ICP.

Prioritizing revenue over feedback in practice

Last month, I launched Zylvie to a room of literal strangers: A private Facebook group for software enthusiasts, with 17K members.

It was a tough crowd, and I saw my baby torn to shreds in real time. It hurt and it was demoralizing, but it was necessary for my business to grow.

The feedback was harsh, but these were people who fit my ICP. They have paid for similar software in my niche for years. I've studied all 100+ comments on that Facebook post, summarized all the feedback, and reworked my entire product roadmap based on that one post alone.

A caveat

If customers had it their way, you would offer everything for free. Be firm and set boundaries when customers ask for various upgrades for free, even if they are paying customers.

It's your business, and you need to consider its sustainability. Feedback is intel, but maintain your boundaries.

Actionable business insights are worth their weight in gold!

If you enjoyed this, consider subscribing to my newsletter, where I send my top learning about entrepreneurship each week in a one minute read.

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from the Growth Trends newsletter

🏛 A US TikTok ban is looking more and more likely.

💻 Must-have landing pages for every SaaS company.

💲 Link to your product here. Our most affordable ad.

🕚 Where web users spend time vs. where traffic referrals originate.

✅ How to verify a data breach.

💼 Here's the best time to hold a meeting.

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

from the Trends.vc newsletter by Dru Riley

Problem

You need to organize your life and work.

Solution

Notion templates help you manage notes, tasks, and projects all in one place.

Players

Notion templates:

• Lifestyle Tracker: Focus on things that matter, by Rosie Sherry.
• Property Listing: Property portfolio for real estate agencies, by Santosh.
• Freelance OS: Track your projects and clients, by Easlo.
• Task Architect: Task management system, by Pascio.

How to build

• Offer micro-templates that focus on one job-to-be-done.

• Build in public to earn trust and early customers.

• Find inspiration in others’ work. Take the guesswork out of what to build. Fernando Cordeiro based User Research Playbook on The Mom Test and Deploy Empathy.

How to grow

• Offer freemium templates to lower customer acquisition costs.

• Offer free templates as lead magnets to build an email list.

• Use affiliate marketing to get others to share your templates.

How to monetize

• Offer one-time pricing to lower buyer fatigue.

• Build custom templates for a fixed fee.

• Upsell a 1:1 version with personalized help. Done-with-you is more valuable than do-it-yourself.

Predictions

• We’ll see more custom widgets for personalizing Notion templates.

• SaaS products will be inspired by Notion. They will try to be just as simple and elegant.

• We’ll see more all-in-one templates. These are operating systems for your work, business, and life.

Haters

“Templates have limitations. It’s better to find a SaaS for your needs.”

Most SaaS are closed-source businesses. They, too, have limitations. But you can’t tailor their interface to your needs.

“It’s hard to differentiate.”

While the core is the same, you can add a service to stand out. It’s harder to copy a 1:1 call, cohort-based course, or community.

“These templates are easy to clone.”

Don't fear the competition. Distribution is what matters.

Links

• Making $500K with Notion Templates.
• Building a Report on Notion Templates.
• Selling Notion Templates.
• $100K MRR Selling Notion Templates.

Related reports

• Audience-First Products.
• Micro-Education Businesses.
• Personal Brands.

Become a Trends Pro Member to get the full report on Notion Templates, or get the next free Trends.vc report here.

Discuss this story, or subscribe to Trends.vc for more.

💰 I quit X until I reach $5K MRR. Posted by Dmytro Krasun.

🛠 Back to indie hacking after burning $100K. Posted by Dagobert Renouf.

💵 Landed my first client with 100% upfront payment. Posted by Daniel Pirciu.

📱 Get 200 paying customers from X in one month. Posted by Igor Den.

👨‍🏫 Lessons from my third year running a SaaS. Posted by Max Rozen.

💀 Google is going to kill my product. Posted by Orlie.

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 Marc Andre

Each week, Flip My Site publishes an inspiring success story featuring a founder growing and selling an online business. Ben Leonard hit $6M ARR, with no previous experience in e-commerce or online businesses.

Beast Gear's rise to dominance can be attributed in large part to its branding, which created passionate, loyal customers.

The backstory

In 2016, Ben was working as an ecologist in Aberdeen, Scotland, when he was forced to take several months off due to pericarditis, a heart condition with potentially serious health ramifications.

Being a fitness enthusiast, Ben was upset about the reality of not getting physical exercise. He decided to take the plunge and launch Beast Gear.

Ben believed there was an opportunity to stand out in the market by offering quality, affordable products. Beast Gear’s first product was a jump rope called the Beast Rope. Ben used his own savings, and a loan from his parents, for that initial investment, and started selling on Amazon.

Growing Beast Gear

While some Amazon sellers simply try to find low-competition products, Ben focused on building a legitimate brand. He created inclusive marketing that appealed to people who may have been looked down upon by other fitness brands with an elitist approach. Ben went to great lengths to use social media to connect with Beast Gear’s target audience. He also created a YouTube channel, where he published product demonstration videos.

Instagram was particularly effective. Ben would respond whenever a customer tagged Beast Gear in a post about a personal achievement. He would send a private message of congratulations, a discount code for a future order, and also ask for a product review on Amazon.

Ben also used a chatbot to grow the business. Customers would receive a product info PDF with a link to a chatbot that offered a coupon for a future purchase, and a link to demonstration videos. This also gave the customer a point of contact if they had any issues, allowing Ben to provide excellent customer service.

This proactive approach built goodwill, helping Beast Gear amass a loyal fan base. Whenever the brand launched a new product, Ben could send a message to the chatbot subscribers to gain initial momentum.

Eventually, Ben started paying himself, and quit his full-time job as an ecologist.

The exit

In just three years, Ben Leonard grew Beast Gear to $6M ARR. Despite the seven figure sales volume, the business was still run by a lean team of remote freelancers.

With such a high percentage of Beast Gear’s sales coming from Amazon, Ben realized that an account suspension or termination would have been devastating. Although he carefully followed all of Amazon’s rules, he decided to eliminate that risk by selling the brand.

The brand was acquired by Thrasio, an e-commerce aggregator. The seven figure price included 60% cash upfront, and 40% as an earn-out over a period of two years. A case study published on Thrasio’s website shows that Beast Gear’s revenue increased by 60% after the acquisition.

The brokerage

Ben’s experience with selling led him to form a new online business brokerage. He partnered with his accountant to form EcomBrokers in 2020.

Although Ben cofounded EcomBrokers after exiting Beast Gear, he’s still actively involved in growing e-commerce businesses, in order to best serve his consulting and brokerage clients.

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Special thanks to Jay Avery for editing this issue, to Gabriella Federico for the illustrations, and to Jay Tan, Darko, Dru Riley, and Marc Andre for contributing posts. —Channing