Staying sane as a solo founder when there's chaos ✨
The world of startups is often glamorized with revenue jumps & user growth but the majority of startups face a lot of setbacks in their journey which are never shared publicly
There are weeks when there are no sales, personal problems, days when self-doubt takes over. All this makes us wonder if we're working in the right direction or need to change course
And if you're a solo founder, then it becomes 2x difficult as the road is much more lonely even though you can be part of a lot of online communities.
It's been 5 months since I quit my job to work full-time on my SaaS product Famewall. Started working on it after using a lot of testimonial tools for my previous projects but found them to be lacking in ease of use & customization.
Once the project had traction, I spent more than 80 hours every week switching between marketing the product during the day & then building it at night
There was a steady increase in paying customers as I focused on growing it sustainably & satisfying existing customers than trying to burn myself out in the process
And currently Famewall's at $161 MRR with the steepest growth during the last month
As I was expecting a brighter month in November, things started looking gloomy with sales flatlining for 2 weeks straight.
I wasn't feeling great for 2 weeks as I tried out all measures to increase traffic by engaging actively on Twitter & Reddit. I had anxiety every time I opened my analytics dashboard
The result was that I was working for more than 12 hours a day but there wasn't much impact on sales
In fact, in the past few months, there have been days when I was working for less than 4 hours a day but had a lot of sales.
I realized that doing things frantically was actually not having any effect on my business but increased my stress instead. If this continued, then it might actually result in burnout.
In fact, I had a burnout last year when trying to build a consumer business with a cofounder in the hopes of raising capital. I remember how it was back then when I had no interest in even opening my laptop.
That's the last thing I'd want for myself & my business.
I took this weekend off to reflect. And then came to observe that I've exhibited this behavior whenever sales flatlined.
While it might appear like I'm making progress in the short term, I was constantly unhappy during such times which defeated the sole purpose of why I quit my job
To be honest, I had a lot of fun when I was building the product & learning new ways to market it while staying curious.
I ended up contemplating a few marketing strategies instead rather than cranking out existing methods. This way I bounced off new ideas & it's become more fun than the usual grind :)
There are definitely going to be days when things are not looking good but we always have to think about our goals from a long-term perspective while also appreciating how far along we've come.
It's so easy to dismiss our small wins & keep nitpicking the bad things that happen to us.
Mentally preparing our minds to stay stoic & closely listening to feedback from users, is the best way to go :)
Sometimes it's okay to take time off for yourself & do things for fun. This way you'll come back with more energy & ideas to build your business 🙌
After all the indie dream is to enjoy working for ourselves even though the journey is long 😉
Thanks for sharing. I've been running Hunter for 12+ and whilst we've got a good reputation in the industry... I still have sleepless nights worrying about our pipeline. It's madness as things tend to work out in the end... but all the anxiety takes over all the same.
Anyhow, there's this great piece of advice from Chris Saad that I received in an email. And I printed it out and stuck it on my wall as a reminder. I've also added it here.
Dealing with the emotional rollercoaster
Startups are rollercoaster rides of high highs and low lows. Sometimes on the same day!
There are a lot of good ways for founders and operators to deal with these emotions.
A terrible way is to lash out at your team and become flaky and inconsistent with the way you engage with your team.
Show up, keep a level head, focus on the big picture, and keep everyone moving forward.
During this downturn, I'm noticing a particular uptick in founders and operators panicking.
This is often demonstrated by the increase in somewhat thrashy decisions that can break established processes, undermine thoughtful execution, and mitigate great outcomes.
Take a breath. Focus. Work the process. Loop in stakeholders. Make good, efficient decisions. Execute well.
I'm reminded of one of my favourite quotes from Star Trek
"When it rains, do you run from doorway to doorway, trying to stay dry, getting wet all the while, or do you just accept the fact that it's raining, and walk with dignity?"
Gedrin - Star Trek: Voyager
Man, this was super inspirational writing, Simon. Thanks for this. Agree with you that we have to come to terms when something goes downhill & think logically rather than acting out of panic
You're welcome. I think it's always great to share. And as Chris says... keep moving forward.
Thanks for sharing, Goutham. I've experienced my fair share of burnout as well. It's a good lesson, if you can learn it :)
Happy that it helped, Matt :)
Hi, great post. I am a sole founder as well and know very well what you are writing about. Keep going!
Thank you Lara :)
This reminds me of a video I watched few months ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4jlPmNLsPY
This is so relatable and full of good advice! I need to keep reminding myself that allowing stressful thoughts to play out doesn't do anything to move the business forward. Content creation and other promotions works in the background regardless of how you feel at the time.
Exactly. We just have to be patient with results :)
I'm so thankful to you for this post.
I feel like I really needed it.
Great article & wish you all the best!
Thanks for the kind words, mate. Wish you the best as well :)
Thanks @goutham8 for you honest post.
I think most of us passed from the same thing. I just wanted to add my own solution to handle these feelings on top of what everyone said.
I just created my youtube channel to listen/relax while I'm actually working on my side projects and to build something small every 2 days by my own.
Check it out here -> youtube.com/@rrelaxingmusic
I hope you also find your own relaxing & recharing activity as well.
Wishing you best!
The list is great!
You own mental wellbeing is central.
Wishing you all the best!
Sure Luise. It seems obvious now but I ignored it back then :)
Good reflection @goutham8. I think you're absolutely right. The Indie journey should be primarily fun.
For me, it was always clear to put my family and a well-balanced lifestyle on top of what I wanted to achieve (regardless of being employed or an indie maker).
Keep on going :)
That's awesome, mate! It's much easier once we come to terms with our primary goals be it putting family, health before anything else :)
That's true. Not saying it's always happening this way but it helped to regularly realign the journey to this goal.
What a refreshing and honest post - I experience the exact same things as a solo founder and similarly find that taking time away creates space for clear and creative thinking.
Enjoying following your journey!
Thank you so much :)
Agreed we just have to take things slowly & trust that we'll eventually figure it out :)
Great Goutham!
It's nice to see you being positive in a hard time. I know it's difficult but remember that a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.
Btw I am working on a text based social media. It would be great if I could receive your feedback on it as you are much more experienced than me ( https://yep.so/p/wisdom-app ). Yor can appreciate it by pre-registering for it (It will push me to work even harder).
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish!,
Bipin
Good luck to you too, buddy :)
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