All the products I've ever made
Quantity is a quality all its own
A list of everything I’ve ever made over the years – all 35 of them.
And only 3 are still making money currently:
That’s a hit rate of only 8.5% for making profitable products.
Ship MORE.
Doing up this spreadsheet was fun. A few interesting themes emerged:
I started my 1st business in 2011. That’s more than a decade since!
My 2nd biz (Outsprint Design) from 2015 still accounts for 90% of my revenue. It’s wild to think anything you made on 2nd try would have this much longevity and endurance.
2018 was the year of public design products. It was also when I started indie hacking, bringing the indie approach to creating social impact products.
Out of the total 35 products, 33 started in the last 5 years, since 2018. When I was 38. I sure am a late bloomer! But when I do start, I go go go.
I only learned to code my own products from 2019. But I already made 11 things by then (using Wordpress)! The point here is: Coding is not necessary for making.
2020 was the year of COVID products… understandably. It was my way of coping with the crisis, by making things that could make a difference. It’s a way to reclaim some sense of control over the whole pandemic that’s out of our control.
Products made for a particular phase or season in life are susceptible to short lifespans. Like my COVID projects, or the keto one. That doesn’t mean they’re not worth doing. It just means I got to build it with an expiry date in mind, even if it’s self-inflicted.
The underlying thread weaving all the products together is that they were all in niches where I had direct experience in. It could come from my lifestyle (like keto, sleep), or work (like public design), or things I’m living through (like COVID). When I did try products were I never had any experience in (like Restobio for the F&B industry), it fizzled out fast. And the ones with staying power were in niches/topics that were persistent in my life – design (Outsprint), writing/reflection (Lifelog), coding/making (Plugins), social causes (COVID, social good projects). Projecting that ahead, it’ll be safe to say, as long as I stick to projects where I have direct experience and are part of these few persistent themes, it’ll have a better chance of success.
I don’t think I’ll ever stop making. Makers gotta make. And I just can’t help myself! 33 products in 5 years. I’ve theoretically got another 40 years left in me.
That means I might have 264 products ahead!
Onwards.