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  2. Should I sell my product or keep it running at a loss...

Should I sell my product or keep it running at a loss (monetise it later)?

Dhravya Shah
5 replies
Twitter just announced that there will no longer be free access to the twitter API. (https://twitter.com/TwitterDev/s...) Hi! I'm Dhravya - a 17 year old maker. I have a small twitter tool - https://twitter.com/poet_this, which includes the website https://tweets.beauty and the API https://api.tweets.beauty I got some donations at the start which helped me pay for the hosting costs, but that's been it. And the main problems start here. I'm a student and indie developer, and I have crucial examinations coming up in just 20 days. I wanted to monetise the bot after exams to create a revenue stream for myself, but the timing is very, very bad. So, what do I do? - Loss for a couple of months and monetise later - Sell the project + twitter acc and start with a new side project right after the exams - Ask for donations and keep the project free for as long as I can - Sell the entire codebase for 150$ (on license basis? not sure.) If I choose to sell the project, where do I sell a side project? How do I get buyers? Here's why I kept my project free: - Proof of work. - I wanted the maximum number of users so that I could have a boost for later projects - It wasn't expensive to host or difficult to make, and I don't think I could provide enough value. What do you think? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Replies

Swapnil D Puranik
Hey Dhravya, it is so cool to see young indie makers like yourself! First of all, many congratulations for building this tool! My recommendation is two pronged - if it is not so much a strain on your financials, keep it for the next 2-3 months - scale it to revenue stage and then sell. If not, then there are marketplaces like https://indiemaker.co/ microacquire, unlovedproject, etc. where you can list the project for sale.
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Fabian Maume
You can consider using web scraping instead of the tweeter API. It might lower the running cost to keep the project alive. Otherwise, I would recommend you to boost the traction with a product hunt launch and sell the project withing 3 months max to not jeopardize your personal finance.
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Your Donate on Ko-Fi is broken most likely
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Nauman Tariq
Hi Dhravya, First like to congratulate you, this is an achievement in your age, keep it up! Here's some advice for your situation: a. Selling the project and Twitter account could bring in some immediate revenue, but it could also limit your potential for future revenue if you had plans to monetize it later. b. Hosting costs can be hard to cover even with donations, and asking for donations can be hit or miss. c. Selling the entire codebase on a license basis could also be an option, but it may not bring in a significant amount of money, would suggest sell whole IP Considering your upcoming exams, it may be best to keep the project running at a loss for now and monetize it later, after your exams are done. GitHub, Reddit, social media, and online communities related to your niche are effective places to reach out to potential buyers of your project. Best of luck with your exams and upcoming indie projects :)
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