Intro to "Single Admin" Software-as-a-Service

Summary

This video by Internet of Bugs' Carl delves into building a "Single Admin" Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) project. Carl discusses the advantages of creating a SaaS project as a side activity for software developers, compared to consulting. The video focuses on the concept of "Single Admin" SaaS, which begins as a side hustle and potentially grows into a full-time income. Carl shares insights on starting small, focusing on minimal requirements, and advises against pursuing ideas reliant on network effects. He encourages experimenting, learning through experience, and emphasizes the value of simplicity in software development.

Highlights

• Building a SaaS can transition from a side project to a full-time job 🌟.
• Consulting is less recommended due to constant sales pressures 💼.
• "Single Admin" SaaS focuses on manageable solo operations 🤖.
• The journey emphasizes learning, adapting, and minimalistic approach 📈.
• Steer clear of ideas needing network effects; focus on small, manageable audiences 🎯.
• Automation and external services are your best friends in managing operations 💪.
• Security: Less data storage equals fewer risks! Keep it simple 🔐.
• Starting is crucial, so pick any idea and refine along the way 📊.

Key Takeaways

• "Single Admin" SaaS: A lucrative side hustle with potential to become a full-time gig 🚀.
• Consulting can be stressful due to constant sales needs, unlike product building 💡.
• Start small and prioritize essential features for your MVP (Minimum Viable Product) 🛠️.
• Network effects are risky; choose ideas that don't need a massive audience 🌐.
• Embrace simplicity—store minimal data to reduce security risks 🔒.
• Use automation and external services to manage your workload efficiently 🤖.
• Keep learning, experimenting, and let your unique perspective guide your project path 🌟.
• Adaptability and feedback response are key to SaaS success 🔁.

Overview

In this insightful video by Internet of Bugs, Carl explains his concept of "Single Admin" Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), emphasizing the benefits of this approach as a manageable side project for software developers. Compared to consulting, which requires a heavy focus on sales and can become overwhelming, a SaaS project allows developers to gradually build a product that could eventually replace their full-time job.

Carl shares his experiences and strategies, advising budding entrepreneurs to start small and focus on creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that only encompasses essential features. He warns against engaging in projects that rely heavily on network effects, which require a vast number of users to become successful. Instead, Carl encourages developers to find unique niches and leverage their personal experiences in the development process.

With a focus on automation and minimizing security risks by limiting data storage, Carl suggests using external services for tasks like customer feedback and email management. He emphasizes the importance of learning through doing, adapting based on user feedback, and continually refining the project. The ultimate aim is to keep the project sustainable and enjoyable, making use of available resources to manage the workload efficiently.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to Side Projects for Software Developers The chapter introduces the concept of side projects for software developers, particularly focusing on creating a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) project. It highlights the benefits of side projects, such as improving programming skills, earning extra money, and the potential to develop into a full-time income source. Although consulting is mentioned as another side activity, it is not recommended due to the nature of the work involved.
• 00:30 - 01:30: Consulting vs Software-as-a-Service This chapter discusses the nature of consulting sales, likening it to applying for short-term jobs repeatedly, and the importance of being comfortable with self-promotion. There's advice for those not yet accustomed to selling themselves, suggesting they start with a sales support role before transitioning to consulting. The speaker indicates they occasionally talk about consulting.
• 01:30 - 02:30: Introducing SASaaS: Single Admin Software-as-a-Service The chapter introduces a specific subset of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) called SASaaS, which stands for 'Single Admin Software-as-a-Service' or 'Side Activity Software-as-a-Service,' depending on its stage in the lifecycle. The focus is on how SASaaS can start as a side activity alongside a full-time job, emphasizing that it should not consume all one's time since a day job already exists. The chapter seems to suggest that developing such a product is relatively easier compared to other programming endeavors.
• 02:30 - 03:30: The Journey and Lessons from Building Side Projects Exploration of turning side projects into full-time ventures while maintaining work-life balance.
• 03:30 - 04:30: Legal and Financial Considerations for Side Projects This chapter discusses the financial and legal aspects of running a side project. It highlights that small, niche Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) ideas can be profitable without needing to generate massive revenue, enough only to sustain an individual rather than a whole company. This makes it possible to operate in niches without significant competition, as big companies and startups tend to avoid these less lucrative areas. The idea is to find a market large enough to provide a comfortable income, yet not so large that it invites fierce competition. Furthermore, the use of automation can help manage the project efficiently while keeping it viable. The focus is on identifying viable niches and leveraging digital tools to keep operations smooth and costs low.
• 04:30 - 05:30: Starting and Sustaining a Software-as-a-Service Project The chapter titled 'Starting and Sustaining a Software-as-a-Service Project' discusses the financial, legal, and tax implications of embarking on a SaaS project. The speaker mentions their own experience with side projects, stressing the importance of legal and tax considerations specific to one's location and financial state. They advise seeking professional help, such as a lawyer and a tax accountant, as this investment is beneficial. The speaker recounts their journey from self-education through library books and online resources to eventually hiring professionals.
• 05:30 - 06:30: Exploring SaaS Ideas and Market Considerations In the chapter 'Exploring SaaS Ideas and Market Considerations', Carl, a seasoned software professional with over 35 years of experience, discusses the importance of understanding legal and financial implications before pursuing a SaaS idea. He shares insights from his own journey of starting his LLC in 2005 and emphasizes caution to avoid overlooking critical aspects that could lead to unforeseen challenges.
• 06:30 - 07:30: Avoiding Pitfalls in SaaS Development The chapter discusses the common mistakes that individuals can make in SaaS development. It begins with the personal experiences of the narrator who has been involved in building and shutting down multiple products, consulting projects, and other endeavors. The narrator shares that sometimes these projects were the primary source of income, while other times they did not generate any revenue, primarily due to being engaged in employee work. The chapter emphasizes that while some people create projects with the intention of selling them to a big company for profit, the narrator's intent was never to follow that path. Instead, the narrator's focus was on learning, providing valuable services, and ensuring financial stability for the family. This includes meeting living expenses and saving for retirement. The chapter serves as a lesson on aligning work with personal values rather than solely focusing on financial gain.
• 07:30 - 08:30: Customer Feedback and Minimum Viable Product (MVP) The chapter discusses the distinction between building a Software as a Service (SaaS) product for a living and creating one with the primary intent of selling it for a profit. The focus is on finding a sustainable model for generating income rather than aiming for a lucrative exit. It emphasizes the riskier nature of the latter strategy and suggests that many single-admin SaaS projects may eventually be shut down. The chapter steers away from mainstream 'How to SaaS' advice that concentrates on selling the service.
• 08:30 - 09:30: Outsourcing Non-Core Activities The chapter titled 'Outsourcing Non-Core Activities' discusses the importance of adapting to a constantly changing ecosystem where previous profitable ventures may quickly become obsolete. It emphasizes that success in this area requires consistent effort and is not a quick path to riches. The chapter advises against focusing too heavily on the initial idea for a product or service, as the idea itself is less important than the process of building and adapting over time. It suggests that the journey of creating something valuable requires dedication and perseverance.
• 09:30 - 11:00: Long-Term Planning and Future Topics The narrator discusses the nature of long-term planning, especially in startups and new companies. They argue that initial ideas rarely stay the same and often evolve significantly from inception to execution. Although some companies may retroactively reframe their initial concepts to make it appear as though they remained consistent, the details usually differ over time. An example given is Facebook's about page, which is noted for its broad and forward-looking mission statement. The narrator suggests that while a plan is necessary, its specifics are often less critical than the ability to adapt and evolve.
• 11:00 - 11:30: Conclusion and Homework Assignment for Viewers The chapter titled 'Conclusion and Homework Assignment for Viewers' examines the evolution of Facebook from its initial controversial inception to its current role in the digital landscape. Initially, Facebook began by non-consensually scraping pictures of Harvard students for a 'hotness' rating. Over time, the platform's offerings have transformed significantly, culminating in a complex digital environment rife with issues such as AI-generated spam, as noted by Gizmodo. The discussion serves to highlight the shifts in Facebook's purpose and impact over the years.

Intro to "Single Admin" Software-as-a-Service Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 So today I'm going to go back to my series of talking about building your own side project, assuming of course that you're already a software developer or you're in the process of becoming one. Specifically, a Software-as-a-Service project, which is one of the two side activities that will make you a better programmer, that you earn some money on the side and for many people has turned into a full-time income stream. The other side activity that you could do is consulting, which I've done a lot of but I don't really recommend to people because most of the actual time spent consulting, especially if you're a one
• 00:30 - 01:00 person shop, is in consulting sales, which is basically like trying to apply for a job after job after job, knowing that each job is short-term and you need to be looking for your next project as soon as you start on this one. If you've done enough sales to be comfortable doing that, then you don't need my help. And if you don't feel comfortable doing that much selling of yourself, then I'd recommend you avoid consulting unless you like find a sales support job and get used to sales, and then try to be consulting afterwards. I do talk about consulting from time to time and I'm sure I
• 01:00 - 01:30 will again, but trust me when I say that having done both for the majority of the programmers I know, making a product is a lot easier. Okay, so there are a lot of resources out there on the Internet about Software-as-a-Service, but I'm going to be talking about a specific subset of Software-as-a-Service, which I call SASaaS or "Side Activity" Software-as-a-Service or "Single Admin" Software-as-a-Service, depending on where in the life cycle it is. The idea is it could start as a side activity alongside your day job, which means it can't be allowed to take up all of your time because you've got a day job. And
• 01:30 - 02:00 then if it works out, it becomes your full-time income, but you still want to have a life, so it still can't take up all of your time. The first time I built one of these was 25 or so years ago, and it happened by accident. I didn't set out to make a service where I was the only person keeping it running, but the startup I was working for missed a round of funding and then laid off most of the company and I ended up being the only one left in technical operations. It wasn't an ideal situation. We had uptime requirements that were way more stringent than is healthy for a one-person show, but it turns out that, with the right
• 02:00 - 02:30 automation and monitoring and failing gracefully and all that kind of stuff, even that was possible. One nice thing is that such a Software-as-a-Service doesn't need to generate enough revenue to support a whole staff either. And that means there are a ton of ideas that no company or startup will compete with you on because those ideas don't make enough money to pay back investors. You just need to find a niche that's just large enough to generate a salary, but not so large it attracts a lot of competitors. That's a lot easier than you think and you don't really need that many paying users just to make one person's
• 02:30 - 03:00 salary. There is one big issue here that I cannot help you with though. Anything like this will almost certainly have financial, legal, and tax implications. They're very specific to your country, your state, your financial situation, your current employment situation, etcetera, etcetera. I started doing side projects decades ago when I was in college and I just read books from the library about how to declare that on my taxes, that kind of thing. I would do web searches for that now. Eventually I ended up getting a lawyer and a tax accountant and it was well worth it and
• 03:00 - 03:30 not nearly as expensive as I originally expected. But to reiterate, I'm not a lawyer. This is not legal advice. And if you get on this path without thinking of the legal or financial implications, you might get lucky, get away with it, or you might just end up Fu----- This is Internet of Bugs. My name is Carl. I've been a software professional for more than 35 years now. And I started my own LLC in May of 2005. Wow, almost 20 years ago now. And I've run it since then. I've
• 03:30 - 04:00 built and shut down multiple products. I've done consulting projects. I've done a ton of stuff. Some years it's been my primary source of income. Some years it hasn't generated any revenue at all because I was too busy working as an employee somewhere. There are people who have built side projects with the goal of selling the product, along with the customers to a big company and then making a bunch of money off of that. That has never been what I wanted to do. I work to learn things, to provide services that people actually want, to feel useful, and to be able to feed my family, pay our living expenses and put some money away for retirement.
• 04:00 - 04:30 I'm not saying you can't build a software as a service and sell it for a profit. People do. But that's a lot more risky than what I'm describing. It's never been my focus. And it's not what I'm going to be talking to you about. This is all about just finding one you can make a living from. If, after you get it up and running and making money, you decide to sell it and you can get someone to buy it, then more power to you. But unlike a lot of the "How to SaaS" content on the Internet, I won't be talking about that. In fact, I expect most single admin SaaS projects to get shut down at some point. The Internet
• 04:30 - 05:00 ecosystem is constantly changing. And what was profitable a couple of years ago might be pointless a year from now. This is also not a get rich quick scheme. This is a "learn how to build a thing in your own time" process. It will make you a better programmer, but it won't be quick. And it will require work. And if you're not up for that, this isn't for you. Okay, caveats aside. Let's start with idea one, which, ironically, is "there is no one idea." Or to put it another way, the initial idea for your offering is not really important. And it doesn't
• 05:00 - 05:30 really matter. You need one, but it's not important. The reason I say that is I've been involved with lots of new offerings and companies and startups and none of them ended up succeeding with the same idea they started with. I'm not saying it can't happen, but I've never seen it happen. And so I'd say it's probably pretty rare. What does happen sometimes that makes it look like that is that after the fact people retroactively rephrase their idea. So it sounds like it's been the same all along, but the details are almost always different. So for example, Facebook's current about page says that they're "building the future of
• 05:30 - 06:00 human connection." But according to Wired, the first version of Facebook was about "non-consentually scraping pictures of students at Harvard University from the school's Internet and asking users to rate their hotness." And according to Gizmodo, Facebook now is "a company that's created a world where AI-generated spam is a business." So let's just say their offering has changed over time. I'm using Facebook as an example here because everyone's heard of them and their backstory is well documented-there's even a
• 06:00 - 06:30 movie about it-and not because you could build the next Facebook. If that's what you want to try, then you're in the wrong place because that kind of business requires a ton of money and it needs a ton of up-front investment. And that's not what I'm talking about here. I should get that out of the way though. When I say that the idea doesn't really matter because it will change, I mean that. But I can tell you that there's some ideas that you definitely want to avoid. There is no "right idea," but there are a lot of "wrong ideas." The primary thing to avoid is the so-called "network effect" ideas, things that only become valuable once a
• 06:30 - 07:00 lot of people are using them. I'll put a link on more about that below. Getting one of those off the ground requires a ton of advertising money and that's not something you can do on your own. You want something where you're providing some actual value you can charge people money for. You want an idea that can have multiple pricing tiers and one of those tiers needs to be free. At least at first, for multitude of reasons we'll get into whenever I get around to making a video on pricing. You want a thing with controlled operating costs and you want a thing that will work with a
• 07:00 - 07:30 small audience. I'd recommend that you pick something that's interesting to you because you'll be spending a lot of time with it. Think especially about what makes you different. What's the experience that only you can bring to the table and how might that help you build something from a perspective that nobody else has. Everyone is different and everybody has things that make them unique. Figure out what yours are and let that lead you some direction. But past that it doesn't really matter. Just pick something knowing that you'll be changing it later. A lot of people stop right here. They never get started because they've never been
• 07:30 - 08:00 able to figure out the perfect idea. But there is no perfect idea. If you can't think of anything, just start by building your own version of some SaaS product you already use. That's not a bad starting place and you can't learn anything if you don't start. So start. But what exactly does starting mean doing first? And honestly that doesn't really matter either. The two most common starting places are: I want to build a proof of concept of the idea that I have, and I want to use a particular programming language and framework, either because I want to learn it or because I'm already comfortable with it. So I'm gonna make a new one of those. File->New Project. That kind
• 08:00 - 08:30 of thing. Either of those will work. Failing either one of those, the other thing you can do is start by making a list of what you're going to need to build. That list will certainly grow but it's a starting place. Now some things to keep in mind. One, think about the way that you're used to doing things and ask yourself "Why?" and question everything. For example, you know you're going to need a way to have users and logins and all that kind of stuff but you aren't- and don't want to have-a whole security team to audit everything before it goes live. So remember any piece of
• 08:30 - 09:00 information that you collect could potentially be stolen. So if a piece of information isn't absolutely critical for your service, don't store it, don't write it down. So for example, making the user type in their credit card number every time they want to use it is a pain for the user. but it's safer for you than risking them getting stolen. Or maybe you can arrange for their credit card number to get stored with the party that you're processing credit cards with. There's even a trend now of refusing to store people's passwords. Here's a link to one example and explanation of that down in the description. In the case of
• 09:00 - 09:30 that link it's because a group of non-technical folks that built that company. If you are a technical person you probably could secure it but is that where you want to spend your time? Remember the less that you store, not only is there less risk of it leaking, but there's also less incentive for anyone to try to hack you. Now I'm not saying you have to do that but I am saying think out of the box and ask yourself "Do I really have to do that?" and if so, "How long can I put it off for?" Two: don't worry so much about websites, designs, that kind of thing. If you really want to spend your time on that then do it but these days I think you're probably better off
• 09:30 - 10:00 just having ChatGPT or something build one for you and then have it build another one and have it build another one until you find one that you like. Keep in mind that at some point you're gonna want to have multiple websites or portions of websites that are running in parallel and run A/B test to see which ones convert better. If that doesn't make sense to you right now don't worry about it. You can either Google "A/B testing" or wait until I make a video specifically about that. I'll be talking about that a lot. Keep the initial functionality-number three-keep the initial functionality to the absolute minimum. The idea here is called a
• 10:00 - 10:30 "Minimum Viable Product." Google that phrase if you aren't familiar with it. Don't bother building anything you don't have to have to start because by the time you need to build it things might have changed. Your idea might have changed too and you don't want to have to redo more than you have to. That said. don't spend too much time thinking about "how" before you get to MVP. Just do it. Keep in mind that, no matter what, you will have to redo work. That's okay. It's a learning experience. If it were possible to know exactly what's needed to be built before it was built everyone would be doing it.
• 10:30 - 11:00 It's getting something out there and reacting to the feedback you get from people that's the most important skill you can learn and it's one that the AI isn't going to be able to do for you or to compete with you. Next one, I think number five, look for things that you can avoid doing yourself. You will need customer feedback to improve the product, but unless collecting that kind of feedback is part of your core business idea, you probably want to find some external service that will collect that feedback for you. Google "free customer relationship management service." There
• 11:00 - 11:30 are tons of them. Likewise you probably don't want to manage sending emails and avoid getting on some spam list so Google "free SMTP sending service." Once you get big enough you'll either want to bring those kinds of services in-house or you'll need to start paying for them, but to start with, most of that kind of thing you can offload for little or no cost so do it. This is a marathon not a sprint- this is number six-the trick here is to keep yourself interested and not burned out. Now I've got a giant list of stuff that I'll be walking you through and we'll get to it but it won't all fit on one video or probably even a dozen. Like I
• 11:30 - 12:00 said we'll talk about A/B testing, we'll talk about that a lot. We'll talk about automated monitoring since you don't have staff to watch the service 24 by 7. We'll talk about failing gracefully because when something goes wrong you'll probably not be able to drop everything and fix it immediately. We'll talk about automated testing so you don't push bad code and then we'll talk about automatic roll black so when you do push bad code it doesn't take down everything. We'll talk about branding and marketing, sales funnels, analytics: knowing what customers are coming in. Cost tracking to know where your money is going and where it's coming in from. We'll
• 12:00 - 12:30 talk about low and no cost ways of getting people to know about your service. We'll talk about figuring out what your customers like about your service what they don't. what they don't seem to care at all about, and how to pivot to better align with that. I said before during the series I'm going to be building an example service that takes clickbait headlines about AI and tries to trace them back to the original sources and figure out what the real story is. Then we'll just see how that service evolves. But the point isn't for this to be a group coding exercise. The reason I'm building that is so when I talk about some aspect of the process of
• 12:30 - 13:00 getting to market, I have some concrete examples to talk with you about and to talk about trade-offs about. But remember that a big part of this exercise is the learning process of building your own plan and watching that plan evolve as you learn more things. You want to do it your way and figuring out what your way is, is the thing that's going to happen as you go. You're not going to get everything right. That's okay. That's the point. But if you don't learn how to get it right, you will never know. Doing is the best teacher, and for a lot of things,
• 13:00 - 13:30 the only teacher. Yes, you can read books and articles and ask Chat- GPT, and Google questions and all that kind of stuff, and you will educate yourself throughout the process, but finding the gaps in your knowledge that you didn't know were there and filling them in: that's something only experience can teach you, and that's priceless. So, your homework for this lesson, if you choose to accept it, is to come up with a starting idea and then pick some starting point that you think might work that you could build upon as we go. Not all of you will want to build something now-probably most of you won't- that's okay. You can just leave these videos
• 13:30 - 14:00 having sit in the back of your mind and percolate until you come up with something, and you've got time, and you're ready. So, until next time: Let's be careful out there. Thanks for watching.