What if you could build a profitable online business with minimal resources? What if you could turn a side project into a sustainable income stream, working on your own terms? That’s the allure of Indie Hacking. But before you dive in, have you considered the mindset it takes to succeed? Indie hacking isn’t just about coding or launching a product—it’s about resilience, long-term vision, and making the most of your time. Let’s explore the mindset you need for your Indie Hacking Journey.
Credit – This article is a brief on the first section “The Chasm Between Developer And Entrepreneur” from the book Start Small, Stay Small by Rob Walling
Putting a Value on Your Time
Understanding the true value of your time is essential in transitioning from a developer to an entrepreneur. It’s not just about what you earn now, but about setting targets for the future.
Start by Defining Your $/Hour
- Current Rate – If you’re just starting and unemployed, it might feel like $0/hour. That’s fine. When employed, your rate might be around $40/hour. Or if you are from a country where the hourly rate isn’t $40, find out your hourly rate.
- First Milestone – If you are employed, your hourly rate is the first benchmark to aim for. If not employed, set it to $50/hour. And aim for it.
Work Toward Higher Hourly Rates
- Next Step – Once your project is up and running, the goal should be to reach $50/hour within 6 months of launching.
- Continue to Grow – Don’t stop at $50/hour. Keep pushing the boundary to reach $75 or $100/hour by improving processes and scaling.
Why $25/Hour Is Not Enough
If you find yourself earning less than $50/hour as a founder, something is off. To correct this:
- Improve your marketing and sales strategy.
- Focus on finding more profitable niches.
- Outsource repetitive tasks or automate where possible.
Outsourcing and Efficiency
Once your hourly rate reaches a sustainable level, outsourcing becomes a powerful tool. Hire freelancers or use automation to handle tasks that don’t require your direct involvement.
Practical Tips for Maximizing Your Time:
- Keep Work and Play Separate – Treat your time like a precious resource. Eliminate distractions and separate business from leisure.
- Don’t Waste Time on Unwanted Products – Focus on solving real problems—don’t build something nobody needs.
- Don’t Consume Irrelevant Information – Stop reading business books, articles, or newsletters. Learn something or consume a piece of information only when needed and it’s relevant to your goal. You cannot produce and consume at the same time. Set up a bi-weekly habit of skimming through headlines and breaking news. That’s it. If something is worth your attention and is relevant to your goal, it will reach you.
By continually re-evaluating the worth of your time and acting accordingly, you’ll develop the mindset of a thriving entrepreneur.
Setting Long-Term and Short-Term Goals
Setting long-term and short-term goals is critical for staying focused on your indie hacking journey. Having a clear vision of where you want to go can help you navigate challenges and stay motivated.
- Write Down Your Goal – Put it somewhere visible—on your laptop screen, a post-it on your desk, or even as a phone wallpaper. This daily reminder keeps you aligned with your purpose.
- Make It Public, Be Accountable – Share your goal with your closest friend/boyfriend/girlfriend (preferred), or make it public on your Twitter bio. The point is to be accountable to someone. So that when you are trying to call it a quit, your friend will be there to remind you of your goals.
- Break It Down – Transform the long-term goal into smaller, achievable Short-Term goals. This creates momentum and helps you track progress without feeling overwhelmed.
- Stay Adaptable – While your long-term goal should be unwavering, the path to achieving it may require flexibility. Be open to pivoting your approach while keeping your end goal in sight.
Staring at your goal every day will remind you why you’re hustling and help you keep pushing forward even on tough days.
Asking Questions To Yourself
Every action you take as an indie hacker should bring you closer to your goals. Before starting any task, ask yourself: “Is this activity moving me closer to my launch date?”
Delegate Where Possible – One of the most powerful questions is, “Could a contractor or tool handle this task?” Outsourcing non-core activities can free up time for high-value work, like product development and marketing.
Stay Focused – Constantly questioning the impact of your activities ensures you’re always moving toward progress rather than getting stuck in busy work.
Developer to Entrepreneur – The Realization
Transitioning from a developer to an entrepreneur requires a mindset shift. As a developer, you’re used to solving concrete problems with clear solutions, but entrepreneurship introduces ambiguity, risk, and a whole new set of challenges. Here are the key realizations every developer must face when stepping into the world of business:
1. Market Comes First, Marketing Second, Aesthetic Third, and Functionality a Distant Fourth
As a developer, your instinct may be to prioritize functionality and code quality. However, as an entrepreneur, your first priority must be the market. You can build the most elegant, feature-rich app, but if there’s no market need, it won’t succeed.
Marketing your product comes second. Building awareness and demand is critical, even more than the technical polish or aesthetics.
Even experienced marketers don’t always know whether a product will sell. The key is to take your best guess, launch quickly, and iterate. The journey will involve a lot of guesswork and adaptation, which can be a tough adjustment for someone accustomed to making decisions based on certainty.
2. Fail Fast and Recover Quickly
Failure is inevitable in the startup world, and it’s actually a good thing—if you learn from it quickly. Whether it’s your marketing approach, pricing strategy, or even the product itself, you will make mistakes. The faster you fail and learn from these failures, the faster you’ll improve.
- Iterate relentlessly – Launching early and iterating is the way forward. As you learn from failures, you’ll refine your product, improve marketing, and sharpen your business instincts.
- Measure, tweak, repeat – After each step, evaluate the results, make adjustments, and keep going. You’ll need to repeat this cycle dozens of times before you find success.
3. You Can’t Specify Everything, But You Need a Plan
When you’re writing code, you aim for a complete specification to avoid errors. In entrepreneurship, however, you can’t plan for everything, and you’ll never have all the information up front. What’s critical is having a direction and a plan for the next step.
As an entrepreneur, your greatest advantage is your reaction time. The quicker you can adapt to new information—be it customer feedback or a change in market conditions—the better your chances of success.
4. The Work Never Ends
Unlike a development project with a clear endpoint, a startup is never “done.” After launching your product, you may imagine that you can sit back and enjoy passive income, but the reality is much more complex.
- Constant iteration – You’ll need to invest time every month in development, customer support, marketing, and updates. Nothing about running a startup is a one-time effort.
- Ongoing marketing – Marketing your product is not something you do once and forget. It requires constant attention. The dream of automated marketing is possible, but it requires careful planning, consistent execution, and heavy reliance on outsourcing and automation.
5. Delayed Gratification: Success Takes Time
One of the hardest truths about entrepreneurship is that success doesn’t happen overnight. Instant gratification is rare in this space. When you first launch, it’s not uncommon to make less than $100 in your first month. It will feel discouraging, but don’t be disheartened.
Building a product, marketing it, and earning a reputation all take time. However, once the pieces begin to fall into place, the effort required to sustain or expand your business decreases.
Compounding effect – The momentum you build through each product release, each marketing push, and each customer interaction will eventually snowball. The more experience and resources you gain, the easier it becomes to launch new features and new products.
6. Process is King
As a developer, you rely on processes for efficiency, and the same holds true in entrepreneurship. Establishing clear, repeatable processes for marketing, customer support, and development is essential for long-term success.
- Delegation and automation – Without processes in place, it’s hard to delegate or automate tasks. But with a solid foundation, you can outsource repetitive tasks, scale your operations, and even prepare for a potential exit from the business.
- Potential Exit – Startups thrive on process. It not only makes day-to-day operations smoother but also adds value to your company if you decide to sell it. Having well-documented processes allows someone else to step into your shoes easily, making your business more attractive to buyers.
Biggest Roadblocks to Success
Developers often face significant obstacles on their journey. Here are the three most common roadblocks to success:
1. Inconsistency
One of the biggest challenges is staying focused on tasks that move the needle. Avoid wasting time on activities that don’t immediately get you closer to your goal.
2. Believing You Have to Do Everything Yourself
Many developers-turned-entrepreneurs struggle with relinquishing control. However, learning to outsource is crucial for long-term growth.
Start with repetitive tasks, allowing yourself to become comfortable with delegating work to contractors or freelancers.
Over time, outsourcing will free up valuable time for you to focus on higher-level strategy and growth.
3. Fear of Failure
The fear of doing something for the first time is often paralyzing, especially when it comes to launching a new product or service.
Your first attempt might be far from perfect, but that’s part of the process. Just like learning to write as a child, your early efforts may be rough, but consistency and practice lead to progress.
Overcoming the fear of failure and embracing the marathon mindset is key to achieving your goals.
Conclusion
To succeed in your Indie Hacking journey, it’s crucial to embrace key mindset shifts: valuing your time, setting clear goals, asking the right questions, and transitioning from developer to entrepreneur. Understand that the roadblocks of inconsistency, fear, and trying to do everything yourself will arise, but overcoming them is part of the process.
Start your journey with the right mindset, document your progress if possible, and remember—
This is a marathon, not a sprint. With persistence and the right approach, long-term success is within reach.
Wow, that sounded like a poem… 😎 If you have read this far, I am certain that you are determined to do something in your life. All the very best.