Web Developer Making $21k in Revenue Building a Laravel Boilerplate
In this interview, Serg, a web developer shares how he built Larafast which has generated $21k in revenue so far.
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In this interview, you’ll meet Serg. Serg is the owner of Larafast, I found out about Serg on a Reddit thread under one of my posts. I found his building journey inspiring and I thought I'd feature him.
In this interview, Serg shares:
• His backstory and how he started?
• How he got his first free and paid customers for his product?
• What has been effective in attracting customers to his apps?
• His competitive advantages, what gives him an edge, and insights that have proven beneficial to his operations.
• What tools have helped him grow his product?
• Which books, podcasts, or other resources have had the greatest impact on him?
• What advice would he offer to entrepreneurs who are just starting out?
Q: Hello! Who are you and what product are you working on currently?
Hello. I am Serg, a web developer from Armenia. In the course of my career, I have built multiple SaaS apps, and I am currently focused on a Laravel SaaS Starter Kit called Larafast.
Q: What is your backstory and how did you come up with your idea? Do you have any partners?
I have been in Web Development for 10 years and have always been passionate about Laravel.
By the beginning of 2024, I had closed the software outsourcing company that I had been running for the past 7 years, due to a lack of clients. Subsequently, I found out about the Indie Hackers community. After getting into the flow, I started to build some SaaS apps and discovered ShipFast, Next.js Boilerplate by Marc Lou.
At that point, I realized that my experience with Laravel could benefit other developers and I created Larafast - Laravel SaaS Boilerplate.
I am running it solo, I do not have any partners.
Q: Take us through the process of building the first version of your product MVP.
I already had other SaaS startups, I combined the features and knowledge that I had there, to create Larafast. The Initial version had only VueJS support, Vue, Inertia, Laravel, and Tailwind. It took me one week to create the boilerplate, add components, and write docs, and we were live!
Q: How did you get your first customers for your product (Free or paid users)?
I love to build publicly, when I started initially, I shared the whole process of building the product. I'm not sure where my first customer came from but it happened 10 days after the release. Back then I didn't have any tracking analytics implemented on the website. But now, I can track the sales to understand where customers come from.
Q: Since you launched your product, What has worked to attract customers?
The two best things that work for me: SEO and being in related newsletters. Laravel has a huge community, and being featured in good newsletters helps me create good brand awareness and sales.
SEO is very sustainable and requires a lot of effort, but the results are wonderful. People arrive at the page from Google and make purchases. That's a great feeling.
Q: How is your product performing currently, and what are your plans for the future? Can you share your current metrics and revenue figures?
After 3 months of being live, Larafast made $21K in revenue from 150+ customers. I plan to create more project-specific boilerplates, right now I have created Directories and API boilerplate with Larafast to enable me to give people functionality for their specific projects.
Q: Since the inception of your business, have you gained any insights that have provided you with a competitive advantage and proven beneficial to your operations?
I think having project-specific boilerplates can definitely be an advantage for me, it makes me stand out from other boilerplates.
Q: What tools have helped you grow your product?
I use Screen Studio for my video recordings, that tool definitely helped me to create beautiful video guides. I use Mintlify for my docs. And I use Typefully, to schedule my tweets and grow my audience.
Q: Which books, podcasts, or other resources have had the greatest impact on you?
I love "The Minimalist Entrepreneur: Sahil Lavingia", that's the most recent book I read. I highly recommend it.
Q: What advice would you offer to entrepreneurs who are looking to start or have just begun their journey?
The best time to start is today! Do it and don't look back
Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions! What is your contact info if people would like to get in touch with you, You can add all your links.
You can reach out to me on X, YouTube, and Gmail.
Thank you, Serg, for this interview. Check out Larafast.
Let me know what you learned from this interview and have a productive week 🙏
Indie Tip Of The Week
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Check it out and share your thoughts! I'd like to know if you've taken any steps toward making each day your masterpiece.
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For this week's Indie Product, check out Go To Market by Carlos.
Are you ready to Launch your SaaS Product and Secure your first 100 paying Customers? Go to Market saves you from months of trial and error, by showing you exactly where to list and promote your SaaS.
Check out the product and let me know your thoughts!
Indie Trivia Of The Week
What 1997 movie features Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones as undercover secret agents who police extraterrestrials?
Let me know your answer in the comments!
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Drop us a line detailing what makes your product stand out, whether it's a SaaS, marketplace, app, newsletter, or anything else innovative. We're eager to hear from you!
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