Four years of running a SaaS in a competitive market

Summary

When I played around with the technology that would eventually become OnlineOrNot back in 2021, a quick search showed me that there were 200 listed alternatives to the tool I wanted to replace. I thought most of them sucked.There are even more today.Over the years, many more started and shut down a few months later (it turns out running a business in a highly competitive space doesn't make you rich overnight). Others raised VC money or were acquired by a private equity firm, and started their descent into enshittification.I started work on OnlineOrNot because I wanted to build software that didn't have to get worse for its users in order to maximize shareholder value. In short, it's a self-funded, sustainable business that I intend to run for decades.It's default-alive, as I keep a full time job so that I can build the business the way I want.I've published one of these articles every year since starting, and there were things that I "learned" in the first year, that turned out to be total bullshit by the third year. So this article doesn't just look at the last 12 months, but across the entire lifetime of this business.Table of contents:While I've learned a lot about running a business over the years, there are some unchanging principles:Years before I even started OnlineOrNot, I started hacking on my own projects in the two hours I have before starting my workday. Having a consistent block of time for myself has let me publish hundreds of articles, a book, dozens of software projects, and more.Since starting, I worked out that the amount of time per day isn't as important as putting any effort in, every day, for years.But how do you find time before your workday?I started waking up two hours earlier, and adjusted the rest of my day accordingly.the person who chases two rabbits catches neitherOf course, there are exceptional folks out there chasing a dozen rabbits and managing to catch some of them - I know myself well enough to realize that I'm not that person.Bui...