Do I need a partner?
In the past 7 I've been working on commoninja.com by myself, and managed to get to nice achievements and numbers:
- Up to 80k signed up users
- 500+ active subscriptions
- $2.5k monthly revenue
I feel like this product could go much further, and thinking about finding a partner.
- How can I make sure this is the right step for me and for the product?
- What kind of partner do I need? (I'm a developer)
- How do I start a partnership with someone after I invested 7 years of hard work?
@dsternlicht - Perhaps.
You'll need someone to compliment your skills/talents, probably more along the business/marketing mindset. Ideally, they'll be as passionate about CommonNinja as you are. You've poured yourself into this and have grown it over the better part of a decade, so I would be extremely cautious about whom you bring into the fold as it has been entirely 'your baby'.
You also should keep in mind that there is a hugely popular 'no code' upswing right now - which can be both beneficial and detrimental to CommonNinja - It's great that you're building out a lot for Wix and WP. Like it, love it or hate it, WP is still the biggest kid on the block in market share.
Obviously, you're a talented developer and, unless you've outsourced it, I'd say you're a top-notch designer as well. The site looks great, is intuitive and very user-friendly. It is really well put together. Great work on that!
You need someone that will be a 'Jobs' to your 'Woz'. Someone that can add a massive amount of value to compliment the 7 years you've poured into this passion project. Someone that isn't afraid to run the numbers and then run with the numbers to help you make them explode in growth. I can probably help you. : )
Well said 🙂
That's basically what I had in mind. To find someone who will help me out in term of business & marketing.
Where do I find someone? if it's not someone I already know, how would I build trust?
Thank you.
Time is what will enable you to build trust with someone as you build a rapport. There really isn't any way to cut a corner around that. The proof is always in the pudding and talk is extremely cheap. You'll need to find someone that isn't afraid to get some skin the game - only when people are invested, in either time/resources/money, do they really take an abiding interest. If they try to tell you otherwise, they are BSing and you don't want to do business with them. So, for a business/marketing partner:
See what their track record looks like. They've had a chance to check out CommonNinja, it's only fair you should be able to check out their work.
Are they bringing a roster of clients/potential clients with them?
While they don't need to be as technical as you, I'd see if they at least understand the difference between Wix and WP and how those two platforms cater to separate markets (i.e., low code vs no code, etc.).
Don't be afraid to ask them how they would potentially growth hack CommonNinja, or what sales funnels they would suggest establishing. If they can't answer this, well...
Make sure they understand the difference between marketing and sales.
These are just a few ideas. Your gut will be able to tell you a lot.
Well said.
Thank you so much for this, much appreciated.
So for my next question: how would you potentially growth hack Common Ninja? 🙂
One way to potentially growth hack Common Ninja is to efficiently affix yourself to the booming low code/no-code bubble that is quickly inflating. This can be accomplished through perceived value and a comprehensive SWOT. You'll want to ride that wave of revenue, but not get taken out when it pops. A decent exit from that would be to scale your target market to all developers, since all of them can benefit from your plugins and many of them will be moving unnecessary code from their stacks and looking for solid and robust alternatives.
That's just my take on it. 🙂
That's definitely something I've been considered. And when people ask me where do I see Common