Building multiple products — how (and when) to do it

I remember a time when I only wanted one big revenue stream. The idea of having multiple products and services sounded exhausting. But these days, I'm all about it. And not just for the excitement of it — diversifying revenue streams is always smart, and it's particularly so when there's talk of a recession.

So I've been thinking a ton about how to expand my offerings. Luckily, a lot of indie hackers are already clearing that path, so I looked into what they're doing. Here's what I've found. 👇

Why run multiple businesses?

First off, it's worth mentioning that I've seen folks arguing both for and against starting multiple companies. Some of the most common reasons for doing it were:

• For the love of building
• For more income
• To diversify revenue streams
• To learn
• To keep things interesting (adding variety)
• For the benefits of cross-promotion
• For economies of scale (the cost per customer goes down as you expand, thanks to sharing web hosting, software, etc.)

All of that sounds great, so why not do it? The most common answer that I saw here on IH was that splitting focus means that each product gets less juice — all the products will take longer to become successful than if you were to just focus on one. And that's fair enough. Like Ron Swanson said, "Never half-ass two things; whole-ass one thing."

That's why timing it right is important, which I'll get to in a bit. You can actually mitigate that risk a bit.

@dohertyjf: Focus on the one that brings in the most revenue until you have a team mostly running that business, then you can put more time into the smaller one.

Running multiple businesses effectively

So here's how to do it effectively.

Be strategic about what you build

The trick is to be very strategic about what you build and what you don't. That means validating before you build a thing (via a landing page). And then building an MVP and validating with that. In other words, step-by-step validation so that the risk of starting a new business is minimized.

And there's more to it than that. Here's what some indie hackers had to say:

@tonydinh: I want to use my own products, so I can make them perfectly fit my workflow. I have a lot of ideas that I would build for myself, but I only build ones that have the potential to also get paying customers. It’s the sweet spot between “what I want” and “what people want” that allows me to build for myself and sell to other people.

Yes, step one is to make sure people will pay.

@dohertyjf: Pick one customer and build multiple things for them.

That's huge. You want each product to be within the same market and the same area of expertise. This will also help you grow your personal brand as an expert in that space.

@tonydinh again: Build products that require low maintenance effort.

Tony goes on to say that SaaS products require a lot of upkeep, while downloadable apps and info products are much easier. This is why he only has one SaaS, but multiple other products.

In addition to maintenance, it's important to consider the length of time that it'll take to build in the first place. In case it's helpful, here's a list of the fastest products to build.

Choose the right time to start

Make sure the timing is right before you get started. As I mentioned above, it's gotta be validated. Beyond that, it really depends on your capacity and your other responsibilities. It's generally best if your first product is (at least partially) on auto-pilot. So bring it to that point first.

dohertyjf: Think hard about it, and make sure you are not doing it simply because you are bored, or because you're in the middle of something big and it feels hard. You don't want to be distracted and starve both businesses of growth. It's better to push through that hard patch or figure out how to make your current thing less boring.

Only once you've stabilized that first business and have a team running it, including an operator with strong business ops experience, should you look to start another business.

Most of us won't be bringing on teams like John did, but it is possible to automate processes and get the product into a good spot where it can coast for a bit. And that's what I'd suggest doing before you start building another product.

Ultimately, though, if you feel ready and you've got time, do it. Here's John again:

@dohertyjf: But there's also never a good time to start something like a new business. There are just those of us who don't let that hold us back.

And of course, all of this assumes you aren't doing something like a 12x12, in which case, the right time is as soon as you launch your previous product.

Prioritize your work strategically

Ok, so let's say you moved forward and now you're building multiple products simultaneously. It's hugely important to be strategic about your prioritization — you'll need to know which task for which product needs your attention first.

There are about a million methods for prioritizing, and most are good in one way or another. My take is that the "DIE" method is best for indie hackers. But "Value vs Effort is" great in a pinch because it's quick and easy. I've noticed that "RICE" is very popular among indie hackers. Prioritizing by constraints is good if you have a specific constraint (in this case, probably time). And then, of course, there's going with your gut, which I'm a big fan of. 😎

Let's break them down:

• DIE: This one comes from @Shpigford of Baremetrics. You measure demand, impact, and effort using this spreadsheet. It's set up so that you'll actually want the lowest number possible, which is created by high demand, high impact, and low effort.
• Value vs Effort Quadrant: Also known as Value vs Cost, or Value vs Complexity. To use this, rate a feature's value to the business and the difficulty to implement it. Plot the resulting point on a quadrant chart. The sweet spot is the highest value with the lowest effort. High effort with low value goes in the garbage.*
• RICE Method: This is a very popular prioritization framework where you rate reach (how many people it'll impact in a certain timeframe), impact, confidence (that it will deliver a desired result), and effort. Then figure out the total impact per time worked with this equation: Reach x Impact x Confidence / Effort.
• Prioritize by Constraints: If you're short on specific resources, prioritize based on what you do and don't have. If you can't afford something, it gets delayed and something else is prioritized. This can be used in tandem with other methods.

It's worth noting that, in general, it's best to prioritize one product over another — have a primary product and a secondary product. Of course, priorities may shift as important tasks come and go, but an 80/20 approach favoring the product with the most potential can be a good idea.

@felix12777: I break down my roadmap and goals so that they're as small as possible. This makes it so I can see my progress and bring things together gradually.

Become crazy efficient

It goes without saying that when you're rocking multiple products, you're going to need to be hyper-efficient. I like efficiency, so I've researched it a ton in my day.

A big part of efficiency is lifestyle. Take care of yourself! Eat healthy, sleep, exercise, stay hydrated, limit caffeine (counter-intuitive, I know) and alcohol, meditate, relax, and spend time with loved ones. Don't burn out — that won't make your products successful any faster! Prioritize work-life balance.

Then there's your mentality. Be okay with doing less! Say no. Focus on results; not hours. And set realistic expectations.

Set up an environment that lends itself to efficiency. Remove distractions and clutter, organize your space and make it a pleasant place to spend your time, and play focus music (or whatever gets you going).

And then there's your workflow. Break tasks into small pieces, batch similar tasks, and avoid multi-tasking. I'm a huge fan of using todo lists and/or project management software to keep things organized. Set a timer — the Pomodoro technique is fantastic. If something comes to mind that needs to get done, right it down, then keep doing what you're doing and circle back later. Accountability buddies can be a godsend (check out the tools below). Outsource when possible, and automate everything!

@tonydinh: The management can become very messy, real quick if you are not careful. Mixed revenue reports, shared accounts, email support, partnerships, multiple payment accounts, etc. — it took me quite a while to find a workflow to consolidate all this and I still have to improve it day by day.

Ruthlessly structure your day

This is a bit part of efficiency, but it deserves its own section. How you structure your day will determine how good you are at juggling projects. Here are a few tips:

• Figure out what kind of schedule works for you. When do you feel creative? When do you feel tired? When do you feel motivated? Try to do deep work (work that takes 100% focus) at the same time every day. Commit to a routine for a week, then assess the results and optimize. Remember that our energy levels peak twice during the day thanks to your circadian rhythm. This varies for everyone so see what works for you, but it's usually somewhere around 11am and 6pm.
• Create a morning routine. Mornings are particularly important. Start slow. Personally, my days go much better when I begin with my own personal practices, like meditation, than they do when I get right to work.
• At the end of the day, plan your next day.
• Block out time in your calendar to focus solely on a given (important) task.
• Leave buffer time between tasks. Transitioning takes time, so plan for it. Otherwise, you'll get behind.
• Schedule in breaks! And be intentional about them.
• Make time for writing every day. @jasonlow found that writing about goals, progress, brainstorming, etc. gave him greater clarity, emotional regulation, and overall progress.

If you create a schedule and it just isn't working for you, it can be a good idea to list what you do each day, what you should be doing, what you shouldn't be doing, and what you want to be doing, then restructure it. More on that here

@robhope — It's super difficult to shift attention so many times a day. Without a schedule, I can blink and I haven't posted on Email Love in 2 weeks.

Leverage the right tools

Lastly, tools are your friend.

• Todoist is a solid todo list app that I use.
• timeivy by @typologist tracks how much time you spend in apps and websites each day to keep you accountable.
• Focusmate gives you access to accountability buddies.
• ClickUp is an app that does it all — tasks, docs, chat, goals, etc. And they boldly guarantee that you'll save one day per week. I can't verify that, but it sounds impressive.
• Brain.fm provides music that improves focus.
• Focus is a website and app blocker.
• StayFocusd keeps track of what you do online and blocks the sites that take up the most time.
• Toggl allows you to track your time.

If you need some advice on solid project management tools to keep you on track, here's a post that breaks down some of the best.

And a quick note about setting up your business entity

As far as setting up business entities, I'd wait until you have some decent revenue. Not a lawyer, but that's my two cents.

If you already have an LLC, you can sell the new product under that. You can even create a DBA (doing business as), allowing you to set up a business bank account for your product and take payments. I wrote a post on this recently if you'd like to learn more.

I'm curious, how do you juggle it all?

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