How I Avoided Creative Burnout by Building a Side Business
Hey there! I’m Fernando Pessagno, a UX designer from Argentina. I used to run a small digital design studio and things were going well… for a while. But after more than ten years of working with clients day in and day out, I often found myself bogged down by the weight of responsibility and deadlines. I was burned out and feeling uninspired.
Back in the early days of Geocities (which, in today’s standards, is practically prehistoric), I was really into making Dragon Ball websites. I would spend entire days and nights working on them, instead of playing video games like most kids my age. It was so much fun. I would spend hours building something, just because I thought it was cool. I wanted to get that feeling back by making more time for personal projects and experiments.
One day, while attempting to help my sister build her resume, I found myself floundering in a sea of online tools that were too complicated. I realized how difficult it is for anyone who isn’t tech-savvy to create a professional looking resume. So I thought, why not make one? And that’s how ResumeMaker.Online was born.
?? Challenges
If you’re passionate about a project, you naturally want to make it the best it can be. So when it comes to adding features, it can be tempting to add bells and whistles just because you can.
But sometimes less is more. After all, the product’s main strength was supposed to be its simplicity. So I had to be strict with myself and ask: which of all these possible features are going to make a real difference for the people using it?
I was fortunate enough to have a two-month backpacking trip through Europe already planned for later that year. It was the perfect opportunity to take a break, recharge my batteries, and also meet lots of potential users. Staying in hostels, I was able to interview people every day, identify their pain points, and understand their needs much better.
During an early stage of development, users would be immediately presented with several different template options. And while some users appreciated the freedom to choose, I discovered others found it to be paralyzing.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by too many choices, you know how frustrating it can be. So, after I got home from my trip, I took a good, hard look at my product. I decided that anything that wasn’t absolutely essential to making it easy to use could go. I also polished up the UI, and soon I felt confident that my product had reached MVP level.
?? Launch day
When I launched it on Product Hunt, I had no real expectations for it. I was just happy with the end result. But boy, was I in for a surprise! It was selected as the number one product of the day, and then the week!
ResumeMaker.Online was never meant to be anything other than a fun side project. But then, once I launched and it turned out to be far more successful than I could’ve ever anticipated, it opened up the possibility of monetizing it.
While Product Hunt gave me a much-needed ego boost, I still needed to figure out if anyone would actually pay for my product. I was hesitant to add a paid version, thinking it might hinder growth. So instead, I just included a donations form with set amounts.
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I was surprised to find that users were donating up to $20 per resume! This was a great way to validate the product and find out what the price most users would be willing to pay.
I kept my strategy focused on growth during the first two years, offering a 100% free download, and monetizing the product sporadically via sponsored links to other sites that wanted to connect with my audience.
As the pandemic hit in 2020, my sponsorships started to dry up. In response, I decided to offer a higher resolution, watermark-free paid version. The free version is still available for all users, but now they can upgrade to the paid version if they want to.
?? Final thoughts
It can be tough to think about making a profitable product when you’re just starting out. I mean, when I was working on ResumeMaker.Online, making money never even crossed my mind! But in retrospect, I think not obsessing over profits was key to avoiding frustration, not biting off more than I could chew, and ultimately shipping the product. It might sound counterintuitive, but it just might be the key to your success as a first time founder.
I’m not going to lie, a few years ago I was in a tough spot. I was running my own design studio and I was starting to burn out. I didn’t have any prospects and I was feeling pretty down about the whole thing. But then I decided to take a chance and build ResumeMaker.Online. And that was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Because of ResumeMaker.Online, I was able to get in touch with some amazing people in the indie hackers scene and landed a great job at an AI startup. And as a result, I ended up relocating to Europe.
Not only has ResumeMaker.Online helped me further my career, but it’s also been a great source of income. Not bad for a little side hustle!
?? Let’s Talk
Whether you have feedback or requests for new features, leave a comment below and let me know.
Thanks for reading and I hope you find this useful! You can also follow my #buildinpublic journey on Twitter:?twitter.com/Fer_MOMENTO