Have you ever thought that an independent developer could build a product from scratch in just a few months and earn thousands of dollars a month? This is the true story of PIERRE, a 27-year-old young man living in France. Together with his friend Kevin, he quit his full-time job and devoted himself to the world of independent development. Their product, Scraping B, a web scraping API, now earns $3,000 a month, and that number is rising.
The entrepreneurial journey of PIERRE and KEVIN has not been smooth sailing. Their first attempt was an app called Shop To List, designed to help users track price changes for online items. Although the idea received an enthusiastic response from users, they quickly realized that turning the idea into a sustainably profitable business would be extremely difficult. So they decided to shelve the project and look for new opportunities.
While looking at Shop To List's production database, they discovered an interesting phenomenon: A large number of products were added by some users who were actually e-commerce owners monitoring competitors' pricing. This discovery gave them a lightbulb moment: Why not set up a price monitoring system? Then, the prototype of Scraping B began to emerge in their minds.
As usual, they set up a landing page and then shared it on social media. Within two months, they created an MVP (minimum viable product) and quickly attracted 150 free test users. Then, they decided to end the test and force users to pay for the product. Although the conversion rate was extremely low, only about 1%, they did not give up, but continued to experiment with various marketing strategies in an effort to increase the conversion rate.
However, no matter how hard they tried, Pin Bot was never able to achieve the success they hoped for. So, they decided to transform and use their technical background in web crawling to create a brand new product - Scraping B. This time, they knew who their target customers were and how to reach them. They believe that although the web scraping market is highly competitive, this also means there is a high demand for it.
When developing the initial version of Scraping B, PIERRE and KEVIN focused on the product's scalability and cost-effectiveness. They reused previous code, selected an appropriate deployment solution, and worked with multiple proxy providers. In terms of marketing, they no longer blindly pursue the quantity of content, but focus on the quality and value of the content. They believe that only content that truly teaches readers something can attract readers and drive sales. Therefore, they invest a lot of time and energy into researching and writing every time they write an article. At the same time, they also actively participate in discussions on social media and some niche forums to establish connections with potential customers.
Despite Scraping B's initial success, PIERRE and KEVIN also faced some challenges. The biggest challenge was a legal issue: They originally named the product Scraping Ninja, but then received an email from a French company claiming ownership of the name and asking them to change it immediately. This incident caused them a lot of stress and legal expenses and forced them to complete the entire rebrand in a short period of time. This lesson gave them a deep understanding of the importance of brand research.
Today, Scraping B has gradually got on the right track and achieved considerable income. For the future, PIERRE and KEVIN are full of confidence and plan to continue to optimize products and expand the market. They believe that as long as they persist in working hard and continue to learn and improve themselves, they will be able to achieve greater success. And their stories also show us how an independent developer can create a successful product and realize his entrepreneurial dream through continuous trial, learning and innovation.
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