Yes. Solopreneurship with a 9-5 job.

How I built 6 SaaS and sold 3 of them, with a full-time job.

Most people I know are amazed when they discover I am a solopreneur on the side of a 9-5 job.

I recently went full-time indie hacking (but I’ll return to a 9-5 soon, I’ll tell you more in the next issue), but since 2019 I’ve been doing the indie hacker on the side of a full-time job.

In this issue, I want to show you how I was able to build 6 SaaS, and sold 3 of them (probably 4 soon), while working as a senior software engineer and team lead for different companies.

But let’s give you the exact daily schedule I use:

• I wake up around 7/7:30 AM (I’m not an early bird, I can’t wake up before, I tried, but it’s not for me)

• I bring the dogs out and I prepare breakfast for me and my girlfriend

• I work out a bit, (usually push-ups)

• At 8 AM I’m in front of my desk, I work for an hour on my stuff (coding my products, or scheduling tweets and engaging)

• 9 AM: I start working for my employer, until 1 PM, launch break of 1 hour, employer work until 6 PM

• The evening is usually dedicated to personal time, I watch some TV series, or go out for dinner. I rarely work.

• During the weekend I might do something, or not, but I never overwork. I try to keep a good work-life balance because I want to do this in the long term and avoid burning out at all costs.

That’s it, do this every day, and your effort will compound over time to build something bigger.

You don’t need morning routines, to wake up at 5 AM, or any other fancy technique.
Do just a little bit over time.

Of course, I work from home, and I don’t have commuting time.

Having a 9-5 removes from you the money pressure, the pressure to make money to pay the bills. And you can reinvest part of your salary into your businesses (sponsorships, paid ads, etc.).

This is what I was able to achieve by being consistent:

• Between 2019 and 2021, I built the SaaS iterspace and sold it.

• In 2021 I started building an audience on Twitter talking about web development (by the way, grab the free 200+ slides about JavaScript, React, CSS if you haven’t already).

• In 2022 I started building Hivoe in public, a Twitter DM automation micro SaaS, and Inboxs, a Twitter DM productivity inbox micro SaaS (I sold both of them in 2023)

• In 2023 I built OmniWrite an AI writing Chrome extension, Userdesk, an AI Chatbots platform for businesses, Wuf a mobile push notifications micro SaaS, and launched Shipped.club, the Next.js Micro SaaS Boilerplate for busy founders.

I strongly suggest that everyone start indie hacking on the side, it’s the most sustainable and stress-free way of approaching it.

Also because there’s a lot to learn, and it takes time.

I hope you find this information useful, and if you have any questions, please write to me on Twitter/X or via email 🙌

My projects

There are no relevant updates on Userdesk (yet) but I’m actively working on Shipped.club—The #1 Next.js Micro SaaS Boilerplate for busy founders.

This year, I want to focus on SEO much more. Therefore I started building free tools around Shipped.

The first one is a Secret / Password / ID Generator for developers, the second one is a Timezone Checker for Meetings for professionals working in geographically distributed companies.

On the revenues side, I’m super excited as I’m close to reaching $10k and 80 customers since the launch in December 🤩 and this has been my goal for February.

That’s all for today.
See you next Sunday 🙌
Luca

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Whenever you are ready, I have a couple of ways to help your solopreneurial journey.

Shipped.club is the Next.js Micro SaaS Boilerplate that allows you to build, ship, and make money with your product quickly.
79 indie makers are already using it, and are shipping together in the private Discord community.
Shipped now comes with Parity Purchasing (extra discount) depending on your country, discover your discount on the landing page!

The second is Userdesk, the AI Assistants platform to automate your leads collections and customer support for your digital business.