Day 3 – The Internet's Laundromat
10 Nov 2021This is day 3 of my effort to write everyday for the next 30 days.
I launched my first SaaS product, Blazon, a few weeks ago. I talked about it on Day 1. One of the reasons I created it is because I've always wanted to own a business. Growing up, I dreamed of buying a coffee shop or laundromat. I could both provide the community a valuable service and myself a steady stream of income.
I started working in the web industry in college. Web design in the early 2000s was pretty straight-forward. I was a natural at it. Organizations wanted their name on the web, not much more. And they paid decent money for it. But I knew I never wanted to own or run a service business so a web design consultancy was non-starter. It was a way to escape the monotony of school.
The social media era brought about the development of serious web applications. Out burst an industry that digitized our physical world. Everything from communication to commerce made its way to the web. SaaS products were finding their niche and growing. It took me time to realize that I could use my technical skills to fulfill my desire to own a business.
Building SaaS tools for other businesses is analogous to owning a laundromat. Customers come in to perform self-service and pay for use (akin to a subscription). Might be a bit of a stretch but the framework roughly translates from the physical to the digital. And that's how I'm thinking about my business.