Better Sheets Update: How We Surpassed $100K In Topline Revenue
This is a follow up story for Better Sheets. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 4 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
I’m Andrew, I run Better Sheets. I’ve made all 177 videos, and every sheet product I sell as well.
Since starting, Better Sheets has become far more than a series of videos. Included are templates, Google scripts, Software for members to sell their sheets (OnlySheets), and more products that showcase unique use cases of Google Sheets.
In the past two years, I’ve generated $100,000 in topline revenue through Better Sheets.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to. Has the business been growing?
For the second anniversary of launching Better Sheets, I released a brand new website. A new home for all the tutorials and products that come with a Better Sheets membership.
It’s the first time that everything is under one “roof”. Before someone signed up via Gumroad and then got access to a folder of videos. Now all those videos are tagged, organized, and a member can track their progress.
While I did the initial coding of the new site in November and December of 2021, I ran into issues where my new knowledge wasn’t enough. I had learned Ruby on Rails through 2021 and just wasn’t up to speed by the end of 2021 to complete what I wanted to.
The initial progress of Better Sheets sales allowed me to hire a developer who can go faster and further than me. We’ve worked together part-time for 3 months to build the newest version of Better Sheets. Launched in April 2022.
You can choose for it to be hard. You can choose for it to be easy. You can choose. So Choose.
The biggest update is passing $100,000 in total revenue. While this is only topline revenue, it’s a huge milestone.
After the first year, I made $34k.
What has led to this particular growth? Raised the price again for lifetime members. AppSumo keeps sending new members every month. It’s quite an incredible marketplace.
What have been your biggest challenges in the last year?
To me, the biggest challenge was creating a new home for Better Sheets. In late 2020, less than a year into Better Sheets I created a site myself. I coded it with just HTML, CSS, and some Javascript. Duct taped it together with Algolia for search and Outseta for authentication of users.
But from the moment I put it together, I knew it wasn’t enough. Being embarrassed by it led me to half-ass the marketing and the promotion“. It converted terribly and I just knew I could do better. The search was too simple and didn’t give enough information to users who were looking for the videos. I was learning CSS and couldn’t figure out how to make the site look good. It was fast (thanks Algolia) but just didn’t look good and was not useful enough. I knew I had to put more work into the site But putting that work in was tremendously hard in 2021.
Got distracted by both buying a SaaS and having a baby. But the blame is 100% on me for being distracted. I think in the long run, throughout my life I will look back and have chosen the right priorities. But right now in retrospect, it feels bad.
I think overall, if I look back after 10 years I’ll appreciate spending time with my son. I hope to spend more time with him as he grows up.
Ultimately I relaunched the website internally to members on April 3rd, 2022. This was pure joy. On April 29th, 2022, I launched Product Hunt to the public. Ended up #1 Product of the Day, and #4 Product of the Week. This drove hundreds of signups and $1,000 in sales over 5 days. I was featured both on the day of the launch and later in the Product Hunt newsletter.
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
Every day seems to be a missed opportunity. But I don’t just live with it, I’m reveling in it now. Learning, this year and last, to not optimize every single minute of every single day. Enjoy the childish open play mentality more and more. For years before I’ve had anxiety about not working. Numbed me by just working all the time. But having a baby threw that out. Having a human life in my hands, in my arms, and having to be attentive to something outside the lines of my laptop, have opened my life view a lot.
Optimize for yourself. Creating a business can sometimes feel like we’re pushing a boulder up a hill. It can feel like a thing that others know the secret of, and others are doing easier. Choose the boulder. Choose the hill.
One more thing I added to my life in the last year that has helped my business is reading more. I used to love reading. I hadn’t read a book in years, it seemed. I was 9 months into 2021 and was halfway through one book. Committed to finishing that book and reading more, way more. Been reading since then at least 2-3 books a month. Each one has directly affected my business
- Read Launch by Jeff Walker, and within a month launched a workshop for Better Sheets members.
- Read $100M offers and tweaked the offer of that workshop.
- Read Essentialism and figured out that Better Sheets is better as a full-time committed business than a Side Project. It’s time to treat Better Sheets as the only thing I do.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
After 2 full years working on Better Sheets as a side project, it’s now time to commit. It’s time to focus. I’m excited to work on it day in and day out. Instead of nights and weekends, it’ll be morning, noon, and night.
The price will keep rising and more courses will be released. Already working on a new product called AtomicSheets which I think will be a huge fun addition to Better Sheets.
A year ago I couldn’t imagine running Better Sheets for 5 more years. I kept saying “I don’t want it to read ‘Here Lies That Google Sheets Guy’ on my gravestone.” I wholeheartedly rejected “guru” and just didn’t think I would ever run Better Sheets as a full-time job.
Even in October when I announced on Twitter that I’m going full-time on Better Sheets, I went and coded up a new little SaaS product. I just couldn’t commit. Even though my 2021’s goal was to “Focus and Commit” I just didn’t. By the end of 2021, I even started to dabble with getting a full-time job.
But now after hitting the $100k milestone I feel more secure that this is a serious thing. After building the new site and launching it, I’m no longer embarrassed by it. I’m excited and elated to get it out to more people.
It’s easier to commit to the next 5 years, now.
What’s the best thing you read in the last year?
Business:
- Launch by Jeff Walker
- Grit by Angela Duckworth
- $100M Offers by Alex Hormozi
- Essentialism by Greg McKeown
- Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
Memoir/Biography:
Fiction:
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
Optimize for yourself. Creating a business can sometimes feel like we’re pushing a boulder up a hill. It can feel like a thing that others know the secret of, and others are doing easier. Choose the boulder. Choose the hill. You can choose for it to be hard. You can choose for it to be easy. You can choose. So Choose.
In 2021 I aspired to attain an asynchronous autonomous business. I attained it and then chose to try something else. Something else failed. I’ll stick to my async autonomous life. As long as you know what you want, you can choose to want that.
Where can we go to learn more?
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
