Update: How We've 2X'd The Revenue Of Our Web Scraping Service [With The Russia-Ukraine War Ongoing]
This is a follow up story for ScrapingAnt. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published almost 3 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
Hey! I’m Oleg - Co-Founder of the web scraping service ScrapingAnt.
We provide various data-related services like on-demand datasets when you don’t want to bother yourself with data extraction but need some data from the web or custom scraping software creation, so businesses can integrate with a data feed from our side and receive data updates.
Our focus is open data processing and extraction, so whenever some information is available on the web, and you need to get it in an automated manner - we’re the guys for this job.
Still, our flagship core is a web scraping API- ScrapingAnt. This service provides a Swiss knife for extracting data from websites at scale, so we use the API to pull data from websites and then transform it to the requested data format.
We started the creation of this tool to meet the expectations of big businesses regarding the stability and reliability of data extraction tools, so we decided to make it public and not limited to the number of parallel extractions so everyone can test it, use it, and contact us to discuss a special deal for bigger workloads.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to. Has the business been growing?
Since the last interview, we’ve doubled our average monthly revenue and the number of businesses working with us.
From the perspective of our core development, we’ve stabilized the technology and started spending more time on custom solutions based on our tech.
Russia started a war against my country, and several first months were tough in the scope of customer support and sales.
To have more data-related leads, we launched our data-provider profile.
So far, this channel wasn’t as successful as we expected, but I believe this sort of marketplace is good to be listed.
I was quietly surprised by the workload we’ve received this January, as many of our customers increased their consumption by 20%-30%, which is directly reflected in our revenue. February and March went as planned, so only one month was unexpected in a good way.
Generally speaking, I’m pleased with our growth speed, as we’re trying to build a long-term and sustainable business, so only reputation and quality matter in this area.
What have been your biggest challenges in the last year?
Russia started a war against my country, and several first months were tough in the scope of customer support and sales. Fortunately, as we’re trying to keep connections with our customers and stay small as a team, we were able to process all the communications with noticeable, but not critical, delays.
Still, we’re alive and have doubled in revenue over the past year, so hopefully, things will start getting better this year.
Don’t struggle if your expectations weren’t met in the desired time, as in case you’re pushing it forward every day - you’ll achieve your goals sooner or later.
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
Yeah, as I’ve mentioned before, last year, Russia started a full-scale war against my country, and the actual battlefield was 30 km from the place I lived. Nobody wants to experience the same, and the war is still ongoing.
To avoid sharp glass shards that could be created in case of an explosion near us, we taped our windows:
So my learnings are something like this:
- You should never give up despite what’s against you
- Fight like Ukraine
- Do some sport, as your body and mind require it
The year was awful, but we’re working all together to fix the next one, and thanks to everyone who supports Ukraine.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
He-he, that’s an excellent question.
We’re figuring out how to stay as small as possible for as long as possible.
I’d be happy to automate all the processes, including sales, as much as we can. This way, we’ll be way more scalable.
In the scope of finances, I expect the same pace of linear growth up to x2-x2.5 per year.
What’s the best thing you read in the last year?
Conversations with ChatGPT!
It looks astonishingly fantastic until it’s trying to figure out something more complex than one search in Google. It’s a matter of time to grow these capabilities, but as an instant reading generator, it is cool.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their businesses?
Ah, it’s all just a matter of time. Don’t struggle if your expectations weren’t met in the desired time, as in case you’re pushing it forward every day - you’ll achieve your goals sooner or later. Just enjoy your journey and re-think it if you don’t.
Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?
We’re highly interested in collaborating with developers and data extraction specialists to make our blog better and more informative. Also, we would be happy to discuss collaborations with open-source software developers, as our product is free for personal use.
Just reach us via: [email protected] to discuss your idea. We’re open to something new, so feel free to reach us.
Where can we go to learn more?
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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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.
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