A business without a path to profit isn’t a business, it’s a hobby.
I like the pull quote above because it doesn’t mean you have to make money from day one, but that you must have a path to profit - and that shouldn’t be selling to Google or Facebook after squandering all your VC funding.
The goal of any business should be to become sustainable. As I make plans for my current side project I’m still figuring out the path to profitability. It isn’t clear yet how to make it sustainable the first year. But maybe that is OK. The first year’s expenses aren’t going to be astronomical and whether it becomes sustainable through paid sponsorships or user micro payments I at least have options to weigh.
Once I get through the prototyping phase then I can really focus on the marketing and business model. My goal is to make this a business. Maybe a small one for the next year or so but it should be a business and not just a hobby.
Note: This is part of a series of posts inspired by re-reading Rework, by DHH and Jason Fried.