Its not really a knock against jQuery. Its more about how if I'm writing jQuery on a daily basis, I should have a better understanding of the underlying language. Also, jQuery is great in many situations, but its not the tool for every job.
No doubt. But if I can make a decent product with shitty tools, then I can make an even better product with mediocre tools. If I start turning a real profit, then I'll invest in real quality equipment.
A few really good tools will last you a lifetime. Don't waste time, money or potentially your safety with inferior tools. And stay far, far away from dull tools, too.
Essentially that's what I'm doing. If people make a donation, then I send them a product. I could continue to build them with my existing crappy tools, but with more appropriate tools I can be more efficient and maintain a more consistent, quality end product. It'd be different if I were asking for donations and promising nothing in return. In the end I think it all works out the same.
Just out of curiosity, what's you non-software online business?
> If people make a donation, then I send them a product.
I've seen that else where, and it really peeves me. Why can't you just say you're selling your product online? What is it about calling it donation? (Other than Paypay being really picky about it.) If it's a donation, then it's a donation. If I give you money, and you give me a product, that's called buying and selling.
Paypal being picky is a real issue though. This kickstarter-style compensated donation does seem to get around that, but I expect it's a loophole that will soon be closed. Then again, I don't know of any other setup for doing a pay-what-you-like model with Paypal.
Well, as others have pointed out, there is a difference between 'make a donation and we will send you something' to 'we are selling laptop stands - click here to buy now!'. There is no reason you cant just go straight for the latter.
Thanks for asking about my business. I sell tools for grafting trees via http://www.grafting-tool.com/ . It’s a very small business, that I setup in my free time - the website sits there and takes orders, and every week I spend an hour or so posting tools and answering e-mails.
At the moment I'm actually kind of stuck at a local maximum, of 1 or 2 orders a week. There are a million things I could do to improve the business, but with so few customers it’s hard to know what is actually making a difference. It’s impossible to do things like A/B testing to figure out what is working and what is not. Case in point - I tried cutting my prices in half, and the number of orders actually seemed to drop! However it’s impossible to know if I was just having a bad week, or it actually made a difference.
At this point, I'm mostly interested in smaller items since they're easier to ship to people. Initially I'm just planning to steadily increase the quality and detail of what I build.
Not yet, but only because I don't yet have the necessary tools to finish it. But if the donations keep coming in like they have been, then I'll have what I need very soon! I'll post some pics as soon as its done. You can count on that.
I thought about looking into something like that, but I have two young children and it can be a bit of a challenge to get out of the house sometimes. Being able to just step into my garage makes it much easier.
Well, to be honest its not really investing since you'll get a product in return, but yeah I see what you're saying.
For right now its just me doing the design and fabrication. I'd like to keep it that way as long as possible. I think the fact that they're not mass produced is what people really like about it.
If it does somehow get to be more than I can handle, then I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. ;)
Can relate, I work in the arts so theres always a 1:1 cap on the production / profit aspect of it (excluding soft copies like prints and digital editions). Though, given, that's completely discounting the return of the enjoyment of the craft itself.
You could very well do both, produce and sell the originals, shell out a second business that mass produces the more popular designs, etc.
