Remote Leaf 2020 - Year In Review

Abinaya -

This is my first blog post for Remote Leaf. Finally I've got some time to write a Year in Review post. 2020 was my first year running Remote Leaf as a side project and it’s was a great experience.

Remote Leaf collects remote jobs from 40+ sources and send the ones that apply to you based on your location and skill preferences. I launched Remote Leaf nearly one and half year ago. But it’s been three years since I first started building products and dreaming about this moment. I’ve been doing my full-time job now and Remote Leaf is side project.

It’s always mind-blowing to look back at just 12 months. 2020 is my most life-changing year. I made a business which makes money 💸 I wanted to write something nice (and complete) to close out the year - a true recap of my first year doing indie startups!

2020 goals recap

  1. Build Remote Leaf as a side business
    This is a great success ✅. I’m very happy with the outcome. I’m able to build a successful side business which makes money. This was my dream come true moment. It had good timing (peak remote work due to COVID) and a bit of luck.
  2. Learn Django and release the MVP(0.1) version of Remote Leaf ✅
    I had a basic experience with python before, so it was easy for me to catch up with Django and build the application in a few months.
  3. Build a solid SEO content for Remote Leaf 🛑
    I completely neglected SEO & content, which affected my traffic long-term.
  4. Grew Remote Leaf revenue to $10k/m. 🛑
    This is miss. I know I aimed too much :). I picked a high-churn niche that’s too small to grow the income. I had to spend a lot of time/energy acquiring new customers.

Few stats

  • Paying subscribers: 127 current
  • Total visitors: 112k visitors
  • Total page views: 150k
  • Gross Volume: $18,950
  • Total number of jobs curated: 24,458

Looking ahead to 2021 - Goals

This year was great. Things I’m looking forward to next year:

  • Hit 10k MRR in EOY 2021. Now I feel the $10k/m revenue is realistic considering the current MRR.
  • Launch the v2 of Remote Leaf
  • Focus on SEO and content, write more about Open Startups.
  • Reach out to companies on Newsletter sponsorships and company job ads.
  • Exploring new product ideas in the Remote Work space, include more information, talk to users and gather feedback.
  • Build a solid testimonials page by talking to customers.
  • Spend more time on the Marketing

Always excited for the future.