I am Saeed Threes, the Founder of MC WooCommerce Wishlist plugin, an adventurous person who loves to create functional digital products. As a teenager, I worked with a team to design WordPress websites for other businesses for 5 years.
When I entered university, I saw a need for a specialized educational platform and spent the next 7 years building it into a successful enterprise with over 69 employees, 200 thousand active users, and a strong foundation in WordPress.
However, I later founded a digital marketing agency but quickly realized that providing services to various clients wasn’t the most effective way to generate income.
That’s when I turned back to WordPress and used my expertise to create MC List Builder, a product that arose from months of market research and will change the path of various plugins and products I have used throughout my career.
The Journey Began
WordPress Empowering the Web
Before WordPress, my digital work primarily involved designing templates for blogs. However, I was quickly drawn to the appeal of WordPress and its vast market with various income models.
The constant development and growth of WordPress, along with its strong systems thinking approach, really resonated with me.
Think like the founder of WordPress: I built a system that would grow automatically, support the growth of many companies, and constantly improve itself.
The competition within WordPress only serves to enhance the entire system. Think about creating a similar system, do you believe it could be successful?
The Need for MC WooCommerce Wishlist
MC WooCommerce Wishlist Features
When I came up with the idea for MC WooCommerce Wishlist, there were certainly a number of competitors in the market.
However, my professional experience as a WordPress user and a desire to create a comprehensive solution to a problem in WordPress inspired me to start this plugin.
I noticed that many users who visit WooCommerce sites, despite the efforts of site managers, never become customers.
This motivated me to focus on creating a solution that could help administrators and users of WooCommerce stores convert all potential buyers on the product, cart, and checkout pages into loyal customers.
The main difference between the free MC WooCommerce Wishlist plugin and its comprehensive version, known as MC List Builder, is that we offer a more complete solution for increasing sales for WooCommerce users.
While other plugins may offer some tools to improve the appearance of a website, MC List Builder goes beyond aesthetics to provide a comprehensive solution for boosting sales and generating leads.
When founding MC WooCommerce Wishlist and my other ventures, I faced a number of challenges, particularly in the marketing department. The WordPress market is very different from other markets, and my previous experience didn’t always translate well.
There is a lot of competition in this space, and I made the mistake of spending a lot of money and time on poor-quality backlinks through guest posts on mediocre websites.
I can assure you that this method is no longer effective. It’s better to spend the same budget on stronger websites and be patient, as it can take more than three years for a WordPress plugin to become fully successful.
If you’re looking to earn money sooner, it might be more efficient to provide a service or solution to clients rather than entering the plugin market, as it can be a long and time-consuming journey for a newcomer and their first product.
Remote can work?
Yes, it is possible to have a successful remote company. In fact, there are several six and seven-figure WordPress plugin and theme companies that have been operating remotely for over a decade.
When I founded my business, I was unable to find the talent I was looking for in my local area, so I posted a remote job ad and was pleasantly surprised by the results.
I am very selective when it comes to hiring and only allow about 1 in 200 applicants to join my team. I believe it’s important to invest time and effort into attracting and retaining top talent, as it ultimately helps the business succeed.
Trying to save money by hiring less skilled or weaker employees may seem like a good idea in the short term, but it can actually harm the business in the long run.
Currently, my business has 6 employees, all of whom work remotely. With the help of GPT OpenAI Chat, we are planning to optimize and potentially reduce our workforce in the future.
I am confident in the effectiveness of our remote system and the value it brings to our business.
Advice for Business Owners
Take market research seriously. It’s essential to understand the size and demand for your product or service before diving in.
Even if you have to pay for this information, it will be worth it in the long run. I made the mistake of not paying enough attention to market research in my previous business and ultimately hit a ceiling in the market.
Don’t quit your day job if you don’t have a solid budget in place. Success in the business world takes time, and it’s better to have a steady income while you work on your product in the evenings until it generates its own income stream.
Focus on solving a core business problem. Create a product or service that users really need and that doesn’t rely on heavy marketing.
For example, a business may not need a fancy slider plugin, but it will definitely need a reliable payment gateway.
Keep in mind that the more basic the need, the more competition you may face. It’s important to find a balance between the size of the market and your ability to solve a problem.
Overall, it’s crucial to do your due diligence and be patient when starting a business. It takes time and effort, but the rewards can be worth it in the end.
It’s tough to recommend a specific niche for starting a business, as it ultimately depends on your interests, skills, and resources. However, if I were starting from scratch with limited funds, this is the approach I might take:
- First, I would get a job to cover my basic living expenses and free up time to focus on bigger goals.
- At the same time, I would work on building my skills in my preferred niche and take on projects in the evenings.
- I would try to understand the needs of my target audience by focusing on one specific need and group of users. For example, I might create a comprehensive online booking website for lawyers to increase their income, and then sell this solution to lawyers with a small markup.
- As my income grows, I would consider hiring someone to help me attract more clients and eventually transition to a service-based business.
- My goal would be to build this business to the point where it can generate the same amount of income that I used to earn in my day job, allowing me to focus on something else full-time.
- Once I have a solid foundation in my service-based business, I would consider making a product for myself. I would conduct market research and be prepared for the ups and downs of starting a business.
Again, this is just one potential approach and may not be suitable for everyone. It’s important to find a niche and business model that aligns with your strengths, interests, and resources.
Stay in Touch
WordPress & Beyond
Innovate With WordPress
To grow my business, I plan to focus on both marketing and software development. While content marketing and storytelling can be effective, I believe that wide distribution is equally crucial to success.
Just look at the example of Telegram, which has more capabilities than WhatsApp but still has fewer than a billion users.
This illustrates the importance of not just creating a top-quality product and doing PR on Twitter, but also having a wide distribution to achieve explosive growth.
In the WordPress market, mid-range and ordinary products often see significant growth due to their wider audience and exposure from major media outlets and sites.
However, extraordinary products with standout features may go unnoticed without the same level of distribution and access to powerful media.
Instead of trying to add more features, I believe it’s important to focus on building a stronger network and relationships in the market and take distribution seriously.
I believe that creating a strong network of friends can have a greater impact on our growth than even the best keyword-rich articles.
We may also see more automation in the field of support and marketing, with robots taking on some tasks that were previously done by humans.
If you’re considering creating a new WordPress plugin, you may want to consider incorporating artificial intelligence in some way.
In the next five years, those who are able to reduce the cost of human resources for companies through AI and save time may become millionaires.
Ultimately, it will be important to keep an eye on trends and changes in the market as you develop your product or service.
While there are certainly competitors to WordPress, such as Wix and Shopify, I don’t see them as a major threat.
Certainly, artificial intelligence could pose a significant threat to WordPress in the future. For example, imagine a system that uses AI to automatically optimize websites to a high degree, with little effort required from the user.
Overall, it’s important for WordPress to continue to innovate and stay ahead of the curve in order to stay competitive in the face of these potential threats from AI.
How I Keep Myself Updated
To stay updated on WordPress and the industry, I read a variety of resources including websites like WPfounders, Freemius blog, and PostStatus, as well as following tweets from prominent figures in the WordPress community like Syed Balkhi.
I believe that looking at the paths of successful people can give us valuable ideas, but it’s important to remember that their methods may have been effective under specific circumstances and may not necessarily work for us in all cases.
I also think it’s important to stay curious and constantly seek out new information and perspectives, whether through reading books, attending conferences and workshops, or participating in online communities and forums.
By staying up to date on the latest trends and developments in the field, you can better position yourself and your business for success.
I Have a Life Other Than the Work
During my free time, I like to think about the things that I might regret at the end of my life. For me, these include spending more time with my parents and family, being happier and less stressed, taking care of my health through exercise and living in the moment, traveling and enjoying experiences more fully.
I believe that it’s important to take time to reflect on what truly matters in life and make an effort to prioritize those things. By focusing on the things that will bring us joy and fulfillment in the long run, we can live a more fulfilling and meaningful life.
I Reward Myself by
Reward Yourself With Joy & fulfillments
To reward myself, I like to take small breaks and celebrate small victories along the way. For example, I might treat myself to a favorite snack or take a short walk to clear my mind and recharge.
I also try to make an effort to reward myself in a more meaningful way, such as by taking a longer vacation or indulging in a favorite hobby or activity.
I believe that it’s important to find what works for you and to make an effort to reward yourself in a way that brings joy and fulfillment.
Whether that’s through small treats, time with loved ones, or more significant rewards, it’s important to take time to celebrate your hard work and achievements.
