It’s sexy to have a top 10 iPhone app in Apple’s and/or Google’s App Store. It feels good to have a web-based product which is used by millions of users all around the world. It’s darn cool to have build a brand which people recognize.
But it’s also pretty unlikely that this will ever happen.
Building a successful consumer product is hard: Consumer taste is fickle. Distribution is complex. Marketing is expensive. Margins are thin. Middlemen are plenty. Competition is fierce. Product cycles are short lived.
On the other hand you have enterprise products. It’s not sexy. You will, in most industries, only have a handful of users. Most people will, even if you are very successful, never recognize your brand.
But it’s also highly lucrative. If you solve a problem for a corporate client they are happy to pay you for it. Margins tend to be healthy. Competition typically is less (or even non existing). Your batting average is much higher.
Consider big game hunting when thinking about your next business.