Leveraging WordPress as a Development Framework
We have already discussed this in detail in a previous article, but to summarize, here are 3 big advantages to using WP:
- #1 – Robust, Flexible, Reliable Tech-Stack
- #2 – Benefits of Open-Source
- #3 – The Gigantic WP Ecosystem = Thousands of plugins / themes / consultants / companies generating $600 billion
But when you talk to successful solo-founders / solo-programmers, they will often reply that the number one thing they value the most is ownership and control – both of their online products and businesses, as well as their time and attention.
To demonstrate how WP enables this ownership, let’s look at 4 factors we can use to evaluate this objectively:
- Startup-ability
- Scalability
- Sustainability
- Sale-ability
Startup-ability
By startup-ability I mean the difficulty level of getting a microSaaS project up and running as a bootstrapped startup.
- With 100% control, you can run your SaaS virtually anywhere (shared, server, VPS, cloud)
- Theoretically the lowest possible startup costs (mostly hosting)
- Contrast with bubble.io (hundreds $/month)
Scalability
This relates to the number of users you will have, the amount of content/data stored, the number of visitors, etc.
- With lower recurring costs, WP allows you to keep scaled down and still be profitable
- Also allows you to easily scale up with cloud servers
- WP is demonstrated to be able to handle incredibly large projects (wordpress.com)
Sustainability
This means the long term stability of the product / business you are creating. The main thing you need to watch is risk caused by your development choices. WordPress offers a huge advanatge in that you control everything and can move the entire system to any server or system.
- Reduced risk from the platform (like bubble.io) from:going out of business
- flagging your usage, users, content
- raising prices
Sale-ability
Even though we are focusing most of our energy at developing long-term, sustainable, micro-scaled businesses, we also should look at possible end-games. One of the rip-cords you can pull is the sale of your microSaaS. Developing it in WordPress gives you some real advantages.
- You own a tangible propertyyour configurations
- your custom plugin code
- your domain and intellectual property
- You can easily backup, export everything