After 3 years of launch, my product has grown from zero profit to a profit of 1 million

Fish Fly — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 16:08:12 +0000

3 Years After Launch: My Product Grew from Zero to $1 Million in Profit

Earning a million dollars in profit was probably no accident. Over three years of steady growth, I gradually gained a thorough understanding of the market. Here I’d like to share my startup story — how I grew from zero profit to $1 million in profit in just three years.

Following the Trends of the Times

Before launching this profitable product, I had built various online tools, including an H5 page builder, a web-based image editor, a 720° panorama tool, and more. However, most of these tools operated at a loss and generated no profit.

Take my first H5 tool as an example. I first launched it in 2016, when H5 pages were extremely popular and in high demand. They were widely used for corporate promotion, event marketing, wedding invitations, activity registration, holiday greetings, and other scenarios. Below is a screenshot of the tool interface:

From 2016 to 2021, this tool was my main source of startup income. Despite fierce market competition, it remained profitable, though modestly — roughly $200,000 to $300,000 in annual revenue. But as short videos boomed, demand for H5 pages began to decline, and my income shrank year by year.

This is the trend of the times. Demand for H5 pages kept falling, while demand for short videos kept rising. I realized I had to act before H5 became completely obsolete.

So starting in 2022, I devoted most of my energy to developing a video editing tool. I officially launched the product in early 2023. Below is a screenshot of this tool’s interface:

In hindsight, that decision could not have been more correct. My H5 business completely stalled after 2024, and the video editing software became my new growth engine. From this, I concluded: we must always follow the trends of the times and never go against them.

Product Positioning and Monetization Model

Many entrepreneurs follow market trends and build excellent products, yet struggle to make a profit. I was stuck with this problem for a long time. After repeated trials and lessons, I developed a monetization model that suited me perfectly.

The key here is: a monetization model that fits me. I say this because I once tried a B2C model, offering the software through paid subscriptions. I spent heavily on advertising but failed to reach my expected profit — instead, I lost a lot of money on ads. Upon reflection, I realized I was simply not suited for B2C products, for three reasons:

As a technical developer, my thinking is relatively structured, making it hard for me to adapt to the fast-changing needs of the B2C market.
The B2C video editing space is already crowded with competitors, and I lack the operational skills needed for effective marketing and promotion.
The B2C model requires massive upfront investment in advertising, operations, customer service, and more. With no external funding, I could not afford these costs.

So I decided to focus on providing technical services for businesses — a better fit for a technical person like me. My product is positioned to serve enterprises with video editing solutions, mainly offering commercial licenses and customized development services for the video editing tool. This model suits me well because, technically, I am a professional.

How I Found and Acquired Customers

I published a large number of technical articles on domestic developer forums and communities, sharing my experience and tips for building this video editing tool. These articles helped interested developers get started quickly. However, due to the project’s complexity, most companies chose to purchase the source code directly for secondary development and customization rather than building everything from scratch. This approach brought me a large number of customers.

Some other clients came from job platforms. By analyzing job postings, I could accurately identify a company’s technical needs. For example, if a company was hiring software engineers to develop video editing features, I would proactively reach out and offer my technical support.

Closing Thoughts