From $5k/month to Zero – A Hard Reality Check

[Software Monster]

From $5k/month to Zero – A Hard Reality Check

Post:
This is probably the hardest post I’ve written on BHW

Back in 2023, the Web Design section was alive.
I had real clients, repeat buyers, and even a few big whales.
On average, I was doing around $5k/month, sometimes more.
Life felt stable. Effort felt worth it.

Fast forward to 2025 — and the reality hurts.
Zero sales. Not low sales. ZERO.

No inquiries.
No conversions.
Threads barely get attention.

What hurts even more is that the JV charge and thread renewal fees now feel like a burden instead of an investment. Paying just to keep a thread alive, while there’s no return, slowly drains both money and motivation.

I still believe BHW has potential.
I still respect this community.
But the Web Design section is clearly not what it used to be.

Not posting this for sympathy.
Just sharing a real experience, in case others are silently going through the same phase.

Sometimes businesses don’t fail because of lack of skill —
they fail because the market moves on.

Taking a step back to rethink everything.
Wishing strength to everyone grinding quietly.

 

[RichMedusa]

Sorry for this situation, I feel that web design is the most affected industry after AI, people just create their own logos, their own websites, everything with AI, not everybody, but people who are knowledgeable enough to be here on BHW, are probably aware of this possibility, this is probably strongly hitting freelancers on Fiverr and Upwork as well

 

[rocknlight]

Very sorry to hear this ! Very sure you will bounce back i was there brother

 

[Software Monster]

Sorry for this situation, I feel that web design is the most affected industry after AI, people just create their own logos, their own websites, everything with AI, not everybody, but people who are knowledgeable enough to be here on BHW, are probably aware of this possibility, this is probably strongly hitting freelancers on Fiverr and Upwork as well

Ai is not issues. Cause i have not only design service, custom script / software which can not make with ai..
We did lots of custom development service we did..

@BassTrackerBoats @allmods should look after our situation

 

[BassTrackerBoats]

Ai is not issues. Cause i have not only design service, custom script / software which can not make with ai..
We did lots of custom development service we did..

@BassTrackerBoats @allmods should look after our situation

There is nothing to look after.

 

[Moonslice]

You either adapt or you don’t. Money making methods such as web design remain the same... you just have to apply a twist that’s relevant today.

As already mentioned, AI has a huge impact on many industries, but instead of blaming it (generally speaking), you should use it as a tool to apply your own twist to what worked for you in the past.

Also, no matter what your money making method is, there’s a well-known saying that keeps getting repeated here: never put all your eggs in one basket.

 

[Software KingDev]

I strongly agree with him. Same situation i feel that, last year i sell something but last 8 months zero means zero sell. Bhw authority should looks this matter.. I many time said to pin web design section to pin in left menu bar.. We lost lots of potential client due this..

Ai is not only the issues.. If menu bat again not come i strongly decide to leave this community cause i don’t have money to renew again

Thanks

 

[lincsiocom]

From $5k/month to Zero – A Hard Reality Check

Post:
This is probably the hardest post I’ve written on BHW

Back in 2023, the Web Design section was alive.
I had real clients, repeat buyers, and even a few big whales.
On average, I was doing around $5k/month, sometimes more.
Life felt stable. Effort felt worth it.

Fast forward to 2025 — and the reality hurts.
Zero sales. Not low sales. ZERO.

No inquiries.
No conversions.
Threads barely get attention.

What hurts even more is that the JV charge and thread renewal fees now feel like a burden instead of an investment. Paying just to keep a thread alive, while there’s no return, slowly drains both money and motivation.

I still believe BHW has potential.
I still respect this community.
But the Web Design section is clearly not what it used to be.

Not posting this for sympathy.
Just sharing a real experience, in case others are silently going through the same phase.

Sometimes businesses don’t fail because of lack of skill —
they fail because the market moves on.

Taking a step back to rethink everything.
Wishing strength to everyone grinding quietly.

i'm very sorry for this situation! i believe you will get over this and will start again just maybe on another platform. i'm pretty sure you have a great portfolio, so you won't be starting from 0

 

[navyraiser]

The way you talk to potential clients I'm not surprised....

 

[snacky3]

The same happened to me many times, but if you keep pushing during the hard times you will eventually get out of it even better.

During the past 10 years I went many times from 1k to 0 , from 0 to 4k a month, then to 0 again, then 20k a month, then 120k a month, then 20k a month.. its a roallercoaster but you if you keep trying things, doing research etc, eventually you will reinvent yourself and be successful

 

[dacbaascis]

Zero sales. Not low sales. ZERO.

That's why youy keep money for rainy days. I've also learned that the hard way.

Keep grinding

 

[Software KingDev]

From $5k/month to Zero – A Hard Reality Check

Post:
This is probably the hardest post I’ve written on BHW

Back in 2023, the Web Design section was alive.
I had real clients, repeat buyers, and even a few big whales.
On average, I was doing around $5k/month, sometimes more.
Life felt stable. Effort felt wo

Very sorry to hear this ! Very sure you will bounce back i was there brother

rth it.

Fast forward to 2025 — and the reality hurts.
Zero sales. Not low sales. ZERO.

No inquiries.
No conversions.
Threads barely get attention.

What hurts even more is that the JV charge and thread renewal fees now feel like a burden instead of an investment. Paying just to keep a thread alive, while there’s no return, slowly drains both money and motivation.

I still believe BHW has potential.
I still respect this community.
But the Web Design section is clearly not what it used to be.

Not posting this for sympathy.
Just sharing a real experience, in case others are silently going through the same phase.

Sometimes businesses don’t fail because of lack of skill —
they fail because the market moves on.

Taking a step back to rethink everything.
Wishing strength to everyone grinding quietly.

Sorry for this situation, I feel that web design is the most affected industry after AI, people just create their own logos, their own websites, everything with AI, not everybody, but people who are knowledgeable enough to be here on BHW, are probably aware of this possibility, this is probably strongly hitting freelancers on Fiverr and Upwork as well

The way you talk to potential clients I'm not surprised....

That's why youy keep money for rainy days. I've also learned that the hard way.

Keep grinding

If the web design option is brought among these options of the marketplace, then this will be solved. Customers will be able to understand it easily. When a new visitor enters the website, they will be able to easily see the web design option in the marketplace, then click there and see the seller's sell post.

The web design option should be placed in the marketplace option on the left side so that new visitors can easily find the web design option. This will be a solution. I would like to draw the attention of all members and moderators to a solution. It would be great if they could provide one.

 

[dacbaascis]

If the web design option is brought among these options of the marketplace, then this will be solved. Customers will be able to understand it easily. When a new visitor enters the website, they will be able to easily see the web design option in the marketplace, then click there and see the seller's sell post.

The web design option should be placed in the marketplace option on the left side so that new visitors can easily find the web design option. This will be a solution. I would like to draw the attention of all members and moderators to a solution. It would be great if they could provide one.

TBH, if I was bhw, I would try this and see if that section can get some traffic. After all, if people from that section leave, I, as BHW, would be leaving money on the table.

 

[BassTrackerBoats]

From $5k/month to Zero – A Hard Reality Check

Post:
This is probably the hardest post I’ve written on BHW

Back in 2023, the Web Design section was alive.
I had real clients, repeat buyers, and even a few big whales.
On average, I was doing around $5k/month, sometimes more.
Life felt stable. Effort felt worth it.

Fast forward to 2025 — and the reality hurts.
Zero sales. Not low sales. ZERO.

No inquiries.
No conversions.
Threads barely get attention.

What hurts even more is that the JV charge and thread renewal fees now feel like a burden instead of an investment. Paying just to keep a thread alive, while there’s no return, slowly drains both money and motivation.

I still believe BHW has potential.
I still respect this community.
But the Web Design section is clearly not what it used to be.

Not posting this for sympathy.
Just sharing a real experience, in case others are silently going through the same phase.

Sometimes businesses don’t fail because of lack of skill —
they fail because the market moves on.

Taking a step back to rethink everything.
Wishing strength to everyone grinding quietly.

To get more traction to your sales thread, I would do the following:

Change your signature from text to a compelling banner. You are a designer so that should be easy.
Create content on the forum that will help others as they will respect you as a person and consider you a proper business person.
Make a deal to buy some signatures where your banner would be in their signature.

All three will get you better exposure and only one will cost you but you can be creative in that aspect by offering that as an affiliate so you are not paying upfront.

 

[satyr85]

Competition is everywhere - on BHW, Upwork, layoffs caused even more people chasing freelance work.
Plus with AI access... the average Joe can now do things that weren't possible just a few years ago.
Simple software and web design gigs are drying up. I see people offering web design at prices that are just... mad. I bet it's because of heavy AI usage.

Bhw authority should looks this matter..

BHW isn't here to fix anyone's business problems. You need to scale outside of BHW guys.
The market and demand are out there - you just need to go find your clients instead of waiting for them here. If a single forum is your main lead source, you’re putting all your eggs in one basket. Plus selling on BHW means pitching to tech-savvy people who will adapt to AI much faster than the rest of the world.

custom script / software which can not make with ai..

Are you sure? Claude is pretty good with small size custom software/scripts in most niches. It's faster to give AI a vague idea of what you actually need and later fix the bugs AI made than to code everything yourself.
With enough iterations and babysitting AI may produce code that will work. It will be spaghetti code that wont work in optimal way - but it will work - for some people its enough.

I see you offer saas products. $2k for custom saas development is cheap, too cheap + BHW with cartoon gigs here and there is not really a place where you can look for clients that will pay way more. My close friend owns small software house. Lowest package on their saas estimator cost is $14k, with up to $500k for complex, heavy load apps.

 

[fiverrdirectboss]

Same here worse the costs arent the same and everyone skips to the cheap developer making websites for 20$

 

[medialounge]

From $5k/month to Zero – A Hard Reality Check

Post:
This is probably the hardest post I’ve written on BHW

Back in 2023, the Web Design section was alive.
I had real clients, repeat buyers, and even a few big whales.
On average, I was doing around $5k/month, sometimes more.
Life felt stable. Effort felt worth it.

Fast forward to 2025 — and the reality hurts.
Zero sales. Not low sales. ZERO.

No inquiries.
No conversions.
Threads barely get attention.

What hurts even more is that the JV charge and thread renewal fees now feel like a burden instead of an investment. Paying just to keep a thread alive, while there’s no return, slowly drains both money and motivation.

I still believe BHW has potential.
I still respect this community.
But the Web Design section is clearly not what it used to be.

Not posting this for sympathy.
Just sharing a real experience, in case others are silently going through the same phase.

Sometimes businesses don’t fail because of lack of skill —
they fail because the market moves on.

Taking a step back to rethink everything.
Wishing strength to everyone grinding quietly.

TImes and season does change

Did you create new products during the rainy days
Already ,they help to cushion some things during tough times

 

[SilverClouds]

Sorry for this situation, I feel that web design is the most affected industry after AI, people just create their own logos, their own websites, everything with AI, not everybody, but people who are knowledgeable enough to be here on BHW, are probably aware of this possibility, this is probably strongly hitting freelancers on Fiverr and Upwork as well

Fr tho, I'm in SEO & web design gigs groups on fb (local to my home country) and web designers are openly quarreling with buyers right now, complaining about low prices, while potential clients laugh in their faces and say that they can do that stuff with AI now. There's tons of posts and comments like these in these groups. So idk about internal BHW problems with this, maybe making the section more visible would help get more traffic to it but it doesn't guarantee sales when people make their own sites themselves with AI.

 

[Ben Arthur]

I hear you. Same here, in 2025 my SEO sales were booming, but 2026 hit, and they dropped hard. Not zero, but really low. No idea why. Just sharing, not complaining. Wishing everyone here strength, clarity, and success as we keep grinding.

 

[TechEdge Digital]

If the web design option is brought among these options of the marketplace, then this will be solved. Customers will be able to understand it easily. When a new visitor enters the website, they will be able to easily see the web design option in the marketplace, then click there and see the seller's sell post.

The web design option should be placed in the marketplace option on the left side so that new visitors can easily find the web design option. This will be a solution. I would like to draw the attention of all members and moderators to a solution. It would be great if they could provide one.

I agree. kindly consider this @BassTrackerBoats and other moderators