Go onto any software listing site (eg. Softpedia or AlternativeTo), pick a not-a-brandname commercial product and chances are that it will be a single-person project. From things that are really well-polished and look like a team effort to pimped-up crappy weekend projects. Lots and lots are made and run by a single individual.
Whether they sell well is an altogether different question, but it's generally not hard to make several $k per month off a decently useful consumer desktop software. All depends on the size of the niche, the fit (read, specialization) of the product, its quality and the amount of marketing effort.
This business model is still often referred to as "shareware", so if you want to find communities of people that are involved in it, that'd be the keyword to search for.
This was my business model back in 2007 and it worked very well. Back then we used WordPress as the backend. Times may have changed now that there are lots of site builders and amazing off the shelf Themeforest templates. You can get a pretty custom looking site using WordPress and a $60 theme.
If you are serious about this, one thing to look out for is clients who are window shopping. They will waste your time and you might build the whole site only ro have them cancel after 1 month. Thst is why we went with a setup fee + monthly fee (e.g. $500 + $50/mo) so that the client has some skin in the game. I would also be careful with unlimited revisions...that is something that will eat your margins. Also, you should clearly spell out who owns the rights to the design in the event the client cancels (can I take my design with me?).
Go onto any software listing site (eg. Softpedia or AlternativeTo), pick a not-a-brandname commercial product and chances are that it will be a single-person project. From things that are really well-polished and look like a team effort to pimped-up crappy weekend projects. Lots and lots are made and run by a single individual.
Whether they sell well is an altogether different question, but it's generally not hard to make several $k per month off a decently useful consumer desktop software. All depends on the size of the niche, the fit (read, specialization) of the product, its quality and the amount of marketing effort.
This business model is still often referred to as "shareware", so if you want to find communities of people that are involved in it, that'd be the keyword to search for.