How we achieved $30K MRR for our SaaS startup with a side business

SaaS businesses are notoriously tough to grow. While success stories might make it look like an overnight phenomenon, the reality is that most SaaS ventures take years to gain traction and cover the costs of a dedicated team. My partner and I started our journey by creating a digital marketing SaaS tool for small businesses. After three years, we learned the hard way just how challenging it can be.

In 2021, we launched our first MVP, a basic digital marketing tool allowing users to customize and publish ad templates on Google and Meta. The tagline was catchy, but meeting user expectations was a different story. Despite some initial traction and funding, growth remained elusive. With my corporate background at Unilever and L’Oréal, and my co-founder’s experience at Google, we were confident but soon realized that paid advertising alone wouldn't cut it. We spent heavily on ads and salaries, but our product wasn’t gaining the momentum we hoped for.

A year in, we decided to pivot. We gathered invaluable feedback from churned users and analyzed behavior through tracking tools. We devoted significant time to understanding what was going wrong. Despite having a capable team and following best practices—email marketing, building landing pages, paid advertising, content creation—it wasn’t enough. Sometimes, it’s about timing, but we learned that resilience is crucial. You need to survive until the right time arrives.

The key lesson was that until your value proposition is fully realized, you need an alternative income stream. Some startups secure funding, others maintain day jobs, and some, like us, start side businesses. We leveraged our expertise in digital marketing to launch a service business—a digital marketing agency. This side hustle quickly generated additional income, allowing us to sustain our SaaS venture.

Today, our SEO and digital marketing services business brings in over $30K MRR. This revenue covers salaries and supports our team in refining our SaaS tool for a brighter future. If you need help with digital marketing, reach out. We’ve built a strong team capable of transforming your business, and from a founder’s perspective, we’ve learned valuable lessons on startup growth.

Final thoughts and key takeaways:

• Time flies; invest in long-term strategies like SEO.
• Keep technical expertise within the founding team.
• Teamwork is essential for success.
• Partner with others who can enhance your work.
• Continuous learning and iteration are critical—there is no finish line.

Building a successful SaaS business is a marathon, not a sprint. Through perseverance and adaptability, we've managed to generate an incremental $30K MRR by diversifying our income streams and leveraging our strengths. Our journey has been filled with lessons on resilience, the importance of a strong team, and the value of continuous learning.

If you’re navigating the challenges of a SaaS startup and looking for insights, I’m happy to share my learnings and experiences. You can learn more about our AI digital marketing SaaS tool, Adsby, which helps small businesses streamline their advertising efforts.

For those who need support with SEO and paid marketing, our service business, Tierone, is here to help. We’ve applied our expertise to drive growth for our clients, and we're ready to do the same for you. Learn more about our services and how we can assist your business.

Let's connect and grow together!