How I Helped a B2C App Grow to $20k MRR Until the Pandemic Hit.
The App
Until a few years ago, I worked at a B2C app startup in New Orleans, LA. We had created a database of happy hours and food specials at over 400 restaurants in the city, and provided this info in an easy-to-use app. In addition, we sold a premium membership which unlocked exclusive deals for our subscribers.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, we were at $20k MRR completely bootstrapped, and with zero advertisements on the app.
I was the CMO, and my cofounders were a developer and a salesman. While I worked on content, the developer built out the app, and the salesman sold our partnership program to bars and restaurants, to give our premium members more options for deals ranging from $5 off a certain item to free bottles of wine with the purchase of an entree.
Growth
Our first 100ish users, and 20 or so paying customers were acquired by word of mouth. Our head of sales and I worked in restaurants, and would tell our coworkers and customers about the app.
The next movement was via social media. We started posting to Reddit, we built our Instagram and partnered with foodie influencers, and made a Facebook group called "happy hour hunters".
The best two plays here were Instagram and OTHER people's Facebook groups. Influencers delivered users and subscribers, and Facebook groups and Reddit delivered outsized reach.
Next, we started partnering with local events. Professional events provided the best mix of alcohol consumption, serious business networking, and user acquisition. We became regulars at a business happy hour that was held monthly at various bars and restaurants.
We also ran some very small time Google Ads on terms like "New Orleans Happy Hour".
Our growth was punctuated by a give and take between the developer, on the side of frugality and DIY, and myself and out head of sales, who pushed to buy more software and services to help grow.
The Downturn
Then the pandemic happened. Our free and premium service were based on dine-in business at bars and restaurants. For almost 6 months in 2020, there was no dine-in allowed, or outdoor seating only, city wide. Almost every place discontinued their happy hour, no one wanted to run our free wine bottle nights in fear of being responsible for "super spreader" events, and we pivoted by buying "takeoutcovid.com" and listing the takeout options available.
The site and app are still live! The premium subscription hasn't been resurrected, and I backed away from the project. I still have an advisory role, but it has been tough to build it back up the last few years.
We did start making content with GPT-2 in early 2021, almost a year ahead of the big AI boom with ChatGPT, and that was excellent experience, but I have personally moved on from my former connection to the restaurant industry. It truly feels like it will never be the same.
I still want my co-founder to succeed, but I didn't think having a CMO who was "checked out" was helping him. I referred him to some great people I knew, and my wife and I moved to Vermont. Now I work remote for a Philadelphia-based Hubspot implementation agency, and they give me a lot of flexibility re: side projects. Currently working on tools and resources for SaaS product managers and marketers.
Reflections
Looking back, our developer was right. Almost anything we needed could be done with free software, custom-made solutions, and a little bit of elbow grease.
I will maintain to this day that we probably could have hit $100k MRR before needing to buy anything besides a zapier subscription.
We were using spreadsheets, free Mailchimp, free Hubspot, free trials of Ahrefs, and other budget versions of software. Our CMS was custom built by our developer.
Has anyone followed through on this ultra-lean model? No salaries, basically no tech expenses, and just some glitchy-yet-usable infrastructure?
That's cool.
your story of growing the B2C app to $20k MRR is both inspiring and educational. The way you adapted to the challenges posed by the pandemic shows incredible resilience and innovation. Your journey provides valuable lessons for all entrepreneurs navigating the dynamic business landscape.
Thank you for your transparency!
Thank you so much, Noah. We must admit that $20K MRR with 0 ads is dope!
The covid really changed our lives, but I believe with your skills, the next MVP is just a question of time.
Yo Noah, killer story about the app! 💪 Hitting $20k MRR with zero ads is legit. Sucks how the pandemic threw a wrench in things, but props for the quick pivot with takeoutcovid
Curious, how's the ultra-lean approach working out now? Anyone else riding that wave?
Keep crushing it, dude!
We had some very limited ads. i may have ommitted that. it was like <$50/month in google search ads. MOST of our traction came from word of mouth, with IG/FB groups as a distant second. We had one serious press mention and it got a lot of users, but never got a sustained press thing going, probably because food and bev publications realized they would lose readers because of our app lol.
But still, yes, THANKYOU !
As far as the ultra lean approach, all my side projects are zero cost.
I will use platforms i dont necessarily prefer to keep it that way.
One exception is I pay for canva, But i get my worth from it. I use it to make pretty web pages, which usually link to a gumroad/substack/beehiiv etc.
Like i have this nice little thing for my newsletter: https://nstambovsky.com/touchpoints
It's quite the success story - too bad the pandemic had to get in the way! Kudos to you for contributing to it!
Thankyou! Yeah it is a shame. My former co-founder is still going! but there is no premium subscription, and I'm not sure what his plans are, since I moved away. I sincerely hope he can get it going again, whether he wants to include me or not. Our plan was city-by-city expansion to the rest of the USA. When the pandemic hit, we were one month away from launching in Houston.
Hey Noah, love the story. I think that 90% of the time, this is indeed the case, lean works for a looong time.
You never mentioned, what made the business fail?
So I think I did mention what made it slow down. It was the pandemic. Our free and premium service were based on dine in business at bars and restaurants. for almost 6 months in 2020, there was no dine in allowed, or outdoor seating only, city wide. Almost every place discontinued their happy hour, no one wanted to run our free wine bottle nights in fear of being responsible for "super spreader" events, and we pivoted by buying "takeoutcovid.com" and listing the takeout options available.
The site and app are still live! the premium subscription hasnt been resurrected, and I backed away from the project. I still have an advisory role, but it has been tough to build it back up the last few years.
We did start making content with GPT-2 in early 2021, almost a year ahead of the big AI boom with chatgpt, and that was excellent experience, but I have personally moved on from my former connection to the restaurant industry. it truly feels like it will never be the same.
I still want my co-founder to succeed, but I didnt think having a CMO who was "checked out" was helping him. I referred him to some great people I knew, and my wife and I moved to vermont. Now I work remote for a Philadelphia-based Hubspot implementation agency, and they give me a lot of flexibility re: side projects. Currently working on tools and resources for SAAS product managers and marketers.