DEV Community: Rick Blyth

Chrome Extension's Web Store Big Birthday Revamp 🥳

Rick Blyth — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 10:24:34 +0000

Some exciting news from the Chrome universe. Google recently celebrated their big 1-5 ... yes, Chrome is 15 years old! 👴

To celebrate the 15th anniversary, there are some fresh updates to the Chrome Web Store that you need to know about.

What's Changed From A Chrome Developer's Perspective?

🎨 More Categories, More Fun

The Chrome Web Store now boasts a much improved 17 categories which means you have more ways to classify and find the perfect category for your extension.

🖼️ Picture Perfect Screenshots

Screenshots in the store are now being displayed at significantly higher quality. If you've got extensions out there, it's time to upload those 1280x800 screenshots and let them shine!

🤓 Your Replies, Now with a 'Developer' Badge

When you reply to user reviews and support questions, your response will be adorned with a shiny “Developer” badge next to your name. This little badge not only adds credibility to your responses but also makes you easily recognizable as the brains behind the magic.

🔗 Direct Link to Reviews

Want to make it easier for users to drop reviews? Just add "/reviews" to the end of your store item URL. For example: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/EXTENSION_ID/reviews, easy-peasy!

💬 Clearer Support Conversations

No more getting lost in translation on the Support tab. Replies now show newlines, making your Q&As cleaner and more understandable.

What's Changed From An End User's Perspective?

🖌️ A Fresh, Modern Look

The Chrome Web Store has undergone a significant facelift. It's got a more modern design, closely aligned with the Play Store's look. It's sleek, intuitive, and user-friendly. You'll find new tabs for Extensions and Themes, with personalized recommendations and a "Featured" section that's hard to miss.

🔍 Improved Navigation and Search

The new design includes seamless global navigation and search, making it a breeze to discover high-quality extensions and themes. And let's not forget the new categories, which have been revamped to be more relevant.

🔮 Search Just Got Smarter

Say goodbye to typing full extension names. With improved autocomplete in search, finding what you need is as easy as ... well, typing half a word!

🔒 Enhanced Security and Safety

Chrome's not just about looks; they're beefing up security too. The Safety Check feature has been expanded to include extensions, identifying any that are unpublished, in violation of policies, or potentially malicious. This means safer browsing and peace of mind for our users.

🛡️ Upgraded Safe Browsing

Last but not least, Safe Browsing is getting an upgrade. It'll now check sites against Google’s known bad sites in real-time, offering better protection against malware and phishing threats.

🎨 Material You Design Language

The new Chrome design isn't just for the Web Store. The desktop version of Chrome is also getting updated with the Material You design language. This means refreshed icons, new color palettes, and themes that better complement your tabs and toolbar.

So there you have it!

Chrome is stepping up its game, and it's an exciting time for us to be part of this expanding and evolving ecosystem.

Want To Build Your Own Cashflowing Chrome Extension?

If you are interested in learning more about how you can build your first profitable Chrome Extension in the next 30 days, then I’ve put together a free training that I think you’re going to really like.

In this completely unique and valuable training, I outline the potential goldmine that’s awaiting you in the Chrome Web Store.

I run you through how you can find ideas for profitable Chrome Extensions as well as the 10 steps you need to take to take you from Zero to Chrome Extension Hero!

There has never been a better time to start building Chrome Extensions so why not check out this training and take the first steps towards building your own profitable Chrome Extension that could eventually enable you to quit your job and live life on your own terms?

So, if you’re ready to start building a profitable Chrome extension, head over to https://www.chromeextensions.training to get started on your journey to creating profitable Chrome Extensions.

8 Mistakes To Avoid When Developing Chrome Extensions

Rick Blyth — Thu, 11 May 2023 14:41:42 +0000

Developing a Chrome extension can be exciting, but it can also be challenging. With over 180,000 extensions available on the Chrome Web Store, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd and create an extension that people will find, use and love.

In this article, I'll discuss several mistakes to avoid when developing Chrome extensions. These mistakes can hinder your extension's success, prevent it from reaching its full potential, and even harm its reputation.

By understanding and avoiding these mistakes, you can create a successful and widely-used extension that provides value to its users. And if you really want to give yourself the best chance of success in developing profitable Chrome Extensions the first time around, I have a tip for you at the end of the article.

So, let's dive in and explore the 8 mistakes to avoid when developing Chrome extensions!

Mistake #1 - Not Finding a Painful Problem To Solve 🤕

Failing to find a painful problem your users are experiencing so can lead to an extension that lacks purpose, relevance, and usefulness. You must find a specific pain point that your target users are facing and develop an extension that effectively addresses that issue.

To avoid this mistake, it's essential to spend time researching and understanding your target audience. This involves identifying their needs, preferences, and pain points.

You can achieve this by spending a few days in their shoes to understand possible pain points by embedding yourself in your niche’s communities.

Once you have identified a problem to solve, you can start developing your extension with a clear objective in mind. Ensure that your extension solves the problem in the most efficient and user-friendly way possible. A well-designed extension that addresses a painful problem can have a significant impact on users, and they will be more likely to use it and recommend it to others.

Additionally, it's important to consider the longevity of the problem you are solving. Is it a temporary or fleeting issue, or is it something that users are likely to face for an extended period? Building an extension around a problem that is unlikely to persist for long may result in a short-lived or ineffective extension.

Mistake #2 - Neglecting to Market your Chrome Extension 🔊

Failing to give your Chrome Extension’s marketing the time and energy it deserves is likely to cause your Chrome Extension to have a weak launch.

Too many software developers don’t realise that the marketing process is just as important as the development process itself. Unfortunately, just because you build it, it doesn’t mean that they will come.

Marketing should be seen as 50% of your efforts alongside developing your Chrome extension. Without a proper marketing strategy, your extension may not receive the exposure and adoption rates it deserves.

Marketing your Chrome extension involves various strategies to reach and engage your target audience. These strategies include creating a website, using social media, building an email list, utilizing SEO techniques, and more.

Furthermore, marketing is not a one-time event. It's an ongoing process that requires continuous effort and adjustment. As you develop your extension, you should also be continuously improving your marketing strategy. This may involve adjusting your messaging, targeting new audiences, or experimenting with new channels.

Mistake #3 - Stuck in "adding one more feature" mode before shipping 🔁

Another common mistake when developing a Chrome extension is focusing too much on adding new features instead of releasing the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) early on.

By releasing an MVP early, you can gather feedback from users and incorporate it into future iterations of the extension. This feedback can help you identify the most critical features and prioritize them accordingly. Additionally, releasing an MVP can help you establish an initial user base and generate buzz around your extension.

When developing your MVP, it's important to set clear development goals and prioritize the features that are most essential to the core functionality of your extension. Resist the urge to add too many features and focus on delivering a functional and intuitive user experience.

You should cringe when you ship your MVP, otherwise you probably waited too long.

Mistake #4 - Open-Sourcing your Chrome Extension 📖

In my view, open-sourcing your Chrome Extension this is a mistake. Let me explain by firstly starting with the upsides of open-sourcing your Chrome extension.

Well, it can be a great way to build community involvement and receive valuable feedback from a wider audience.

Open-sourcing allows other developers to contribute to the extension's development, resulting in potentially faster innovation and increased user engagement.

Additionally, open-sourcing can help establish your extension as a reputable and reliable tool in the eyes of users.

But, and it’s a big but (I cannot lie) … open-sourcing your extension also comes with potential risks.

These include potential code vulnerabilities, security risks, and compatibility issues that may arise from other developers altering your extension's code. Open-sourcing can also result in the loss of control over your extension's development and direction, which may not align with your initial vision.

And finally, the big reason why I think it’s a mistake to open source your extension … monetisation 💰

One of the main challenges is that users have come to expect open-sourced extensions to be free. So, transitioning to a paid model can be challenging from the end-users' perspective.

Additionally, developers who have contributed to the open-sourced repository may not be receptive to the idea of monetizing the extension. They may feel that their contributions should be freely available to everyone or that they themselves should get a cut of any income gained from the extension.

Furthermore, if developers fork the repository and create their versions of the extension, it can make it difficult to monetize the original extension. These developers can claim that they contributed to the original codebase, making it challenging to differentiate the original extension from the forks. Additionally, if the forks offer similar features for free, it can be challenging to convince users to pay for the original extension.

To mitigate the impact of these cloned extensions, you could focus on creating unique features or services that are not available in the forks. Additionally, offering personalized customer support, exclusive access to new features, and advanced features can help differentiate the original extension and justify a paid model.

Or, to keep it simple, just don’t open-source your Chrome Extension in the first place!

Mistake #5 - Building in Unfamiliar/New Technologies 🤔

Integrating new technologies into your Chrome extension can be a tempting prospect, as it can offer exciting features and functionality to your users. However, it's essential to consider the learning curve and potential risks involved in using unfamiliar technologies.

Overcomplicating your extension with these technologies can lead to a range of problems, including bugs, performance issues, and development delays.

When it comes to developing your Chrome extension, it's best to stick with technologies that you're familiar with. These technologies are likely to be more stable and reliable, making it easier to build and maintain your extension. If you are considering integrating new technologies, make sure to take the time to thoroughly research and learn about them to minimize the risk of introducing errors and delays.

Otherwise, there’s a decent chance you’ll end up building a Chrome Extension that doesn’t perform correctly or takes much longer than anticipated to build.

Mistake #6 - Asking For Too Many Permissions 🔐

One common mistake developers make when creating Chrome extensions is asking for too many unnecessary permissions upfront. This mistake can have significant consequences, including a decrease in user trust, privacy concerns, and reduced adoption rates.

When developing an extension, it's essential to take a step back and carefully consider the permissions required for it to function properly. In doing so, you should consider which permissions are necessary and which ones are not, as asking for too many unnecessary permissions can be off-putting to users.

To avoid this mistake, you should prioritize transparency and only ask for permissions that are necessary for the extension to work as intended.

When asking for permissions, it's crucial to explain to users why you are asking for them and how they will be used. This transparency not only helps to build trust with your users, but it can also increase adoption rates.

For example, if you're developing an extension that requires access to a user's location, be clear about why you need this information and how it will be used. Is it necessary for the functionality of the extension, or is it just a nice-to-have feature? If it's not essential, consider removing this permission request altogether.

By carefully considering the permissions required and being transparent with users, you can build more trust with your users, improve privacy concerns, and ultimately increase adoption rates for your extension.

Mistake #7 - Ignoring User Feedback 📉

Ignoring user feedback is a mistake that can lead to a lack of engagement and usage. By disregarding feedback, you may miss out on valuable insights into what is working and what is not, which can negatively impact the extension's performance.

It's therefore crucial to actively seek out and listen to user feedback. This feedback can come in many forms, such as reviews, comments, support tickets, emails and feature suggestions.

It's important to acknowledge and respond to user feedback, even if it's negative. Engaging with users in this way not only helps build trust but also demonstrates that you are committed to improving your product.

To effectively incorporate user feedback into your extension's development process, consider adding a feedback mechanism within your extension. By doing so, you make it easy for users to provide input and ensure that their feedback is heard.

When receiving feedback, it's essential to analyze it objectively and prioritize the most critical issues. Don't be afraid to ask follow-up questions or clarify feedback if necessary. Once you've identified the most pressing concerns, work to address them in your next update or release.

Finally, don’t bury your head in the sand when it comes to negative feedback. Negative feedback can be tough to hear, but it's often the most valuable. By listening to user concerns and addressing them proactively, you can improve the user experience and increase engagement.

Mistake #8 - Violating Google's Policies ⛔

Violating Google's policies is a significant mistake that can have severe consequences for a Chrome extension developer. Google has strict policies that developers must comply with to ensure the safety and security of users. If you violate these policies, your extension may be removed from the Chrome Web Store, leading to a loss of users and damaging your reputation.

Google have several key policies and principles you should follow to ensure that your Chrome Extension maintains an excellent reputation:

Be Safe: The Chrome Web Store aims to ensure the safety of developers and users by removing extensions that pose security threats, access unnecessary data, take advantage of users, promote hate speech, or abuse the network.

Be Honest: The Chrome Web Store values transparency and honesty in extension development. Developers must disclose all functionalities of their extensions without deceiving or misleading users. Chrome will remove extensions that engage in dishonest behaviour, utilize clickbait tactics, or mislead users.

Be Useful: The Chrome Web Store encourages developers to create extensions that provide a positive user experience and are educational, informative, and inclusive. Extensions that lack utility or expected functionality will be removed. Additionally, Chrome provides helpful tools to encourage innovation.

To avoid violating Google's policies, it's vital that you carefully review and understand the policies before creating and releasing an extension. It's also important to stay up-to-date on any changes or updates to the policies and to comply with any new requirements.

Conclusion

It's important to avoid these mistakes that can lead to decreased user trust, poor adoption rates, and negative user feedback.

By carefully considering the permissions your extension requires, seeking user feedback and incorporating it into your development process, and complying with Google's policies for extension development, you can create a high-quality extension that meets the needs of users and demonstrates a commitment to responsible development.

Ultimately, the success of a Chrome extension depends on its ability to provide value to users while complying with the highest standards for safety, transparency, and user experience.

By following best practices for extension development, you can create an extension that stands out in a crowded marketplace and builds trust with users.

So, how do you avoid these mistakes and create a profitable Chrome extension the first time you try?

Well, the answer is simple - by using a step-by-step framework from someone who has already been successful in this arena.

That's where my Cashflowing Chrome Extensions course comes in. With my guidance, you'll not only learn the technical aspects of developing Chrome extensions but you'll also learn how to market and monetise your Chrome Extension effectively.

This is all based on my own experience of making over $500,000 from my Chrome Extensions, Merch Wizard & KDP Wizard. That amount came from multiple six-figures in subscription income followed by a multiple six-figure exit too.

So, if you're ready to start building a profitable Chrome extension, head over to https://www.cashflowingchromeextensions.com to get started on your journey in creating profitable Chrome Extensions.

Debunking 7 Myths About Chrome Extensions

Rick Blyth — Sun, 30 Apr 2023 08:40:54 +0000

When it comes to developing profitable Chrome extensions, many misconceptions and myths are floating around. It's easy to get discouraged when you're unsure what's true and what's not.

That's why in this article, I will debunk seven of the biggest myths that are holding people back from developing profitable Chrome extensions 🔥

Whether you've heard these myths from colleagues, friends or just stumbled upon them on the internet, it's time to set the record straight and take your first step towards developing successful and profitable Chrome extensions.

Myth #1: Chrome Extensions Can't Generate Significant Revenue

This is simply not the case, and I have the numbers to prove it 📈

For one, my own Chrome extensions generated multiple six-figures in subscription income before I exited for a multi-six figure lump sum cash payment. In total, I’ve generated over $500,000 in revenue from my niche Chrome Extensions.

Other Chrome Extensions run by solo/indie developers include:

OneUp - Social Media Scheduling Tool - ~$10k/month
Closet Tools - Poshmark Automation - ~$35k/month
*Gmass *- Gmail marketing and mail merge automation - $130k/month

If you need any more convincing, then take a look at the potential revenue numbers you can achieve with a modest user base illustrated by this graphic below:

Myth #2: The Market for Chrome Extensions is Saturated

It's a common misconception that there's no room for new Chrome extensions in the market and that the space is too crowded. However, the internet is constantly evolving and new websites and web apps are always coming online, creating new opportunities for niche extensions.

For example, there has been an influx of Chrome Extensions built around ChatGPT, including the controversial AIPRM for ChatGPT, which has rocketed to close to 1 million users in just 3 months! 🚀

That doesn’t mean you can only build for new websites/web apps though, there are thousands of websites with passionate niche user bases that would love you to build a Chrome Extension that enhances their favourite website. This is especially true if you can save them time and/or money.

Myth #3: You Can't Sell and Exit from a Chrome Extension Business

Another myth about Chrome extensions is that it's not possible to sell or exit from a Chrome extension business.

Wrong! ⛔

The market for acquiring cashflowing digital assets, including Chrome extensions, is growing rapidly.

For one, I sold my Amazon-based Chrome Extensions within 5 hours of listing them on Empire Flippers for the full asking price! You can read more about that at https://rickblyth.com/selling-and-exiting-your-micro-saas

On a much, much larger scale Paypal famously acquired the Honey Chrome Extension for $4 billion!

Myth #4: It Takes a Long Time To Build a Chrome Extension

Building a Chrome extension can seem like a daunting task, especially if you already have existing commitments. However, with proper time management and goal setting, it's possible to develop an extension without sacrificing too much time.

My first paid Chrome Extension, which made me over $3,000, took me around 4-5 hours to cobble together over one weekend. It was super basic, but it did everything it said it would, and critically, it fixed a painful problem for my user base.

It's also important to remember that developing Chrome extensions is an iterative and compounding process. This means that you can invest time according to your schedule, whether it's a few hours a week or a few hours a day and your efforts compound in the form of a growing feature set and an expanding user base.

Myth #5: Chrome Extensions Require Constant Maintenance and Updates

Another common myth about Chrome extensions is that they require constant maintenance and updates. While updates are important for maintaining the success of an extension, they can be managed efficiently with proper planning 🧱

One way to minimize the need for frequent updates is by building a solid foundation. This means taking the time to design and develop your extension properly from the start. By ensuring that your code is clean and well-organized, you'll be able to make updates more easily and avoid introducing new bugs.

For example, having the IDs and class names of any referenced elements on the host website’s UI in a central file can make it much easier to make updates as and when the host website’s UI is updated.

Myth #6: Chrome Extensions Can Only Be Monetized Through the Chrome Web Store

While it’s true you used to be able to handle subscriptions and take payments via the Chrome Web Store itself, the payment platform was deprecated many years ago. Those of us that have been around long enough to have actually used it will tell you that it was clunky AF and not a great experience 🙈

Alternative payment providers such as Gumroad, WooCommerce, Stripe, ExtensionPay and more allow for a much better experience for both the developer and the customers.

However, don’t forget you can also monetise Chrome Extensions via affiliate marketing, advertising, sponsorship deals, and user base monetization. By exploring these different possibilities, you can diversify your income streams and increase your potential earnings.

Myth #7: Google will discontinue support for Chrome extensions.

To me, this seems incredibly unlikely.

Google has made significant investments in improving their extensions marketplace as part of their Manifest V3 initiative. This initiative focuses on improving extension performance, privacy, and security, which is part of Google's ongoing efforts to ensure that all Chrome extensions are safe and secure for users.

Google has also been actively involved in the browser standardization work of the W3C, which aims to ensure that all browser extensions are built using a common set of standards.

So, I don’t think software developers should worry about Google discontinuing support for Chrome extensions any time soon.

Instead, they should focus on creating high-quality extensions that follow Google’s policies alongside best practices. With the ongoing support and improvements being made by Google, Chrome extensions will continue to be a valuable tool for programmers and users alike.

In summary, if you're considering developing a Chrome extension, you can rest assured that Google will continue to be supported for the foreseeable future.

Now that you know the truth behind these seven myths, you can confidently pursue the development of profitable Chrome Extensions.

With the right idea, resources, and execution, your extension can solve a problem for your target audience and generate a steady stream of income, so don't let these misconceptions hold you back from achieving success.

But, you may be wondering how to give yourself the best chance of success?

The answer is simple - seek mentorship from someone who has already been successful in this arena.

This is all based on my own experience of making over $500,000 from my Chrome Extensions, Merch Wizard & KDP Wizard. This total comprised of multiple six-figures in subscription income followed by a multiple six-figure exit too.

So, if you're ready to start building a profitable Chrome extension, you can head to https://www.cashflowingchromeextensions.com/ to learn more about my course and how it can help you succeed in creating profitable Chrome Extensions.

Conclusions On Micro SaaS

Rick Blyth — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 18:30:00 +0000

From time and location freedom to a fresh sense of independence, there is a lot to gain by developing Micro SaaS applications. For me personally, I’ve been able to:

Earn multiple 6 figures in subscription income.
Quit my life-sapping 9-5 job.
Banish pointless meetings, office politics, chaos & firefighting.
Work when I want.
Work wherever and in whatever technologies I want.
Spend more time with family.
Have a better connection with the users of the apps I develop.
Have way more financial stability
Earn multiple 6 figures when I finally exited and sold my Micro SaaS apps.

Let’s wrap things up and dive into the following topics:

- My Journey From Idea To Exit
- What’s Next For Me In Micro SaaS
- The Future Of Micro SaaS
- How To Kickstart Your Micro SaaS Journey

My Journey From Idea To Exit

My Micro SaaS journey has been quite a ride! Whilst you can read the full story on my About page, let me summarise it for you here so you can see how I went from an unfulfilled software developer working a full time crappy 9-5 job, to quitting my job and eventually selling my apps for a life-changing amount of money.

It all started off with me simply looking to start a side hustle to bring in some more income and give me a side project that I fully owned. After I read a few self-development books, I had a lightbulb moment when I finally understood the difference between passive income vs active income.

I set out to build a side hustle that would generate passive income whilst I was at work or even better, asleep! It was also important to me that I wouldn’t need to invest any money into inventory or seek funding, or anything like that to get started. I just wanted to use my spare time and my skills effectively. That’s when I discovered Micro SaaS.

After a weekend spent hacking together my first chrome extension, I’d soon released my first Micro SaaS app. I was amazed to see that, despite being very basic and butt ugly, it was well received by the user base and even made me $3k!

My first Micro SaaS app, the butt ugly but functional and surprisingly profitable Merch Batch Editor

From that point on, I was addicted.

I decided to build more apps for the same niche community. One day whilst I was out walking my dog, I had an idea for a chrome extension that stopped me in my tracks (with my dog just staring at me bemused).

I felt I was on to something big and I was right. It grew into my flagship app - Merch Wizard and it changed everything for me.

I was fueled by my earlier mini app success and driven by the desire to create something bigger that could potentially lead me to quitting the day job. I could see a glimmer of light at the end of the dark tunnel and I went full steam ahead, driving for that light. I worked tirelessly on the app during my commute, lunchtimes, evenings and weekends but it was truly a labour of love.

Concurrently with myself working hard on developing and promoting the app, as a family we made cutbacks in order to build up a runway of savings.

After a particularly prolific Black Friday sale, I’d finally hit my runway target and the monthly subscription income was stable enough for me to finally do it .... I QUIT MY JOB!

No more crappy meetings/office drama/chaos/commute 💩

More focus/family time/freedom/calm 😃

I was able to work full time on my Merch Wizard app and scale it up. We were comfortable and enjoying the new freedoms that Micro SaaS brings. Then I launched my second app, KDP Wizard, which I managed to achieve a multi-5 figure launch with, only using organic traffic.

Fast forward a few years and my Micro SaaS apps made me multiple 6 figures in subscription income and gave me an incredible freedom that I’d never had before.

Eventually though, after the users’ requests for new features quietened down and everything was running smoothly, I began to get itchy feet and noticed other opportunities for new apps in new niches. I’d spent several years working in the same niches, and whilst they were great niches, they just weren’t as exciting to me as they were in the early days.

I also didn’t have a huge motivation to reach the next milestones in my app growth trajectory. I figured that if the money was right, I’d sell my apps and focus on something new rather than trying to juggle too many things.

As I detailed in the how to exit your Micro SaaS app chapter, I ended up selling my apps for a multi-six figure lump sum payment in just 5 hours!

So, in a whirlwind ride over a few short years I had freed myself from the corporate grind and gone full circle from idea to exit. I did this using purely organic traffic, starting off with zero audience and zero ideas. I hope that this inspires you to take action because if I can do it, then so can you!

What’s Next For Me In Micro SaaS

Well, in case there’s any doubt, I’d like to formally announce that I have resigned from my corporate career. It’s officially over.

I’m done with the stress, crappy meetings, office politics, chaos, firefighting, trying to impress people I don’t care about etc etc. I spent 20+ years in the trenches, working my way up from Junior Software Engineer all the way up to the “pinnacle” of Technical Director, only to find it wasn’t any better at “the top”. Each promotion meant more responsibility which translated into more headaches and more hours.

Yes, for each promotion I was given a small salary increase, although inflation and minor lifestyle creep eroded any meaningful changes to the bank balance. It was largely a hamster wheel of pain.

Conversely, Micro SaaS feels like a deep blue ocean of opportunity with disproportionately large rewards if you get it right.

I have learnt so much on my journey, made a tonne of mistakes but I was never afraid to fail fast and fail forward.

So, firstly I want to help spread the good word of Micro SaaS and help developers to start a profitable side hustle or even to quit their full time job. I’m building up several resources to share all the knowledge I’ve gained up to this point.

After that, I’m going to be jumping back in the ring for Micro SaaS part two. I’m looking forward to building something bigger and better next time, utilising all the knowledge and experience I’ve gained.

My next Micro SaaS will be built to sell from day one, bootstrapped and I’ll be targeting a much bigger exit.

The Future Of Micro SaaS

I believe more and more software developers are going to discover Micro SaaS over the coming years. Many programmers will be searching for an alternative to their unrewarding corporate job.

Especially, as they’ll have tasted the greater freedom and flexibility of working from home during the Coronavirus pandemic. Many software engineers have already started quitting their jobs in what’s being referred to as the great resignation.

I hope that my role in all of this is to help spread the word of this different approach to earning a living. I want to show developers that they don’t have to rely on being paid per hour/day/month.

Instead, for programmers to realise that there are genuine opportunities for them to utilise their existing skills in the Micro SaaS business model. This model is not constrained by the number of hours in the day and can bring in an incommensurate return on time invested.

How To Kickstart Your Micro SaaS Journey

Well done, you’ve finished this Micro SaaS eBook, which has hopefully given you the high-level information you need to go from Zero to Micro SaaS Hero. We’ve gone from starting with zero audience and literally no ideas, through to building a profitable bootstrapped Micro SaaS which you can sell for a lump sum if you want to.

It’s been great sharing this with you, and I hope you’ve benefited from it. If you have any questions, then feel free to join my free Micro SaaS Mastermind Facebook group of likeminded founders where I answer all the questions I’m tagged in.

In case you landed on this page directly from a search engine, then you’re reading the final chapter of my 12 part guide to Micro SaaS.

Download the entire 12 chapter guide as a PDF eBook for free so you can read it where you want, when you want.

Hi, my name is Rick and I help unfulfilled software developers quit their 9-5 jobs, with minimal risk by creating their own cash-flowing Micro SaaS businesses. I have been on the journey myself, starting as a nobody; finding a niche; establishing credibility; building up multiple Micro SaaS apps to the point that I could quit my (well paid) Technical Director job and work on my apps full time. I then scaled the apps up and eventually sold and exited them for a life changing amount of money. You can read my full story on my about page. I am passionate about sharing the knowledge I’ve gained from this journey … welcome to my site 👋

How to sell your Micro SaaS app and exit successfully

Rick Blyth — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 18:30:00 +0000

Having grown your Micro SaaS app from nothing into a badass monthly cash generator, you might think to yourself, why on earth would I want to sell my app?!?

After all, you’ve worked so hard on it, you understand it intimately and you’ve got more ideas on how to improve it going forward. In this chapter, I’ll run through some reasons as to why you might sell and exit your Micro SaaS app for a lump sum.

We’ll then move on to the valuation and sale process as I experienced it first hand, looking at the following aspects:

- Why Exit & Sell Your Micro SaaS app?
- Why I Sold My Micro SaaS Apps
- Valuing A Micro SaaS Business
- Factors Affecting The Valuation Multiplier
- SaaS Metrics To Constantly Monitor & Improve
- How I Sold My Micro SaaS Apps In 5 hours (at full asking price) 😲
- From Idea To Exit
- What Next?

Why Exit & Sell Your Micro SaaS?

Once you’ve scaled your Micro SaaS app to a certain level, the day-to-day operations may become too much for one person to handle effectively. You may need to hire a small team to help to free up your time to pull the biggest levers in your Micro SaaS business.

It’s at this point that you’ll want to revisit your goals and milestones that you set when you were preparing your Micro SaaS App for scaling. What targets have you hit, and what do you want to achieve from your Micro SaaS?

It’s worth taking some time to consider your purpose and motivation. Do you want to work on this app for the next year, 3 years, 10 years?!? It may be that you’ve reached your goals, and now you’ve become a little less enthusiastic about the grind of ramping up your Micro SaaS.

Some days, it may actually feel like a JOB, which is what you were probably trying to escape from way back when.

Reasons You Might Sell Your Micro SaaS App

Scaling Pains - Perhaps you’re better suited to developing technical solutions rather than scaling up a customer base. This could be the perfect opportunity to pass over the baton to someone with skills in organic/paid traffic.
Risk - You foresee some element of risk to your apps in the near or distant future and you’d rather get out whilst the going is still relatively good.
Trends - Maybe you’ve noticed that your niche is starting to stagnate or decline and worry about how that will affect your app’s growth potential.
Change of scenery - You may simply fancy working on a different technology stack or in a different niche.
Burnout - Starting and scaling a Micro SaaS app isn’t plain sailing. It can take a tonne of effort and you may have had enough of all the support and need to take an extended break from work.
Show me the money - Simply having a life-changing lump sum paid into your bank account could just be too appealing to resist.
Shiny object syndrome - You may have noticed potential opportunities in other niches and become distracted by the excitement of building something new. I am certainly guilty of this one as the image below sums up well 🤣

Micro SaaS Shiny Object Syndrome Sufferer ✋

Why I Sold My Micro SaaS Apps

I had a crystal clear objective in my mind when I really doubled down on my Micro SaaS apps. That was simply to earn enough money from the apps to enable me to quit my unfulfilling/crappy 9-5 corporate job.

After saving up a 6 month runway and building up the monthly recurring income to be more than our family expenses, I finally jumped ship. Best. Day. Ever.

From that point on, I was motivated by fear of the apps failing and me having to go back to the corporate world with my tail between my legs. As such, I worked tirelessly on improving the app and scaling them up to a point I felt comfortable that I would be able to survive any unforeseen circumstances (did someone say Covid-19?). My apps made me a very comfortable living for several years and they gave me an incredible freedom that I’d never had before.

Once I’d decided that I’d be open to selling my apps, the next step was to get a valuation.

Valuing A Micro SaaS Business

At its most basic level, one of the most common formulas for valuing a SaaS business is simply:

**Net Profit x Valuation Multiplier = Valuation**
As a simple example, if you’re making a monthly net profit of $10,000 and your valuation multiplier is x40, you’re looking at a ($10k x 40) $400,000 valuation.

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, several months before a sale is the perfect time to trim the fat on the business costs and to make a determined effort to boost revenue. Not only to show an upward trajectory but due to the potential greater return on time invested. So, in the previous example, if you are able to add just another $1,000 to monthly net profit that could translate to an additional $40,000* at sale!

There are some alternatives to the “Net Profit x Valuation Multiplier” formula. One of these is that it is common for smaller businesses (like Micro SaaS) is to use Seller Discretionary Earnings instead of Net Profit:

**SDE = Revenue - Cost of Goods Sold - Operating Expenses - Owner compensation**

Buyers like to see the true profit that’s been generated by the business, rather than the amount after the founder has taken their salary/dividend payments. The SDE figure is then used in the valuation formula in place of net profit.

If that sounds straightforward, it’s probably due to the fact that we’re only dealing with financials thus far. Next, we’ll look at the far more subjective factor which is the Multiplier.

*depending on multiple factors and how long a trailing period is taken into account etc

Factors Affecting The Valuation Multiplier

1) Key SaaS Metrics

The most important SaaS metrics you’ll want to focus on improving throughout the lifetime of your apps are:

Churn - The percentage of customers that canceled their subscriptions vs remaining subscribers in a given time period.
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) - The average total income received from a subscriber over their subscription lifetime.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) - The marketing costs needed to attract a single new paying customer.

2) Revenue Streams

You might assume that all revenue is treated the same - money is money after all right? Well, in Micro SaaS, we have Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR), Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and One Off (Lifetime) Revenue. You’ll want to focus on driving up MRR ahead of ARR/Lifetime revenue. Whilst ARR is comforting for an owner, it’s not as predictable as MRR. Also, lifetime sales are actually considered a negative to a new owner as they will need to support these customers without receiving any more income from them!

3) Profit Margin

Simply put, the profit margin is net sales minus cost of goods sold. Clearly, the higher the margin, the better - by the nature of SaaS, it should be relatively high.

4) Age Of The Business

A business with at least 3 years of stable performance is easier to predict, while one with less than two years of history will be more difficult. Three or more years of stable performance gives investors a much better idea of how the business will perform.

5) Niche/Market Trends

Is the market growing or is it in decline? Do you have many competitors and if so, how does this affect your customer acquisition costs? Are these competitors fierce and are they well-funded?

6) Business Growth Trends

Is your Micro SaaS business growing year on year, and if so, at what percentage? You might still get some interest if your Micro SaaS is trending downwards but the majority of buyers want to see a reasonable growth curve.

7) Owner Involvement & Transferability

How involved are you with the business? Could the business run without you? The more involved you are on a day-to-day basis, the harder it is going to be to get a great multiplier for your valuation.

Is the code well documented (oops!)? 😲
Do you have Standard Operating Procedures in place?
How difficult would it be to migrate the app and its assets?

8) Misc Factors

In addition to the above, there’s also the following factors to consider:

Untapped Customer Acquisition Channels
Traffic Diversification
Market Saturation
Value Proposition
Company Assets

SaaS Metrics To Constantly Monitor & Improve

As you can see, there are a large number of factors that go into a SaaS multiplier valuation that are outside of the financials!

There are some factors that you cannot directly influence, such as market trends. However, for the metrics that you can impact, you should regularly monitor your Key SaaS metrics and try to increase/decrease the following:

SaaS Metrics To Increase 📈

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) over Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)
Lifetime Value (LTV)
Customer Satisfaction
Customer Engagement
Documentation
Operating Procedures
Your Prices (in all likelihood)

SaaS Metrics To Decrease 📉**

Churn
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Lifetime Sales (no matter how tempting)
Number Of Monthly Support Tickets
Support ticket response times
External Costs

How I Sold My Micro SaaS Apps In 5 hours(at full asking price)

After I reviewed the potential marketplaces to list my apps on, I concluded that Empire Flippers would be my preferred option. In short, whilst they primarily started off as a marketplace for E-Commerce/Amazon businesses, they had recently started to have great success with selling SaaS businesses.

When I looked into alternatives such as Flippa, they all felt a little too “Wild West” compared to the well established Empire Flippers that give great protection to both the buyer & seller with their extremely detailed vetting and migration procedures. Like everything, there are pros and cons to Empire Flippers, but for me it is the best marketplace to sell your Micro SaaS business on.

Achieving A Top 5% Valuation Multiplier For My SaaS Business

I packaged both of my chrome extensions into one listing and went through the initial Empire Flippers valuation process. This process was smooth and unlike some alternative marketplaces, the final selling price I achieved was actually very close to the initial valuation figure I received.

It’s free to receive an initial valuation for your SaaS business and there’s no obligation to go any further. If you’re happy with the valuation range you’ve been given then you proceed to a final valuation. It’s only at that point that you have to decide whether you’d be happy to commit to a sale if you were offered the full asking price.

The Empire Flippers vetting and final valuation process is very extensive and takes into account the factors affecting your valuation multiplier listed in the previous section. It takes a few weeks for them to verify the revenue numbers, costs, monetisation model and various data points.

This process was so detailed and extensive that I found it quite reassuring in the end. As a seller, I wouldn’t want any obstacles to appear later on in the sale process (perhaps during negotiations or worse, during migration). As a buyer, I’d be very confident that the vetting team had done their job thoroughly and everything will be as advertised with no nasty surprises.

In the end, I achieved the 2nd highest ever valuation multiplier for a SaaS business on Empire Flippers, achieving a x57 monthly net profit multiplier.

12 Steps To Selling Your Micro SaaS App On Empire Flippers

Empire Flippers listings go live in batches once a week on a Monday at 3pm GMT (10am ET). The normal process when these listings go live is:

Empire Flippers email their entire email list of active buyers.
Buyers unlock listing(s) they’re potentially interested in (they can only unlock listings that they have proven they’d have the funds available to buy).
If they like what they see, Buyers arrange a call with the Seller.
Seller has initial calls with potential Buyers (Empire Flippers sit in on calls too)
Additional rounds of calls from interested Buyers.
Offers are submitted (price haggling is uncommon, more likely is the founder exit model)
Final negotiations.
Offer acceptance.
Holding deposit paid.
Listing made inactive on the marketplace.
Remainder of payment made.
Move to the migration phase.

However, my experience was a very much condensed version of the above as I will explain below!

Selling my Micro SaaS within 5 hours

After my listing went live in a batch on a Monday, I saw that several buyers had unlocked the listing. At this point, they’d have been reviewing the financials and the questions answered during the seller interview.

I then received a number of requests from buyers for calls. In particular, there were a few buyers that were very interested. They were trying to be the first buyer that I spoke with, so they’d have first mover advantage.

After a few hours, I had a few calls booked in over the next few days when something unexpected happened. One of the buyers who could only book in for the Wednesday, decided that they really wanted to buy the business and they didn’t want to risk having me talk to any other buyers.

So, five hours after it went live, they bought the business at the full asking price without even jumping on a call!

They paid the non-refundable holding deposit and the listing was locked on the marketplace. I couldn’t believe it had sold so quickly!

Why Did It Sell So Quickly?

I believe this happened for two reasons:

I’d spent quite some time preparing the business for the sale, ensuring the key SaaS metrics were trending in the right direction as much as possible.
I’d taken my time on the seller interview questions, giving as much detail as I could about the business and including potential upsides for a potential buyer.

I had a call with the buyer the next day and the rest of the sale and migration process was concluded fairly swiftly.

In case you landed on this page directly from a search engine, then you’re reading chapter 11 of my 12 part guide to Micro SaaS.

Download the entire 12 chapter guide as a PDF eBook for free so you can read it where you want, when you want.

Final Thoughts

Selling your Micro SaaS apps can give you a life changing lump sum of cash. It is an amazingly fulfilling lifecycle to create something new, receive validation from your customer base and ultimately receive a bonus cash payment on top of the subscription payments you’d been paid til that point.

One thing that does take a little getting used to is the change in financials post-sale. Depending on whether there’s an earnout or if it’s a 100% cash sale then the transitions you’re likely to see are:

Bank account - Modest Savings -> Large Cash Surplus!
Monthly income - Healthy Monthly Income -> Zero Monthly Income!

Don’t get me wrong it’s a nice shift on one hand but equally it takes a little while to get your head around monthly income being reset to zero and having a lump of cash to take care of.

Finally, let’s move on to the final chapter in the series, the Conclusion and Next Steps so you can find out how to accelerate your Micro SaaS journey.

Conclusions and Kickstart Your Micro SaaS Journey

Growing and Scaling Your Micro SaaS App

Rick Blyth — Sun, 19 Feb 2023 18:30:00 +0000

By now, you’ll have checked off all of the items in the [pre-scaling preparation stage](By now, you’ll have checked off all of the items in the pre-scaling preparation stage. Next, we’re on to the exciting topic of actually growing your Micro SaaS app user base and subscription income.

It’s important that even during this growth phase, you don’t lose focus on customer satisfaction. Make sure you keep up to date with support, add the features you promised on the roadmap, and then get on to attracting more users to your app through SaaS marketing.

That said, let’s take a look at the key strategic elements of growing your Micro SaaS app:). Next, we’re on to the exciting topic of actually growing your Micro SaaS app user base and subscription income.

That said, let’s take a look at the key strategic elements of growing your Micro SaaS app:

- Ramp Up Organic Traffic
- Recruit Affiliates
- Harvesting Blog Traffic
- Referral Program
- Baking In Virality
- Discoverable By Nature
- Ramp Up Paid Traffic

Ramp Up Organic Traffic

Now that there’s a healthy foundation of happy users for the app, it’s time to start growing your Micro SaaS organically, spreading the world far and wide and finding new subscribers.

If you have built up an email list and not yet emailed all of them through your launch cycle, now is the time to email them.

If you have built up a Facebook group for your niche or if you’ve become an active (and contributing member) of any other groups, then now is the time to raise awareness around your app within these groups.

All my Micro SaaS apps have been marketed purely via organic traffic. Sure, it’s more effort than running ads, but in the long term it’ll give you a great ROI.

You might think you need to wait until you have the app ready to launch before announcing it to the world but as long as you’re ready with your marketing efforts, you can start showing people what you’re going to offer well before you launch your app.

Recruiting Affiliates For Your Micro SaaS app

Outside of your initial launch audience, if you don’t have a Facebook group or email list to market to, then the quickest way to increase your customer base will be through tapping into affiliate audiences.

In exchange for promoting your app to their audience, the affiliate will receive a percentage of the income generated through the promotion. Initially, this may not sound appealing, and you’re probably thinking it’s not a fair deal. You’ve done so much hard work and now you’re likely to have to give this person around 25%+ of the recurring income received from the promotion, just for sharing it to their audience!?!

What you might not appreciate - and initially I didn’t either! - is that these affiliates have likely spent several years building up an audience that trusts them. They will have given valuable content to their audience, engaged with them, moderated the content in the group, vetted new members etc. There’s also the daily grind of moderating the group for spammers and scammers which can be a real time suck.

Having grown several Facebook groups from 0 to over 5,000 members, I can tell you first-hand that it’s no small job to build an engaged community.

Bearing all that in mind, the affiliates are not going to want to push a product that they’ve never heard of to their precious audience without good reason. One bad promotion could seriously damage their hard-earned reputation.

Treat your affiliates well and you’ll be rewarded with a long term symbiotic relationship.

You will also need to demonstrate to the affiliate that your app will genuinely help their audience.

What Should I Offer to Affiliates?

There are several things you can, and should, offer to your affiliates to ensure you have a good working relationship. You should offer them:

A demo of the app and access to its features so they can try it out
High percentage commissions that make your app worth promoting
Harvesting Blog Traffic
Regularly updated marketing collateral
Open lines of communication they can message you quickly
Commissions that are paid on time

Over the years, I was able to forge many great relationships with affiliates in the Merch By Amazon & Kindle communities. I went on several live shows on Facebook & YouTube reaching global audiences that I would never have reached on my own.

Each time I went live, I would always do a live demo of the app (what could go wrong 😂) and take questions live.

Yes, it’s not the most comfortable way to spend an hour, but it was always well worth it as they produced an influx of new subscribers paying a recurring subscription fee.

Harvesting Blog Traffic

Remember the blog posts you committed to in the launching your Micro SaaS chapter? By now, you’ll have crafted a range of blog posts on a variety of targeted topics that will resonate with your target niche. It’s now time to reap the rewards and harvest the fruits of the digital seeds you’ve sown.

You should have a steady stream of visitors to your site and you should now begin to steer these visitors towards becoming users of your app, either subtly or directly by creating a call to action for each article.

As a reminder, each blog article will have an associated target search intent as below: Depending on each article’s topic and target search intent, you’ll set up an appropriate call to action on each article. Here are some examples for you:

Depending on each article’s topic and target search intent, you’ll set up an appropriate call to action on each article. Here are some examples for you:

Informational Posts - download our white paper on case management software (sent to their email).
Commercial Posts - download this independent review of the top 5 case management software apps (sent to their email).
Transactional Posts - get started with a free trial of our case management software (requires user account creation via email).

You’ll start to build up a healthy email list of leads for your app. Depending on their entry point, you can send them an automated unobtrusive, value-driven email sequence.

Naturally, these emails will give your leads a gentle nudge that will eventually drive them towards becoming paid customers.

Introduce A Referral Program

You can think of a referral program similar to the affiliate program discussed earlier. Except, in this case, it’s your customers that are doing the lead generation for you rather than relying on affiliates and their audiences.

You can choose to create an ongoing referral program for a steady stream of consistent leads or create short-term referral contests with prizes to try to generate a large number of leads quickly.

Make it super easy and rewarding for each customer to earn a bonus or (worst case) cash when they refer a new paying user. Increase the chances of your referral program going viral by offering a double-sided reward so there’s a bonus for both the referrer and new customer.

Here are some great examples of powerful SaaS referral marketing examples you can take inspiration from:

Dropbox

Quadrupling their growth within a year after introducing their referral program, Dropbox soon grew into a billion-dollar company. Their referral program was simple. For every new customer you referred, you got bonus storage space for the lifetime of your account.

It started off as 500MB of storage space but if you had Dropbox Plus it was 1GB of storage space per referral which soon added up!

Paypal

With an app that revolves around money, it’s only natural to offer a cash incentive in this case. Initially, PayPal gave $20 to anyone opening a PayPal account and $20 to the referrer. Later they lowered these rewards to $10 and finally to $5 per signup.

At the time of writing, Paypal is still employing referral marketing to great effect:

Airtable

Offering a simple but effective credit-based referral scheme, Airtable gives the referrer $10 credit for anyone that signs up using their link. The new customer doesn’t even need to sign up to a paid plan or make any purchases for the referrer to be credited $10.

Creating an account takes less than 30 seconds and with no credit card required. You can literally get a year’s worth of Airtable Plus just by asking your family & friends to take 30 seconds out of their day to register a free account.

As my chrome extensions rely heavily on Airtable, I have personally benefited from the Airtable referral scheme. I baked my referral link into my apps and their setup guides and before I knew it I had over $3,000 in Airtable credit! I’ve used some of this credit on a Pro workspace but most of the time I’ve not needed to dip into my credit as my Airtable bases are generally small enough to live on the free tier.

Think about what kind of referral program would make sense in your app. Would one of the below referral reward models work in your Micro SaaS app:

Discounted subscription fee.
Additional usage allowance.
In-app bonuses/unlocks.
Tier-based swag.
Money that they can cash out (this should be the final resort).

Remember, if you can make it double-sided so both referrer/referee win, it’ll vastly increase the chances that your referral marketing program will go viral.

Baking In Virality

In addition to offering incentives to share links to your app as above, consider creating shareable moments within your Micro SaaS app. This would usually take the form of something that the user has achieved and would be proud to share with other users within their niche.

This is best explained using an example of a chrome extension called PrettyMerch which is in the same Merch By Amazon niche as my apps. PrettyMerch shows creators their sales and royalties in a pretty graph with advanced analytics that are way beyond what’s available from Amazon's native reporting pages.

As Merch is based on tiers, the app celebrates when a user “tiers up” with a popup that users love to screenshot and share to the community to celebrate their levelling up.

In addition to that, people are always sharing their sales numbers (they can mask out the product details in one click).

When a Merch creator sees the screenshot containing the beautiful charts and advanced analytics, they’ll also notice that they can trial the app for free. Before you know it, they’ve installed it and are well on the way to becoming a paid subscriber!

Let’s think about the cost of acquisition for each of these customers... that’s right, $0! The existing customer base is just spreading the word throughout the community for free. No affiliate to pay, no referral credit to absorb.

The virality from creating these memorable and easily shareable moments are well worth the time invested in gamifying your application. Heck, there’s plenty of libraries that will help with this that you can just plug into!

Discoverable By Nature

One way that you can make your app highly discoverable is through the nature of the app itself. This occurs when users share links to your app to non-users who may not even be aware of your app.

Here are some examples of large-scale and Micro SaaS apps that are intrinsically shareable and discoverable by their nature.

Calendly - book a timeslot in my calendar without any need for back and forth on emails.
Zoom - let’s connect virtually and share screens.
Slack - let’s collaborate in multi-channel real-time chat.
Google Docs - let’s work on this online document together.
Dropbox - let’s back up and share large files between us.
Loom - here’s a screen recording showing you how to work.
Balsamiq - here are some mockups of the new UI.
Upvoty - here’s our product roadmap and central place to manage feature requests.

Can you create an app that solves a specific problem and is by its nature shareable? If so, you’ll benefit from huge organic growth as the number of users spreading the word about your app increases exponentially.

If you manage to make your app discoverable by nature, then growing your Micro SaaS app becomes a breeze.

Ramp Up Paid Traffic

Finally, whilst paid traffic seems appealing, it’s best employed only after careful consideration.

There’s no point in paying for a load of ads to just find out that your core offer isn’t resonating with your target audience. This could be due to a number of issues such as:

Poor product/market fit.
Solution in need of a problem.
Over or under pricing.
Seasonal problem.
Poor ad targeting.

The point being, you need to first prove that your offer converts via the above organic methods before growing your Micro SaaS app via paid advertising and accelerating the process.

The Traffic Campfire

I like to think of organic traffic vs paid traffic akin to building a campfire.

You want to set up a foundation of large slow-burning blocks of wood (your organic content marketing/referral marketing/affiliates etc). This will ensure that the fire will burn steadily for a long period of time. You will consistently add to these foundations over time (more blog articles/referral schemes/affiliate partnerships).

Once the fire is burning well, you can pour on some gasoline (paid advertising) to increase the height of the fire for a short period of time.

However, gasoline can be expensive and is also out of your control. The price of gasoline (cost of ads) can skyrocket and ad accounts are notorious for being shut down (leaving you with zero traffic) so you can’t rely on this alone.

Instead, over time, you’ll use a blend of both organic and paid traffic sources. This will mean you’ll enjoy a steady stream of new leads coming into your world, along with more short-lived focused advertising campaigns.

Whilst this could be a whole article on its own, I’d recommend starting your paid advertising with YouTube Ads and Facebook Ads. They’re both great platforms to place ads and once you have a winning ad, you can scale that out to a wider audience and increase your customer base accordingly.

In case you landed on this page directly from a search engine, then you’re reading chapter 10 of my 12 part guide to Micro SaaS.

Download the entire 12 chapter guide as a PDF eBook for free so you can read it where you want, when you want.

Final Thoughts

Growing your customer base is a great and rewarding phase of the Micro SaaS journey. Let's just remind ourselves that each month, we don't start at zero. We have a steady income stream and now we want to carefully split our time between growing the user base and delivering a kickass product.

Let's recap some of the key points from this chapter before we move on:

Organic Traffic - continue raising awareness of the app through your own channels - Emails, Facebook Groups, Twitter, etc.
Affiliates - they have the audience, you have the product. Keep your affiliates happy and they will be very rewarding for you.
Harvest Blog Traffic - continue to pump out the blog content and harvest the fruits of the digital seeds you’ve sown.
Referral Program - spend some time figuring out what makes sense for referral rewards in your app. If you can motivate your existing users to refer others you'll be well on the road to success for sure!
Bake In Virality - what shareable moments can you create in your app? Does gamification make sense in your app?
Discoverable By Nature - this isn't always possible but if it is, then you want to make it easy for non-users to see the value in your app and to check out an account for themselves.
Paid Traffic - this should only be considered when you know you have a proven offer that's working well with organic traffic. Once you have an offer that converts, you can utilise paid advertising to accelerate the user acquisition process.

Ok, so fast forward a few years and you've been scaling and growing your Micro SaaS, maintaining the code base, new feature requests are drying up, it's a bit of a grind and other potential projects are catching your eye ....

Micro SaaS Shiny Object Syndrome ... it's a thing ✋

You might think you’d never sell your lovingly created, successful cashflowing Micro SaaS startup.

After all, this is your little baby that you’ve nurtured all the way from its painful birth, through the growing years that’s now blossomed into a strong and independent software app.

In the next chapter, I’ll be discussing reasons why you might be interested in selling your Micro SaaS app and exiting for a life changing lump sum payment.

Selling your Micro SaaS app

Preparing Your Micro SaaS App For Scaling

Rick Blyth — Fri, 17 Feb 2023 18:30:00 +0000

Just like launching a real rocket, when you launched your Micro SaaS app, it would have taken a metric tonne of effort just to achieve that initial lift-off and get it a few feet off the ground. The great news is that the following stages build upon the momentum from your launch and will help propel you to outer space (or just quit your day job if that’s your target!).

Before we jump into the methods to grow your Micro SaaS app, we need to run through some important prerequisites to ensure that when you do scale your Micro SaaS, it goes smoothly:

- Ensuring Customer Satisfaction Remains High
- Setting Goals And Celebrating Milestones
- Discovering Your Financial Objectives
- Is The App Ready To Scale?
- Is The Business Ready To Scale?

Customer Satisfaction Is Key

I have put this point first on the list as it really is that crucial. You must always have a happy user base, it will be the foundation you build upon.

Underpromise and overdeliver; engage with your users; have a transparent roadmap and overdeliver on the features that the users are expecting.

If there are support issues, resolve them as quickly as possible - whatever it takes!

I recommend screenshares where possible for an expedited resolution and in turn, happier customers.This is even more essential in the early days as you try to:

Build trust in the community.
Ask existing users for reviews.
Minimise churn (% of users cancelling their subscription).
Encourage early adopters to refer other users (we want them to be gushing about the app).

Customer satisfaction really is the foundation of the growth process. There’s no point in having a high number of users try out your app only for them to leave the next month due to it being buggy and support taking ages to come back to them.

Take this snippet from a review of my app Merch Wizard, which was left by an early adopter who was super-impressed with the rapid response of myself and the support team.

Imagine being a prospective user and reading this review, you’d be reassured that even if you did have any issues running the software, they’d be resolved very swiftly.

Set Goals And Celebrate Milestones

Take a deep breath and look at where you were 12 months ago, or even 6 months ago, and how far you’ve come through the process of planning and launching your own Micro SaaS app.

Think about where you are now and where you want this to go next. It’s time to set some SMART goals which are:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Timely

Your targets can be based on almost any aspect of your Micro SaaS business, for example:

Financial Goals - $5,000 monthly recurring revenue within 6 months
User Goals - 1,000 active subscribers within 3 months
Growth Goals - 20% growth year on year
KPI Goals - Less than 5% churn by December; LTV per user of $500 within one year
Referral Goals - Have 5% of our new users come via referrals next quarter
Content Marketing Goals - Publish 100 blog posts by Christmas
Social Media Goals - 500 Tweets within 6 months; Increase Followers to 25k on Facebook by Easter

For each of the above, work backwards from where you want to get to and figure out the stepping stones on the way. These will be your milestones and should be written down along with a target date for each milestone.

Don’t just write these down and shove them in a draw to be forgotten!

Instead, check-in on them regularly and correct your course where possible. That which isn’t measured isn’t improved upon!

When you hit a milestone, don’t forget to celebrate it! Yes, there will be a new milestone to set, but you should reward yourself (and your micro-team if you have one) each time a milestone is achieved.

Your Micro SaaS Financial Objectives

Ask yourself what you’re hoping to achieve financially with this Micro SaaS app. Is it just some extra side hustle money (beer money), or perhaps it’s your aim to be able to pay your rent/mortgage (rent money) with this additional income?

Maybe, you hate your corporate job in software development and want to build up your cash-generating Micro SaaS so it enables you to finally quit your day job!
[Coming soon - I will have a section of this site dedicated to how to quit your software developer job in a low-risk manner.]

Clearly, there’s a correlation in the amount of income vs the amount of effort you need to put into your Micro SaaS app. Wherever you’re heading, your specific financial target will dictate how you set about growing your user base.

If it’s just beer money then you won’t need to scale as aggressively. Someone that is planning on quitting their software developer job in the next 6 months to live the Micro SaaS life of freedom will have to scale harder.

Do you want beer money, rent money, to quit your job or big money from your Micro SaaS?

Is The App Ready To Scale?

Before we try and attract boatloads of additional users, your Micro SaaS app needs to be able to handle these new additions without compromising the performance that other users currently experience. Otherwise, you’ll find that a similar number of users that are coming through the front door are leaving through the back door!

If your app is server-based, then there are tools you can use to simulate a large number of users. As a minimum, you’ll want to ensure that all three of the below tests pass with flying colors:

Load Testing - simulate high loads, check that the app still functions correctly
Stress Testing - check recovery from extreme loads, server crashes etc.
Volume Testing - bulk out your database as to what it would look like with 10x the data in it. (Did somebody say database Index)?
Side note - I am presuming that your app isn’t just running on a single server and is likely cloud-based 🤞 … otherwise you don’t need me to tell you twice that you will need to stop reading this article and go and re-architect the app to make it scalable.

In my situation, my apps are chrome extensions that run within (you guessed it) a user’s Chrome browser. Whilst this sounds great from a scalability perspective as all of the code is client-side, it does make hundreds of calls to external servers every minute.

Fortunately for me, I don’t have to administer these servers as the endpoints belong to Airtable, Amazon, and Gumroad. As such, my apps are by their nature, unconstrained and unaffected by a sudden influx of new users (lucky me!).

Is The Business Ready To Scale?

Ok, now we’ve established that the app can scale - but what about your Micro SaaS business? How will customer satisfaction be maintained as the number of users increases and the volume of support tickets increase? Do you need to hire and train up a small support team?

Here's a tip - early on, invest your time into creating a detailed knowledge base. It will pay dividends for years to come. Users can find their own solutions to issues and you can direct support tickets to the relevant articles rather than repeating yourself.

On my second app, KDP Wizard, we had the knowledge base, tutorial videos, and setup videos/articles in place pre-launch (we were confident of a successful launch). We received lots of positive feedback on the smooth setup experience and the wealth of support articles available.

A glowing user review as a result of an early investment in setup guides, tutorial videos, a knowledge base and ticketing system.

If you’ve managed to handle support so far with something primitive like email or Messenger, then now is the time to level up to a ticketing system. There are plenty of free/cheap helpdesk solutions nowadays and customers will expect this even from small Micro SaaS apps.

From your perspective, having the ability to assign tickets, re-use response snippets and ultimately have a searchable database of tickets will make your life easier too.

At the other end of the business, do you have the bandwidth to cope with the increased volume of pre-sales enquiries from potential customers as the app is being promoted? They will expect quick responses to any pre-sales questions. Slow responses at this stage may put them off from buying entirely.

Does the Pricing Model Scale?

It’s also worth considering how your pricing model will work at scale. Are there any costs within the business that will scale disproportionately to the revenue?

One thing to be mindful of is the scenario where you offer a lifetime deal on your app but you have some associated transactional costs as the users use your app.

Scaling caught me out within my own app Merch Wizard.

One of the features is the batch language translation of 5 textboxes from English to a destination language. This started off as just English to German as that was the only marketplace available with a different language (so a total of 5 API calls per Merch listing to be translated).

I used my Amazon Translate account which the chrome extension called. I absorbed the cost across the user base, simply thinking of it as a subsidised cost of running the app.

However, two factors contributed to my translation costs skyrocketing:

Merch By Amazon introduced several new marketplaces totalling 5 destination languages. So, instead of 5 x 1 translation API calls, it rose sharply to 5 x 5 = 25 translation API calls per listing!
The user base increased as the app gained popularity. Not a problem normally, but as I’d sold many lifetime licences (notably to big Merch creators) during seasonal sales, each time they carried out batch translations it was eating into my profit margin.

In the end, I had to bring the free translation to an end and ask the users to sign up for a free account to individually utilise the free monthly allowance from Amazon Translate. Instead of just delivering this bad news to the user base directly, I figured it’d be a good time to add some new translation providers that they’d asked for (Google Translate and Deepl).

I was able to sell it to the user base as giving them a more configurable solution where they could pick their preferred translator. On the whole they were very happy with that! ✌

In case you landed on this page directly from a search engine, then you’re reading chapter 9 of my 12 part guide to Micro SaaS.

Download the entire 12 chapter guide as a PDF eBook for free so you can read it where you want, when you want.

Final Thoughts

Ahead of actually starting to scale your Micro SaaS app you've got to ask yourself the key questions discussed in this chapter, namely:

Can I scale whilst retaining high levels of customer satisfaction?
What are my scaling goals & milestones along the way?
What are my financial objectives? Do you want beer money, rent money, to quit your job or big money from your Micro SaaS?
Is The App Ready To Scale?
Is The Business Ready To Scale?
Does the Pricing Model Scale?
Having laid the foundations carefully, we’re on to the exciting topic of actually scaling up both your user base and recurring income.

It’s vital that during this growth phase that customer satisfaction remains high. You must keep on top of support, continue to add the features promised on the product roadmap. You can then look into utilising SaaS marketing techniques highlighted in the next chapter to scale and grow your Micro SaaS app.

Scaling your Micro SaaS app

How to launch and promote a Micro SaaS app

Rick Blyth — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 18:30:00 +0000

At least 30-60 days out from your Micro Saas app launch, you’ll want to start to build up an audience to launch to. Alongside this, you’ll need to be planning out your launch channels. But that’s far from everything. You should be actively trying to do the following things when getting ready for the exciting day:

Here are the topics I'll be touching on in this chapter:

- Commit To Writing X Blog Articles Per Month
- Don’t Delay Your Launch
- Gather Reviews From Beta Users
- Build Up The Pre-Launch Hype
- Launch Your Micro SaaS!
- Treat Your Early Adopters Well
- Failure Minimisation
- My Multi-5-Figure Micro SaaS App Launch

Commit To Writing X Blog Articles Per Month

When in the pre-launch phase and you’re still building out your website, it’s easy to forget to focus on other content.

It may seem like devoting time to writing blog articles isn’t worth it at this stage. However, these search engine-friendly posts will give you a great long-term ROI, so it’s worth planting these seeds nice and early. With better Google Rankings comes more traffic, with more people finding your website due to the well-written blog posts.

With that in mind, commit to writing a number of blog posts that you’ll publish per month. This could be anything from one a month up to several each week to get the blog bulked out at the start. The main thing is to commit to a regular schedule so that you don’t end up with an outdated-looking blog.

It’s important to attract an audience and keep your audience engaged with relevant content. Make sure your articles are well crafted and give value to your target audience. These articles will provide you with a steady stream of (free) leads for your app every single month. You can also use these blog posts as lead magnets so potential users can opt-in to your email list.

Articles should answer questions around the problem that your app solves. You should also aim to cover the full spectrum of intent from informational through to commercial and transactional intent.

Don’t Delay Your Micro SaaS App Launch

So, you’ve (hopefully) kicked your MVP (Minimum Viable Product) into shape, and it’s ready to make its debut.

Please resist the never-ending temptation to “add just one more feature before I launch”. We all know that once that feature has been built, there’ll be another one, then another one 🔁

You don’t want to fall into the trap of going round in circles adding new features, constantly delaying the launch for one more week or even months at a time 😱

Start Gathering Reviews

If you’ve been through the beta testing phase, then now is the time to ask them to gather reviews which you’ll put on the sales page/website as testimonials.

Any social proof will really help build trust and in the early days this is essential! Disclosing that they’re a beta tester will add to the authenticity of their reviews.

Get consent from them to use their profile pic/social avatar to add a further aspect of social proof to their reviews. Below you can see some reviews of one of my Micro SaaS apps - Merch Wizard.

In the early days, I had automated email sequences that culminated in a request for a review from the user that proved to be quite effective.

Build Up The Pre-Launch Hype

On to the actual micro SaaS app launch itself! Set a realistic date and then start to build up some excitement for the launch 🚀

Starting from T-minus 30 days, every few days you should be providing some fresh content for your potential user base. This content shouldn’t just be the “X days to go” style mundane countdown email sequence.

Build up a content calendar in which you’ll drip feed them each feature’s description and the benefits of it to them. Believe it or not, people will genuinely get excited for your app launch if you're drip feeding them solutions to their problems.

Here’s an example of a simple post I made in the KDP Wizard Facebook Group showing a searchable treeview control I’d been working on to replace the clunky native treeview control. Despite its simplicity, the group’s users loved it because they knew it’d save them so much time every time they listed a book:

Houston, We Have Lift Off 🚀

Needless to say, your beta users should have tested the go-live version ahead of you starting to promote the app. Once they’ve given it the green light, it’s time to push the big red button and get this Micro SaaS rocket launched.

You can start small and launch through one platform at a time to ensure there aren’t any teething or unexpected load issues. As your confidence builds, you can expand out to the bigger platforms.

Some users may struggle to get your app up and running, so you will need to be on hand to help support this influx of new users.

Treat Your Early Adopters Well

Your first users will be the seeds of your customer base, so it’s important you treat them well. Be transparent in your pricing, provisional roadmap, and your passion for making the best possible app to solve their problem(s).

If you can do a great job for these early customers, they will likely help spread the word of your app to other potential users in your niche. This chain reaction is only likely to come from delighted users rather than just satisfied.

The MVP of my app Merch Wizard was very “basic” (to put it kindly), but it did what it needed to do. It proved that there was an audience willing to pay for an app to fix their problem. Many of those early adopters are still paying their monthly subscription several years on as they locked in the low monthly launch rate.

Merch Wizard MVP (cringe) 😱

My Multi-5-Figure Micro SaaS App Launch

My apps (Merch Wizard & KDP Wizard) were launched using purely organic traffic. Here are the sources of that organic traffic that I leveraged when launching my apps:

Email list (built-up initially by my earlier smaller chrome extensions)
Facebook Groups (my Wizard ones plus affiliates ones)
YouTube Live demos & Q&As with affiliates/influencers
Facebook Live demos & Q&As with affiliates/influencers
Podcast appearances

[FYI, I will shortly be compiling a short case study on my KDP Wizard launch detailing how I achieved a 5 figure launch using purely organic traffic. Let’s not forget that I started with zero audience and I was able to generate this for a micro-niche chrome extension.]

Start As You Mean To Go On

Even though we’re just starting on our app development journey, it’s important to set off on the right foot with the future in mind.

Yes, you can hack your way to an MVP and then address that technical debt later on - I’m ok with that.

However, from a billing perspective, subscribers to your MVP should be paying your business stripe/paypal account rather than your personal stripe/paypal account which would be way harder to transfer during a future sale (albeit a long long way off).

Having been through the sale/exit process, I have learnt that subscription income that can’t be easily transferred can sometimes be written off the valuation. 😲

Failure Minimisation

Nobody wants their app launch to flop. If you’ve done your best to validate your Micro SaaS idea, then you’re already on the right track.

In any case, you’re better off finding out the truth sooner rather than later to avoid unnecessarily wasting additional weeks/months developing a product nobody wants.

If your initial micro SaaS app launch does fail, don’t be disheartened! It’s most likely due to a lack of genuine demand for the solution you’re aiming to provide, rather than a reflection on yourself. You can learn from this experience, finding a better problem to focus on for next time.

In order to come across a better idea, make sure you check out my chapter on the characteristics of a solid Micro SaaS app idea. This will walk you through the whole process and make sure your idea is certain to be a hit!

In case you landed on this page directly from a search engine, then you’re reading chapter 8 of my 12 part guide to Micro SaaS.

Download the entire 12 chapter guide as a PDF eBook for free so you can read it where you want, when you want.

Final Thoughts

This has been an exciting chapter, actually launching your app into the big wide world! Let's remind ourselves of the key takeaways for this chapter before we move on:

Don't delay your launch - you'll always want to add more features, there will never be a right time, the fear of failure etc .... ship it as soon as it's working and functional and get that early feedback!
Commit To Writing X Blog Articles Per Month - this early time investment can provide you with a steady stream of new leads for your app on an ongoing basis.
Gather Reviews from beta testers/early adopters - in the early days, social proof will really boost your conversion ratio as more potential customers read the benefits other similar users are experiencing.
Build Up The Pre-Launch Hype - engage with your audience, drip feed them whatever you can, no matter how small to build up anticipation of your launch.
Launch! - start small and build it out as your confidence grows that you're able to support the growing user base.
Treat Your Early Adopters Well - ensure support is rapid and timely. Try to overdeliver where possible to leave early adopters with a glowing feeling about your app and the person/team behind it.
Start As You Mean To Go On - make sure you're billing users via an appropriate payment processor that connects to your business account, not your personal account! You don't want to have to try to migrate these users later on as many might drop off. Similarly, you'll struggle to have revenue from these users taken into account during a valuation.
My Multi-5-Figure Micro SaaS App Launch - whilst it's too much to include on this page, I'll create a cheatsheet on how I achieved a multi-5 figure launch using purely organic traffic. Coming soon ...

In order to successfully scale your app’s user base, you’ll need to go through a short period of consolidation to sure up the foundations first. These are important prerequisites to ensure that when you do scale your Micro SaaS, it goes smoothly.

Take a look at my detailed chapter on preparing a Micro SaaS app for scaling before you move on!

Preparing to scale up a Micro SaaS

Validating Your Micro SaaS App Idea

Rick Blyth — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 18:30:00 +0000

Whilst it’s possible to do some soft validation techniques, there’s really only one way to fully validate your Micro SaaS idea - build a barebones MVP (Minimum Viable Product) version of your app, put it out there and see if people will pay for it.

But before you start building the MVP, you can also utilize some soft validation checks before you go ahead and code your app:

- Soft Validation Checks
- Using Online Communities For Idea Validation
- Dipping Your Toes In
- The Dummy Order Page
- Building The MVP
- Throwaway or Foundational MVP?
- Beta Testing The MVP
- Some Alternative Methods To Validate Your Micro SaaS App Idea

Soft Validation Checks

Revisit and re-validate the niche & problem with a fresh set of eyes, how many people are in your target niche, is it evergreen, and are they searching for a solution to this problem?

Here are a few ways to look for search intent to get a feeling for the numbers.

Google Trends - check the popularity of your target niche. We want stable/growing rather than declining.
Google Keyword Planner - find out approximate search volumes for software in your target niche. Add your specific problem search term to this if it’s common enough.
Keywords Everywhere chrome extension - (a great example of a Micro SaaS app idea itself) - repeat the above to give some further indicators of search volume.
UberSuggest and AnswerThePublic - Gain more insights and to spark further ideas.

Using Online Communities For Idea Validation

Next, move on to the places online where your niche’s users hang out in communities. This could be Facebook Groups, Reddit subs, Slack, Discord, etc.

Join these communities and use the search function on the platform to find people’s thoughts on the problem you’re considering fixing and the workarounds. If possible, try to message these people one on one in a non-spammy way and if appropriate, outline your high level app idea to them to get their feedback.

Be wary that it’s easier for them to give you a false positive by encouraging you to build it, so make a point of asking for honest feedback and how much they’d pay for that solution.

Review Existing Solutions

Next, check out any existing solutions to the problem. If there aren’t any solutions or there are only manual workarounds, then you may think you’ve struck gold and that your solution must be better than no solution right?

Well, there may be a good reason why others have passed up on the opportunity, so make sure you do your due diligence and consider all angles carefully.

If there are already some solutions in place for the problem it doesn’t mean that they’ve got it 100% right and it’s a non-starter for you. Look for the gaps or issues users have with the existing solutions:

Are they too expensive for the users to justify? Could you produce something more affordable? For example, Pabbly is a slimmed-down, cheaper version of Zapier and it is becoming very popular proving there’s plenty of room in the market for both of these platforms to thrive.
Are they bundled with too many other features? Start your app off with just one core module that provides an express service.
Are they hard to understand or use? Build something that is easier to set up and use.
Are they missing key features? Build these as your USP key starting features.

Validate your Micro SaaS app idea by dipping your toes in

Are you happy with what you see and you are ready to take your idea to the next level?

You can then gauge demand and receive feedback before committing to building an MVP by creating mockups of how the app would look and function.

It should be obvious to the end-user what the app’s features would be from a glance at these mockups.

You can then share the mockups via private messages with contacts in the niche or even post it publicly in the niche’s communities and ask for their honest feedback.

Be wary of prying eyes when posting publicly. If you have many users screaming “take my money already” in the comments, it’s possible that somebody in that niche could hire a developer to build the app.

I’d suggest removing the post after a day or two once you’ve gotten the feedback you’re looking for. That way, it’ll reduce the chances of someone stealing your Micro SaaS app idea.

The Dummy Order Page

You can take this a step further and build a simple website for the app with the above mockups in it along with some short paragraphs outlining the key features. This technique was made famous by Tim Ferris’s “4 hour workweek” book.

You’ll have buttons on the site encouraging the visitor to order the app. On the “Order” page it’s up to you whether you:

Simply state that the app is in development and prompt the user to join the waitlist to receive a discounted launch offer.
Frame it as an app that’s available to order/pre-order and you actually pretend to take their card payment to truly validate how many people will actually pay for the app. Of course, no payment is taken and the user is told as much.

You can then drive traffic to the site through paid ads and check the clickthrough rate to “order” and, if nothing else, gather prospective users’ emails ahead of your genuine launch.

## **Alternative Methods To Validate Your Micro SaaS App Idea**

Personally, I’ve not needed to create an app website as above to try to gauge demand ahead of a launch as I could see the demand right in front of my eyes.

For my target niche, Merch By Amazon, I was already part of the community. I listened to many Podcasts and watched lots of YouTube videos on the subject in my spare time.

Within the Facebook groups and on these Influencers’ shows, I was able to spot recurring problems within the niche which plenty of people were complaining about. This alone gave me enough confidence that it would be worth building at least an MVP version of an app that solved them.

Instead of building out a website with a dummy order/pre-order page, I actually started by offering some simple free chrome extensions. The users only had to register their email address to gain access to them.

This helped to build up trust in the community and to gather an email list of leads within the niche that were ripe for targeting when I was ready to launch my main app.

Building the MVP

The MVP is our proof of concept and will find out the answers to these key questions:

Does this app solve a real problem for a real set of users?
Are those users willing to pay for this solution?
Is it possible to target and attract users?

The majority of us software developers are somewhat perfectionists. You have to throw that out of the door for your MVP, or risk losing weeks/months of your life for no good reason.

You have to move quickly, fail fast … fail forward.

The first version of the app should be basic, have lots of missing features and potentially be a little rough around the edges. But, critically, it has to function correctly.

First impressions count and we’re aiming for a reaction like “woohoo, someone is starting to fix my problem, how can I support them to improve their app so it works better for me”, rather than, “this app looks like a 5-year-old designed it and it’s full of bugs”.

Throwaway or Foundational MVP?

In my view you have two options when creating your MVP:

Hack it together to such an extent it does a job and proves if there’s a demand for the product. Throw it away and start again if your MVP gets traction.
Spend more time on your MVP with the intent of forming the foundations on which you’re going to build the final app upon.

In some cases, you’ll even be able to use no-code solutions to quickly knock up a functional MVP. No-code tools such as Bubble.io are becoming increasingly powerful and are great if your app is a web/mobile/desktop app. However, you will struggle to go down the no-code route if your app is a chrome extension or ecosystem plugin.

Beta testing your MVP

Before we actually launch the MVP, ideally we’re going to want to get some feedback from users within the niche to help mold the MVP into shape before its public release.

Assuming that you have no ready-made audience to tap into, you’ll want to dive into your niche’s communities and find some beta testers to help give you valuable feedback on your MVP.

Find recent posts where people are complaining about the problem your app proposes to fix. Either comment on this post or message the users privately, letting them know you’re creating an app to help fix this problem.

Let them know you’re going to be launching a beta version of your Micro SaaS app idea in X weeks and you’re looking for people to give feedback on it over a period of X weeks. In exchange, you can either offer them a big discount off the launch price or even free lifetime access if you have to.

How Many Beta Testers Do I Need?

You need 5-10 beta testers to get some decent initial feedback.

Put them into a group (Facebook group/Slack workspace) so they can see each other’s feedback. This will ensure they’re not duplicating each other’s issues and suggestions.

Structure and streamline the feedback loop to make it super simple for them to give feedback. After all, their feedback will be as precious as gold to you.

Quick reality check - as with all things, some beta testers will never open the app and will just drop off the radar. That’s why you ideally need a bunch of them to actually get some valuable feedback.

Ok, you’re getting closer to having a functional and bug-free MVP version ready to roll that our beta testers are happy with.

It’s likely that your beta group will be bombarding you with feature requests and it’d be worth putting together a quick high level feature roadmap which you can then use on your website to show potential users how your app is going to evolve.

In case you landed on this page directly from a search engine, then you’re reading chapter 7 of my 12 part guide to Micro SaaS.

Download the entire 12 chapter guide as a PDF eBook for free so you can read it where you want, when you want.

Final Thoughts

Validating your idea is critical to ensure you don’t waste your time building a product that nobody wants. In this article, I’ve outlined the high level idea validation process which is:

Soft Validation Checks
Using Online Communities For Idea Validation
Review Existing Solutions
Dipping Your Toes In
The Dummy Order Page
Alternative Methods To Validate Your Micro SaaS App Idea
Building An MVP
Beta Testing your MVP

Exit criteria for this phase is a group of Beta testers that are “happy” that your app is functioning correctly and a provisional roadmap of planned features.

At this point, we’re getting close to the most exciting and nerve-wracking phase of this journey - the launch phase! Let’s take a look at how to launch and promote your Micro SaaS app in the next chapter!

Launch your Micro SaaS app

How to Generate Great Micro SaaS Ideas

Rick Blyth — Sat, 11 Feb 2023 18:30:00 +0000

The best Micro SaaS ideas solve specific problems for a specific niche user group. These problems will likely be costing the target users time and/or money.

Therefore, the key to generating solid Micro SaaS ideas revolves around simply being able to identify these problems and come up with a solution that fixes them.

Your users should be able to see your app as a no-brainer solution in terms of the value it brings vs the cost of the subscription.

In this article, I’ll cover the following topics so you know how to come up with great Micro SaaS ideas:

- Types of Problems That Suit Micro SaaS Apps
- Questions To Ask Yourself
- Finding Specific Problems
- Thinking Of Possible Solutions
- Scoring Your Problems & Solutions
- Micro SaaS Idea Examples & Case Studies

Types of Problems That Suit Micro SaaS Apps

Micro SaaS apps are great at fixing many common “problem” scenarios, for example:

Automating repetitive and/or tedious tasks.
Performing calculations that are currently calculated manually.
Connecting disparate systems.
Replacing Excel spreadsheet workarounds.
Plugging in gaps of missing functionality in host ecosystems
Enhancing reporting

Ask yourself these questions when you go searching for problems:

How could software help with this?
Could I automate this tedious process?
Is it possible to surface more data to improve the user’s experience?
Could I make this easier/less painful?
Would I be able to create an app that streamlines this lengthy multi-step manual process?
How could I provide an integration between these systems?

Finding Specific Problems

You’ll want to compile a list of problems that you could fix. Don’t pass judgement on these as you add them, instead just focus on listing them out.

The majority of Micro SaaS ideas form apps that are designed to overcome a problem that you (as the founder) are experiencing. It makes sense that if you’re experiencing this pain then it’s likely that others are too.

List out all the problems or even just inefficiencies that you’re frustrated with now - focus on tedious things to do or actions you wish were less time consuming. The second most popular reason to create a Micro SaaS app is to fix a problem that your clients/customers are experiencing. It could be that in your full-time job or freelance work you see a common problem for which there isn’t a viable solution yet.

Add them to your list of identified problems which we’ll use later on to figure out which problems are genuinely worth fixing. The third way to find problems is to research the issues your potential users of your previously identified niche/market are complaining about.

How do you find these problems? By finding and where your target users hang out and joining their community spaces. These communities could be in the form of forums, Facebook Groups, Subreddits, Slacks, Discords, etc. Immerse yourselves in these communities, and you’ll see certain complaints cropping up repeatedly. Add these to your list of potential problems to solve.

Also, don’t be afraid to post asking users if they could wave a magic wand and fix a problem in that niche’s domain, what would it be?

Another way to generate Micro SaaS idea is to ask about your friends & family and see if they’re frustrated with any of the sites/software they use. A great example of this is the Closet Tools chrome extension, created by Jordan O’Connor to help his wife automate some of the tedious tasks on Poshmark. It started off life as just a simple script, just to help out his wife with some mundane tasks on Poshmark. He’d shared this script within the community and received great feedback, so much so that he made it into a chrome extension and the rest is history!

What started off as a script to solve his wife’s problem, evolved into a great Micro SaaS product that fixed a common problem Poshmark sellers experienced, which in turn led him to scale his app up to $32k MRR as a solo founder!

Brainstorming Possible Solutions
Once you’ve completed your list of problems, the next thing to do is to go through the list and figure out what the high level solution would look like to solve each of the problems.

Is it a web app that would fix this problem? Maybe it’s a desktop automation app or maybe even a chrome extension? Think about all the possible tools that could be used to form a great solution for the user.

Ask yourself, is it something you could build yourself (or with a micro team) in a reasonable timeframe? Is the solution within your (attainable) skillset? If not, then strike it off the list.

Rinse and repeat until you have a list of viable solutions for the problems you’ve previously listed.

Scoring Your Problems & Solutions

Now you’ll have a completed list containing your identified niches, their problems, and high level app ideas that are within your attainable skillset.

You’re now ready to work through your list of Micro SaaS ideas and pass judgement!

Work through your list and score each opportunity based on the niche, the problem and the proposed solution.

FYI, I am working on an idea scoring template which I'll share here when it's ready.

In case you landed on this page directly from a search engine, then you’re reading chapter 6 of my 12 part guide to Micro SaaS.

Download the entire 12 chapter guide as a PDF eBook for free so you can read it where you want, when you want.

Can I Just Start Coding Already?

In short, no.

Please don’t take the top scoring app idea and start coding (with your head buried deep in the sand) for the next 6 months. No matter how “certain” you are that it’d be a hit, you’re likely to be setting yourself up for a delayed failure.

I suggest taking your time to pick your top 3 app ideas and then mulling them over even more.

As you revisit them each day, you’ll have different thoughts, feelings, and perspectives on them. These could lead to finding yourself falling in or out of love with the ideas as you go.

It’s better to get these mixed feelings out in the open before you start building anything.

Final Thoughts

Whilst it's tempting to Google for "micro saas ideas", nobody is going to give you an exclusive idea for you to develop and monetise. At best, you'll be able to find some inspiration or jumping off points to start from.

The key to coming up with Micro SaaS ideas is to find genuine, evergreen, PITA problems that a niche's users are experiencing. Get all these listed out and evaluate what you can do to solve these problems for them.

At this point, you should have a variety of potential app ideas to consider and you'll want to pick your favourite(s) for validation.

Next, let's take a look at how you can validate your Micro SaaS idea ...

Validating Your Micro SaaS App Idea

Hi, my name is Rick and I help unfulfilled software developers quit their 9-5 jobs, with minimal risk by creating their own cash-flowing Micro SaaS businesses.

I have been on the journey myself, starting as a nobody; finding a niche; establishing credibility; building up multiple Micro SaaS apps to the point that I could quit my (well paid) Technical Director job and work on my apps full time.

I then scaled the apps up and eventually sold and exited them for a life changing amount of money. You can read my full story on my about page.

I am passionate about sharing the knowledge I’ve gained from this journey … welcome to my site 👋

Characteristics of a Solid Micro SaaS App Idea

Rick Blyth — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 18:30:00 +0000

By now, hopefully you’ve selected a target niche and you’re looking at possible app ideas for that niche. Let’s dive into some of the characteristics of a great Micro SaaS app idea.

We’ll be covering the following attributes of a solid micro SaaS app idea:

- Fixes A Painful Problem
- Not A Solution Looking For A Problem
- Has An Attainable Solution
- The Problem It Fixes Is Evergreen
- Built On Strong Foundations

Rule #1 - Your Micro SaaS App Idea Must Fix a Painful Problem.

Whilst it is possible to create something that improves people’s lives, you’ll have far more interest in your app if it is actually fixing a painful problem that the users are experiencing. These problems need to be genuine problems that are in dire need of a solution, rather than temporary irritations.

Rule #2 - Don’t Create A Solution That’s Looking For A Problem

Always start with the problem, rather than the solution. Whilst it’s tempting to create something that just popped into your mind, it’s likely that you’ll fall head over heels in love with the idea and simply have your blinkers on.

You’ll tell yourself that it’s a wonderful idea, maybe even “the one!”. In reality, when you start with a solution in mind rather than a problem in mind, it’s likely you’ll find it difficult to attract an audience seeing as nobody is searching for a fix for a non-existent problem. You’ll be wasting your time trying to convince people that they need it in their lives.

Building a Micro SaaS app without focussing on a specific problem for a targeted audience will vastly reduce your chances of success.

This is one of the big issues for products that launch on Product Hunt - many of these apps are solutions in search of a problem and launch in search of a user base that may or may not exist.

An example of a solution searching for a problem ### **Founder Problem Fixes**

The majority of Micro SaaS apps are created to overcome a problem that the founder is experiencing themselves.

This was true in my case too. I created my first app when I was trying to upload designs using the Merch By Amazon UI.

At the time, you could only edit one product at a time, there was no way to open another product in a new tab. Being constrained to one tab like this felt like a full-on violation to my rights as a modern day user of the internet 😂. I also saw others complaining about this on the Merch forums and Facebook groups.

Problem identified!

Within a weekend, I’d created my first chrome extension - Merch Batch Editor. It was a super simple and incredibly ugly chrome extension, but users responded really well to it. I set a one-off price of $12.99 for this app. But, even with the low price, I had very low expectations that anyone would want to buy it. After all, I wasn’t going to run any ads to it, just rely on organic traffic methods.

However, I was soon proved wrong as this super-basic tool made me over $3,000!

This small app was the building block to my bigger chrome extensions and helped me earn the trust of the users and build a reputation in the community as a trustworthy app developer.

### **Fixing a problem your customers have**

Another reason to create a Micro SaaS app is to fix a problem your clients/customers are experiencing. It could be that in your full-time job or freelance work that you see a recurring problem for which there isn’t a viable solution yet.

Is there a way you could create something that plugs in the gap?

Just remember though, if you don’t like the industry/clients you service in your day job/freelance work, then it may not be the best fit for you.

For me, when I was working in my full-time job as Technical Director of an Insurance Software business, I could see plenty of gaps in the market for some Micro SaaS apps.

But, the problem was that after 10 years of working in that same industry, I couldn’t think of anything worse than building more software for insurance brokers 🥱

Rule #3 - It’s within your (attainable) skillset

Is your app idea something that you can build with your current skillset? If not, you’ll need to factor in how much time you need to allocate to training up in the required technologies before you can even start building your app.

Building an app in the Augmented Reality space would be super cool. But, if you’re going to burn all your energy/time just getting to the start line, it’s a non-starter.

Also, bear in mind that if you plan on using new technologies to create your first app, it’s likely that your app is not going to follow best practice for those technologies.

After all, you’ll likely be gluing together code from tutorials and fixes from StackOverflow just to get the thing up and running. It’ll take some time before you’re capable of creating apps in these technologies using the best possible practices.

In my case, my 20 years of server-side coding skills (ASP .Net, C#, SQL Server) didn’t help me much when it came to developing my first chrome extension using Javascript/CSS/HTML.

However, these skills were fairly easily attainable, and within a few months I was up to speed. That said, it still took a year or two to really get into the best practices for developing chrome extensions.

Rule #4 - The Problem Should be Evergreen

Can you imagine people searching for possible solutions on Google/YouTube for this problem year round? If not, then it’s unlikely you’ll have a steady stream of potential customers finding your app’s website.

The problem you’re solving should be a long-term, constant pain for your user base. You don’t want to fix a problem that is seasonal or only going to be around for a short period of time.

There is one exception to this rule though. This is when you’re creating a quick app to fix a short term problem so you can gain trust in the community and obtain leads for your longer term app idea.

This is what happened with my first app, Merch Batch Editor, which I mentioned earlier. It fixed a short term problem that was only around for about 12 months.

It only took a weekend to throw together and whilst it made me $3,000, more importantly it gave me 250+ emails of highly targeted niche users that proved they’re happy to buy tools that help them fix their problems.

During the launch of my next app in this niche, I was able to email all of these people with a discounted offer and kickstart my app’s user base.

Rule #5 - Build your Micro Saas App on strong foundations

In an ideal world, your app should stand alone without relying on other systems and businesses. At least, you’ll want to minimise your dependency on other businesses. I’m not saying don’t integrate with anybody else’s APIs, just be mindful of the foundations that you’re building your app on.

For example, if you’re building a custom Shopify app, then you have a strong reliance on Shopify continuing to grow its customer base so you have a steady stream of potential new customers.

In Shopify’s case, you’ll probably be fine but imagine if you went all-in on building an app for SnapChat only to see your user base heading for the doors in their droves due to a SnapChat UI update!

You need to map out all the systems your app will rely on and look at the level of risk associated with each one. Then, create a contingency plan for what you’d do if one of them went out of business.

For example, my chrome extensions have a strong reliance on Airtable to store the users’ data (in their own private Airtable bases). In the unlikely event that Airtable went bust, I had a backup plan to swap out Airtable for Google Sheets instead. It wouldn’t be quite as powerful as Airtable, but it would certainly work as a backup.

In case you landed on this page directly from a search engine, then you’re reading chapter 5 of my 12 part guide to Micro SaaS.

Download the entire 12 chapter guide as a PDF eBook for free so you can read it where you want, when you want.

Final Thoughts

As you can see above, it’s critical that your app isn’t just simply some software that you fancy building. Instead, it really must revolve around fixing a painful problem that a niche group of users are experiencing and will likely still be experiencing for the foreseeable future.

Finally, you’ll need to consider the foundations you’re building your app on and from a technical perspective, whether it’s within your attainable skillset.

Next, let’s get on to the exciting step of actually generating great Micro SaaS ideas.

Generating Micro SaaS Ideas

Finding a Solid Micro SaaS Niche

Rick Blyth — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 18:30:00 +0000

As the saying goes, the Riches are in the Niches. Finding a great micro niche is a fundamental part of Micro SaaS; otherwise it’d just be plain old SaaS with a wide audience.

That's why we need to look at the things into finding a solid micro SaaS Niche. In this chapter, I will discuss some of the reliable key characteristics that you should look for.

Here are the topics I'll be touching on in this chapter:

- The niche should be expanding not contracting
- Do the users have money for tools?
- Are you capable of understanding the Micro SaaS niche?
- B2B or B2C or B2M?
- You should like your potential users
- Specific and focussed

Instead of looking for huge markets with few identifying characteristics, you want to niche down to a micro-niche that has a highly targetable potential customer base for your app. For example, think about how you’d go about targeting the following user base:

The more micro you go, the better. Not only will you be able to find and engage with potential customers much more easily, but you’ll be able to serve them better with a much more tailored solution.

Imagine being a Real Estate Lawyer and searching for a Case Management Solution …. you’d immediately be drawn to the below link as it is so specific to you:

**as opposed to the generic offering below:**

With that in mind, the next step is to find a few micro SaaS niches that could be a good fit for you. You’re not yet looking at the possible problems/solutions in these niches, rather just shortlisting a number of suitable niches you’re interested in exploring further.

Here are some of the key characteristics you’ll want to look for:

An Expanding Niche
A User Base With Budget For Tools
An Understanding Of The Niche
A B2B, B2C, or B2M Niche
A Customer Base That You Like
A Specific and Focused Niche

The niche should be expanding not contracting

Clearly, we don’t want to be building apps for a niche that is in decline. Instead, we want to be targeting niches that are either stable or ideally expected to grow (hopefully significantly) over the next 5 to 10 years.

If it’s an emerging market, there will be less competition and you may be able to claim a stake of the market early on. You have to balance that approach against the “safer”, more established niches that have been and will be around forever (accountancy, law, health, etc).

The first Micro SaaS apps I developed were chrome extensions for Merch By Amazon creators which certainly was (and still is) an emerging niche. I came across this niche whilst looking at passive income opportunities myself.

The Merch niche is mainly made up of graphic designers & entrepreneurs, uploading their art to Amazon to sell on various apparel products. Each time Amazon sells a product with their design on it, they’re paid a small royalty. This platform and niche only started in 2015 but it has expanded exponentially since then.

Whilst Amazon doesn’t release the actual number of creators on the platform it was fairly easy to estimate the size of the community by looking at the size of Facebook groups, Reddit channels etc.

Critically, I could see that the community was increasing week by week, with more members joining the groups all the time. Merch was a great niche to get into as it was certainly up and coming, plus the creators made money each time their designs would sell. All I needed to do was to create some apps that would allow the creators to focus on what they really wanted to do - create more bestselling designs.

Take a look at this Google Trends graph below showing how this niche has grown in popularity and whereabouts in the growth phase I launched my apps and finally when I was able to quit my day job!

Do the users have money for tools?

What does your typical user look like? Are they a business or a consumer? Do they have a budget to spend on your solution?

For example, if they’re students, you’re going to struggle to convince them to spend what little money they have on a monthly subscription to your study-system app (ahead of video games and beer).

Conversely, let’s say you have built a great Shopify plugin that automates emailing potential users when a product is back in stock. If your plugin only takes 5 product sales a month to justify the cost of your plugin, it’s a clear win-win value proposition for all concerned (just be mindful that one day Shopify could potentially re-create your plugins’ functionality within its core offering making your app redundant 😱).

Do the users in the niche spend money on tools right now? If it’s already the case, then this is certainly comforting. If not and you’re attempting to be the first, then you better have a damn good value proposition for your end user.

This should take the form of how much time or money your app can save or make them - which will be a no-brainer for the user.

Are you capable of understanding the Micro SaaS niche?
Ideally, you’re already passionate about the industry/niche and are already knowledgeable in this sector. Maybe you’re thinking of solving a common problem that you’ve seen from your day job or from freelance work.

If not, then you should consider how long it would take you to get up to speed with the niche’s users. For example, whilst the Health & Fitness niche is relatively easy to relate to and understand, trying to understand hedge fund derivatives trading is going to be far more challenging.

That said, if you can compete in these complex (and lucrative) sectors, it can certainly give you an advantage.

B2B or B2C or B2M?

An important consideration is the type of users your user base would contain. Will you be targeting and dealing with businesses each day, or consumers or perhaps a blend of both? Let's look at the different types of customers:

Business to Business (B2B) - where your customers are other businesses. Examples from Micro SaaS up to SaaS include UpVoty, Plutio, Slingshot, Salesforce, Atlassian & Hubspot.
Business to Consumers (B2C) - where your customers are consumers. For example, Nomad List, Canva & Duolingo.
Business to Many (B2M) - where your users are a mixture of businesses and consumers, for example there’s my app KDP Wizard which has a mixed user base of publishing businesses and also entrepreneurial consumers selling low-content books on Amazon. In big SaaS, there’s Dropbox which has enterprise offerings as well as personal plans.

There are significant differences in what you’re getting yourself into when targeting a B2B niche vs a B2C niche. The main difference being in the sales cycle:

B2B requires an outbound sales team to call out to target businesses. Usually there are lengthy sales, legal & contractual negotiations per business to convince multiple people to give the green light. Whilst the recurring fees are much larger than B2C, the cost of acquiring a new customer is significantly higher than that of B2C.
B2C is almost always self-service sign up with lower recurring fees and a short sales cycle as there is usually just one person making the purchasing decision. Costs of acquisition are much lower than B2B as most of the time there is no outbound sales team in B2C.

B2B vs B2C User Characteristics

It’s also worth considering where the users for your niche gather as you’ll want to build up a presence on these platforms if you haven’t already got one.

B2B users are likely to spend their time on LinkedIn & Twitter. Whereas, B2C users can be found on social networking platforms such as Facebook/Instagram/Reddit/Twitter etc.

Churn is typically higher in B2C than in B2B due as the consumers haven’t jumped through all the hoops that would have been jumped through during a B2B sale. Consumers are also more unpredictable than a business, as they let their personal bank cards breach limits or don’t update the card details when they expire and simply drop off the radar.

Conversely, with a B2B solution, there’s a contractual agreement and the business will continue to pay the subscription whilst the solution is working for them and there’s still a need for it within the business.

Depending on how you feel about the above (setting up a sales team vs income vs churn vs targeting) will dictate which niches are a good fit for you.

You should like your potential users

Would you be ok hanging out with your prospective users?

You will certainly be regularly connecting with your users in the future, whether it’s at conferences (in-person or virtual), webinars, seminars, screenshares, Facebook groups, emails, support calls, support tickets, etc.

If the thought of spending time talking to a niches’ user base makes you shudder, then you’re setting yourself up for a tough road ahead. Whether it’s due to them being extremely demanding or dull or whatever … you’re best to steer clear if possible.

In my case, the Merch user base is mainly made up of graphic designers, side hustlers, entrepreneurs. These users are fairly laid back and love any tools that help accelerate the growth of their Merch business.

When I had been in the niche for a while, I noticed that there was only one annual conference for this niche, held in Seattle, USA. For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea for me to arrange a conference for the UK/European based Merch creators, even though I’d never organised a conference before! 🤯

Hosting this conference for over 80 people was quite stressful, and in the end it turned into a much bigger event than anticipated with several attendees flying in from USA & Europe, as well as the UK.

However, I was able to meet many of the users in the niche, build relationships, establish trust, and crucially pick their brains in person. Many of the users that came were already Merch Wizard users and getting their feedback and ideas for new features made all the effort worthwhile.

In case you landed on this page directly from a search engine, then you’re reading chapter 4 of my 12 part guide to Micro SaaS.

Download the entire 12 chapter guide as a PDF eBook for free so you can read it where you want, when you want.

Specific and focussed

Instead of building for a generic market that’s hard to target, it’s going to be much easier to target a specific set of people.

I like to compare it to fishing in a small, undiscovered pond that not many other fishermen know about. This small pond only has one species of fish in it and you become an expert on that fish, knowing exactly what type of bait that fish loves. Contrast that with casting your fishing net far and wide into the ocean and trawling for hours to try to catch as many fish as possible, even if some of those fish aren’t what you’re looking for.

If we relate this back to the earlier case management example, you’ll struggle to target leads given that a broad number of niches could use such an app. How would you find out where your potential user base hangs out? Would your generic solution resonate with them? Probably not.

It’s far easier to immerse yourself into a community of Real Estate Lawyers and see if you can solve their PITA problems with your app idea.

In this chapter we've looked at the most important attributes of a potential target micro niche. Now that we’ve got a handle on the characteristics of the market we’re aiming for, let’s take a look at what makes a solid Micro SaaS app.

Characteristics of a solid Micro SaaS App