10K MRR after 3 years

[ally143]

Finally got to £10k Mrr (we are uk based) after 3 years.

We are a high ticket software around £100 per seat, and critical to business operations. Boot strapped they whole thing and have a co founder.

Everything is on fire all the time, and you work and obsess over the business consistently.

Not sure the point of the post other than sharing that building a Saas company is extremely hard and I’d though I would balance the ‘we made $2 million in 5 days post’

Is it success? Possibly not over that time frame, but I am proud that we have built something from scratch that solves problems for clients, the money is kind of secondary to me comparative to the validation.

Keep going, keep building, and remember what you are doing is extremely hard despite what is on Reddit or in tech crunch.

 

[chasehotelrockville]

@ally143 Fucking amazing to see a true story here.

 

[hazarmaveth]

@chasehotelrockville Totally.

It's easy online to only see big success stories, and not all the countless failed attempts that came before, or the painful grinding and drama that can happen behind the scenes.

This path is hard as hell, but rewarding for those who keep at it.

 

[jay2242]

@ally143 Wish more posts were like this.. not someone pretending they have figured it all out after making $100 then a bunch of buzz words and life advice. This shit is a grind.

 

[ally143]

@jay2242 It’s unrelenting pressure mate, for years.

We stay away from pitch sessions or founder meet ups as you find a lot of that in those circles, the people you describe normally hang around there.

Generally the most successful people I’ve met are very humble, inquisitive and just focused on what they need to do.

 

[caseyanne2]

@ally143 100%, I have unsubscribed from the IndieHackers.com newsletter because I’m so tired of that crap. They constantly glamorize the “I made XXXXXX $ in 10 days” type founder stories, and I’m tired of it. This post is way more relatable to me, only nearing $500 MRR after 1.75 years of work on my micro SaaS.

 

[ally143]

@caseyanne2 I know it makes you feel you are off the mark, keep going mate, ignore the noise it can really detrimental just focus on the progress how ever slow

 

[philip8490]

@ally143 I second this. MRR and ARR is thrown around so easily these days. Less than 5 figure MRR? Don’t even bother talking to me. The reality is for many early stage founders, going from 0 to a few hundred dollars is exciting. Hell, even getting the first few discovery call is exciting. But when you are in the grind it ain’t pretty. There’s a lot of frustration, doubt, and running in circles. Not many people want to hear about it until the founder becomes a 5-year overnight success.

 

[jay2242]

@ally143 Yeah seems like a lot people are into it for the wrong reasons, instead of just enjoying building something from nothing which I imagine is far more rewarding when it pays off. Great to hear it is working out for you

 

[laura_d]

@ally143 Same. I’ve learned that any advice working taking in this industry doesn’t come from sensationalist or braggadocious posts. I stay away from “tech Twitter” and indie hacker type groups for this reason. There’s sometimes gems, but mostly make you feel insecure about needing to be hitting $10K MRR in 3 months.

 

[steve3]

@ally143 I think you can call this a success. Achieving 10k MRR is not an easy feat. 3 years is not a bad timeframe.

 

[andee]

@ally143 Full disclosure here, Im basing all of the below assumptions on a single reddit post the OP made where they referenced frame-solutions.com as the SaaS in question.

- The website linked above looks to be a SaaS registered in the UK

- The address in the footer of the website matches that listed for a Limited company registered under the same name FRAME SOLUTIONS LTD

- Filing history on 31/08/2023 suggests total capital of ~£41K (balance sheet)

Im assuming a lot of things here but figured I would do the same sort of due diligence any customer would/should

 

[woollybear]

@ally143 Don’t worry at all, after three years we were at £67K ARR, now in our 10th year and approaching £3M+ ARR. You’re ahead of we were, the flywheel has started turning, let that momentum grow!

Edit: We’re UK based too!

 

[ally143]

@woollybear Thank you

Great work, that really is a great achievement

 

[woollybear]

@ally143 If you’re London-bound and wanna grab a coffee, LMK. Keep going, double down on what works and remember, it’s always OK to charge more.

Our clients are enterprise, and the best thing we ever did is triple the cost (for the same service!). It conveyed more value as we were too ‘cheap’.

 

[audreykate]

@ally143 Building a bootstrapped SaaS is not glamorous. It’s a very painful process and every small win is a hope to keep moving forward.

Whoever is in the journey. Just keep grinding and pushing. Praying one day you can get to £10k and feel better.

 

[coled802]

@ally143 Thank you. We need a lot more posts like this one.

$10k MRR in three years is commendable, I would say. It's not easy to build a profitable and sustainable business or even just a good product, let alone a business.

The problem today is we have too many people selling what can best be described as a scam of sorts, making some quick buck, and then screaming all over social media about how great they are. Many of them haven't even done the first part, just the shouting.

It's all about easy money and there are enough fools to make the whole grift a very profitable endeavor.

 

[jjm6625]

@ally143 Congrats! There is a real compounding effect that starts to take place between years 3-5 if you double down on what worked to get your to 10K and I suspect you will be able to hit 20k much faster! Keep at it!

 

[ally143]

@jjm6625 Fingers crossed we have figured out what’s working well and doubling down on that. Also listing vehemently to what our customer wants and making sure we are a laser on that

 

[pmiller]

@ally143 Do you feel as if it is a success?

Without further context to convince me otherwise, it sounds like it’s been a success, so congratulations!

One of my favorite steps in my career was leading marketing for a bootstrapped SaaS company that was a number of steps (and a number of years) further down the road from where you and your cofounder are at right now.

While I was there, I got to learn about their first few years, the stress, ups and downs and eventual early successes that allowed them to take another step, then another step, and another and another and another and another, etc., until they eventually turned a long-time employee (who started as an intern!) into a CEO, who eventually hired me after a number of other key hires.

During my time with them I helped take them from 2.5M ARR to 8.5M ARR. then, shortly after I left, they were acquired for a number that allowed them to do what they wanted. They’re too young to “retire” retire, but one sails the world with his family and the other invests in other businesses and real estate.

I don’t know why I shared all this other than to reinforce your last paragraph.

There are small SaaS’s all over that are doing similar to you. They’re largely undiscussed, uncelebrated, underexamined and unknown outside of their target market and customers.

And that’s ok. It’s still a path to success, and I’m cheering you on, internet stranger.

Keep putting out fires. Keep building.