SaaS Startup Checklist: How To Build A Six-Figure SaaS Business
Implement this checklist to grow your business to six-figures.
When I first launched my marketing agency, I had no idea how to scale a SaaS business from $10,000 to a six-figure business.
I read some general advice from entrepreneurs on Twitter and Reddit about consistency, talking to clients, validations, and all these concepts.
These concepts are authentic and valid when your business is still on the ground.
But if you want to scale your business to six figures, you need more than that.
That’s why I created this checklist that will help take your SaaS startup from $10,000 MRR to +$100,000 MRR in less than 1 year.
1- Launch an Affiliate Program
Having a good product + a good affiliate program can take your business to the moon.
If customers love your product they will be happy to tell their friends about it. If they can make money from your product they will be more than happy to promote it with their audience and bring you more customers.
It’s a win-win situation. You get more paying customers and they get a commission.
You’ll be surprised by how much more traffic your website will get from new sources like YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and other blogs.
2- Hire A Developer
Going from $0 to $10,000 is harder than going from $10,000 to $100,000. But once you reach this milestone, you should get yourself out of your business and work “on” your business instead of working “in” your business.
Working on your business means having a strategy and a clear vision of the direction of your business. This includes business strategy, marketing strategy, sales strategy, product development, research, and the vision and decisions that live in the C-suite
While working “in” your business is basically a job.
Hiring a developer to develop the product will free up a big chunk of your time to thinking and putting strategies.
At this point of the time, your product will be paying for itself. You’re already making $10K per month so it should be enough to pay for the developer and spend more time on the stuff that will make you 10X that amount in the next years.
3- Focus On Dominating Your Niche
One of the biggest mistakes founders make when reaching 10K MRR is trying to build another business or scale this business to new niches.
That’s completely wrong.
Instead of spending the next 2 years scaling another business to $10K per month, you should spend it scaling your current business to $100K per month.
The most difficult skill founders should learn is saying “No” to new ideas.
It’s hard to ignore new business ideas that look like a “billion-dollar idea”. But working on 2 small businesses at the same time will reduce your productivity over time.
So put all your focus on 1 business. Scale it by 10x, sell it for $10 million, and then start a new one.
4- Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is one of the most underrated forms of marketing. It’s 100% more effective and less expensive than FB Ads.
I highly recommend reaching out to TikTok influencers who may interested in promoting your product on their profiles. Do that with 10 TikTok influencers who have an audience who may be interested in your product and you will be surprised of the result.
Every founder I know said that they got better results from TikTok influencers than Facebook Ads.
Plus, it’s less expensive.
5- Invest In The UX
Having a good design is not important for an early-stage startup. But once you cross the $10K per month milestone, you should invest in a better design.
Now that you know exactly what your customers want, and you know what features are making you money, you should hire a good designer to build you a more professional user interface.
6- Branding
The most successful brands are those with the most loyal audience.
How to build a good brand?
By giving value for free. Your brand’s Twitter account or YouTube channel shouldn’t be only for promoting your product. The main purpose of these channels should be to provide value for free.
If your SaaS is in the productivity niche, you should share helpful tips on how to be more productive, how to manage your time more effectively, and all those staff that your customers care about.
PS: You don’t have to promote your product every time you post something.
Your content should promote your product only 20% of the time. 80% of the time should be pure value.
Show your audience that you care about them and they will care about your brand.
7- Developing Your Product
Why should someone switch from your competitor’s product to yours?
Better features? Better content? Better design?
You tell me.
Before you reach $10K MRR your goal was to find market fit and to validate your product. Now that you did all that, your goal is to dominate your niche by offering the best SaaS product in the market.
Offer your customers 10% off your product if they submit a feedback. Use the good feedback for marketing & testimonials and use the bad feedback to improve the product. Do that and you will have the best product in less than 1 year.
Takeaway
Scaling your SaaS business from $10K MRR to $100K MRR is easier than taking a business from the ground.
To do that follow the checklist below:
- Launch an affiliate program
- Hire a developer
- Focus on dominating your niche
- Influencer marketing
- Invest in the UX
- Branding
- Developing your product
