Yes, it is possible for a solo developer to build a profitable Micro-SaaS and quit their job. But how much time it usually takes?
I picked a random set of 20 startups built by solo founders in the range of $5,000-$100,000 MRR and looked at how quickly they reached the initial $5k/mo.
Why $5,000/month?
While it depends on the circumstances (where you live, do you have a family to support, etc), I think this amount of MRR lets you at least buy food and pay rent.
But this is revenue, not profit!
Yes, but the only expense for a solo founder is often the server rent, which is not a significant amount (in most cases revenue ~= profit.)
14 months!
We see that it took a median of 14 months to reach $5,000 MRR. Not too bad, isn’t it? If you could know that it takes the next 14 months to reach $5k MRR, would you do it?
Founders in the making
When we see solo founders reaching $5,000/month in 7 months or so, we usually don’t see what was happening before starting this particular SaaS.
Founders were often working on their previous projects that didn’t work out but eventually led to a startup that did.
I asked some of these microfounders about their first independent project:
"If, by ’first indie project’, you mean my all time first project, I’d say around ... 2005, but it’s hard to say which month." – Cyril from 🕊 PDFShift (12 months to $5,000/mo, currently $7,100/mo)
"I started my first indie business in Dec 2012 and I still own/run it. I actually originally built Lasso because my existing business needed it." – Andrew from 🌵 Lasso (9 months to $5,000/mo, currently $9,500/mo)
"Hypefury was my first. :)" – Samy from 🐦 Hypefury (8 months to $5,000/mo, currently $22,000/mo)
Work on something you like
When we see that it usually takes years to make the founder that reaches $5,000/mo in a year, what is there left to do right now?
There’s only one thing left to do right now – to work on something that you like.
