If you’ve opened this article then I’ll assume that you’re either in a similar scenario wondering if this is just clickbait? Or thinking that this is not possible. I want to say it is. Its extraordinarily difficult let me tell you. But oh so satisfying. Read on.
Brief Overview of My SaaS Business
In December 2015 I launched Parserr, an email parsing tool which allows you to turn incoming emails into useful data to use in various other 3rd party systems. You can use Parserr to automate the extraction any type of data trapped in emails, such as: website enquiries, inbound lead emails or even food orders. Once the email data has been extracted, Parserr makes it super easy to transfer that data into a multitude of 3rd party systems including Excel, Google Sheets, Salesforce, Sharepoint, Hubspot, and more.
5 Figure Monthly Revenue
Parserr has a MRR (Monthly recurring revenue) at the early 5 figure mark.
I Have Tried Starting Many Business Over the Years
It was my 26th attempt at launching an online business (dating back to 2006) and the 2nd I had made at least one dollar from one in 9 years. My first business that actually made any money was an ecommerce business launched in 2013. More about that another day.
A Little History About Who I Am
I Read a lot About Successful People
Up until 2015, I was an online wantrepreneur who spent more time reading about other people’s successes in their books and listening to them talk about it on Mixergy. Even if I garnered enough confidence from hearing others, I’d only end up building a product that nobody wanted. Or simply building something I couldn’t bother to market or sell.
I am an Introvert, Family Man, & Worked a Full-Time Job
See I’m an introvert and I followed everyone else’s advice instead of my gut. Listening to Mixergy, or reading one of the 896 different biographies on successful founders should really be an idea stimulation exercise. Not the God-spoken truth I held it up to be. My situation and your situation are totally unique. Which also means what works for Jack Dorsey or Rob Walling won’t potentially work for me.
Which means what works for me, won’t necessarily work for you.
BUT I’m willing to bet that some of you are:
- Introverts
- Fathers
- Husbands
- Working a full-time job whilst hustling on the side
- Desperate to get out of slaving for someone else’s fortunes
If that is the case, there is a way forward. But you need to be ruthless about your time!
Building Parserr From the Ground Up
Tip #1: Choose a Simple Idea & Make A Better Product
Im not going to delve into how and what here. Suffice to say that I assume most people reading this article have experience in building products. There is plenty advice on the net about product market fit and releasing just the MVP and not feature loading it.
Advice from Reid Hoffman
The best advice I ever heard was that of Reid Hoffman:
“If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.”
I think the sentiment may be a little extreme but it forces one to think constantly about whether you need that feature you’re working on.
Tip #2: Focus on current customer’s needs or problems
Parserr came from a few previous consulting client’s needs to get data into SharePoint from various incoming email log file reports and other documents automatically.
Tip #3: Make Sure the Product or Service Does What You Say
The very first version did that just that and it was horrific. No pricing. No website. No login. No pricing page. That first client really didn’t care about the user experience. Neither does yours. They just want the product to do what it says on the tin. That took me just 10 days.
Try to imagine what your client needs for the MVP, not what they want to feel. That comes later. From that first horrific version, I just iterated on the product. And still am!
How to find paying customers for your business?
Tip #4: Always be testing ideas to see what works best for you
After reading these 896 books and launching 25 previous ideas, you begin to realize what works for you and what doesn’t from a marketing/selling aspect. I don’t regret these 9 years. I just think I’ve been a slow learner. And that’s OK.
I didn’t lack the motivation to code (build). I just could not get it in front of customers. You need the medium to deliver your product. But I’m a firm believer that it needs to suit your personality.
In the 9 years of building and failing, I’ve experimented with every method of getting my products in front of folks:
- The Foundation’s method of idea extraction (sitting on call with potential customers)
- Buying Google, Facebook and Linkedin ads
- Product Hunt
- Finding co-founders in order to offload the selling responsibility
- Exhibiting at industry specific events.
- Cold emailing
All of them failed… for me.
Utilize SEO to Grow Your Business Online
Tip #5: Use SEO to Increase Sales & Awareness Organically
I refer to SEO as the introvert’s method to marketing.
Instead of harassing someone at their workplace on the phone, forcing it on them in the Linkedin/Facebook feed or getting 10000 of the wrong audience, SEO (search engine optimization) means that people come to you rather than the other way around. Inbound sales they call it. Outbound makes me feel sick.
Selling to these people who are looking for your solution is remarkably easier. However this comes with some caveats:
- Ranking well on Google takes a long period of time. Give yourself 3 months at least. At least!
- It is usually very competitive depending on your niche.
- It requires you to produce decent content (hire someone — I can recommend a few winners) and generate quality backlinks to said content . Don’t shortcut this. DA 40+ with DoFollow links only. Build these by guest posting by outreach. Don’t do it yourself. Hire someone on Upwork. (Off-site SEO)
- It requires you to optimise your site accordingly (On-site SEO)
After identifying the keywords I would go after through tools like Google Keyword Planner and then analysing my competitors’s keywords and finding other related keywords with tools like Semrush, it became abundantly clear that there was a path forward for Parserr and I knew where I needed to focus.
Tip #6: Use Marketplaces to Gain Product Exposure
Another introvert’s dream.
Parserr was lucky enough to join Microsoft Flow in its infancy. Microsoft Flow is similar to Zapier, in that it connects cloud applications and automates workflows between them.
The MS Flow integration and Zapier integration have been paramount in providing Parserr with a steady stream of warm inbound leads. Optimizing our onboarding experience to suit these tools has helped conversion, where the average time I will spend with a customer before conversion is 27 minutes.
Potential customers opting into your service from a marketplace in which they also opted into, means the conversion to paying customer is far more likely. No harassment. Just customers wanting to solve business problems.
Time management & Patience are Essential to Growing A Successful Business
The crux of this story is really here.
Patience, Persistence & Consistency
There’s No Such Thing As Get Rich Quick
If you believe the other hockeystick type, How-I-built-my-SAAS-to-7-figures-in- 3-months type Medium articles then you may as well go and explore that right now. It’s all incredibly unhelpful advice. And this article should be as boring as Parserr’s growth curve.
If you Fail, Get Up and Try Again
I have been chugging along for 9 years trying to do this. I have woken up hating Parserr many times in the past 12 months. I have tried to sell it twice. I have tried to shelve it seven times. Punched the desk once. Worked all night without sleep 3 times.
Everything Parserr has achieved has been through patience, persistence and consistency. There is nothing flash about the grind of SAAS. There is nothing flash about Parserr. There is no quick growth. Large Product Hunt launches or huge discounts on AppSumo are really just flash in pan type solutions that give false illusions of growth. All I’ve ever tried to do is to provide good service and solve the email parsing problem really well. Revenue will come.
The Importance of Time management
I knew that time would be tight. The priorities needed, nay… HAD to be:
- Food & water & sleep
- Kids & Wife (Wife & Kids :-))
- Full-time work
- Parserr
This is hard to stomach but imperative. If you understand Maslow’s hierachy of needs you’ll know that Physiological (1) and Safety (2,3) needs are core to human survival.
Focus on Your Health
Eat Healthy & Get Adequate Sleep
If you don’t sleep, or don’t sleep enough, you can’t focus. If you don’t eat, or overeat, you can’t focus. If you eat badly, you can’t focus.
I neglected these needs. It doesn’t end well.
If you have strained or non-existent relationship with your immediate family, no business will ever make you happy. Personal security and emotional security are paramount (Safety needs — Maslow). If you prioritize your business you’ll prioritize above a core human need. Don’t do it.
I neglected these needs. It doesn’t end well.
Prioritize You & Your Family’s Health, Then Focus on Your Side Hustle
Turns out if you instead focus on optimization of your time with a healthy mind and body, you can do about 4 hours of side project per day. When you are at full-time work, work hard. Remember your wage buys much security and safety.
Here is my typical day:
On weekends I typically:
- • Saturday 630am-730am: Parserr support requests
- • Saturday 8am — 12pm: Kids. Outside, having fun, without my phone. Wifey has a break.
- • Saturday 12pm — 7pm: Playing tennis/exercise
- • Sunday 630am-730am: Parserr support requests
- • Sunday 8am — 12pm: Kids. Outside, having fun, without my phone. Together as a family
- • Sunday 12pm — 7pm: Mix. Cleaning the garden & house. Some time with kids. Little bit of coding
I live on the east coast of Australia and so early mornings and late evenings are the perfect time to support the majority customer timezone of the US.
You need to be ruthless about your time. Write down how you spend your time like I have above. But above all remember you’re not a machine. Give yourself a break from the routine. Patience and consistency is key.
Successful Businesses Require Good Time Management Practices
Remember. This is what worked for me.
It may or may not work for you. There is no formula. There is careful time management and patience. There is a bit of luck. There is a bit of timing!
If you’d like to help me grow Parserr, please share this article on your favorite social media engine.
If you’d like to ask me any questions, I’d happily answer via email (randy at parserr.com)
