31 Productized Service Success Stories & Case Studies
Productized services are created when a larger service is broken down into smaller services that can be sold separately.
This makes it easier to sell the same service to multiple clients and creates an easily-marketable product. For example, a marketing agency that usually charges by the hour, instead, charges a flat monthly fee.
This business strategy works well in B2B markets, as you can sell the same value proposition to multiple clients, and give them a great return on investment.
The reason why you should start a productized service business is simple: making recurring revenue from your expertise can be very useful if you want to build a business based on passive income.
Here are some real life success stories of starting a productized service:
1. Draftss ($180K/year)
Junaid Ansari and Amin Memon co-founded Draftss.com, a productized graphic design and frontend code service. They started by providing graphic design services and later added frontend coding to their list of offerings based on customer requests. In 2019, they made $66,000 in annual recurring revenue (ARR), and as of July 2020, they hit $9.6k in monthly recurring revenue (MRR). Their focus is on automation and improving their service to retain customers and scale their business.
How much they make: $180K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
Current team size: 25
Draftss.com is a productized graphic design and front-end code service on subscription that made $66k ARR in 2019, has an MRR of $9.6k as of July 2020, and offers add-ons such as designers being added to team in interacting tools and front-end code services on WordPress using various page builders like Elementor and Divi.
2. Scribly ($444K/year)
After freelancing for a few months, Dani decided to launch Scribly.io, a productized copywriting service. Seeing the need for quick and reliable copy for startups and small businesses running growth experiments, she created Scribly to provide high-quality copy at a lower cost than hiring in-house. With monthly revenue reaching $14K, Scribly has become Dani's full-time job with ambitious plans for growth.
How much they make: $444K/year
Current team size: 3
Scribly.io, a subscription-based copywriting service providing high quality content that helps businesses scale at roughly 50% of the cost of hiring in-house, created by Dani, a first-time entrepreneur who started with just a few hundred dollars worth of projects and with the help of three other writers; as of last month, Scribly.io topped $14K monthly revenue.
Learn more about starting a productized service:
Where to start?
-> How much does it cost to start a productized service?
-> Pros and cons of a productized service
Need inspiration?
-> Examples of established productized service
-> Marketing ideas for a productized service
Other resources
3. MeetAnders ($87.9K/year)
Marilyn Wo, co-founder of MeetAnders, came up with the idea for her productized graphic design company after realizing the limitations of her freelance business. She saw the potential in offering predefined design packages on a subscription model, providing unlimited graphic design for a fixed fee per month. Through trial and error, Marilyn and her team grew the business to a three-person team with $7,000 in monthly recurring revenue, attracting customers such as event directors, CMOs, and startup founders who needed ongoing design support.
How much they make: $87.9K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
Current team size: 3
MeetAnders is a productized graphic design company offering unlimited graphic designs for just one fixed-fee a month, with a three-man team and $7,000 in monthly recurring revenue, all started without any upfront capital.
4. Logobly ($12K/year)
Craig has been a designer all his career, and with his dream of starting his own business + researching on a lack of online logo makers on the internet, he started in 2020 with just his design skills that he could productize and a credit card, and got to work!
How much they make: $12K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
Current team size: 1
Meet Craig Barber, founder of Logobly, an impressive new logo maker for internet startups that allows for designing and downloading a logo in just 60 seconds, which has helped 100s of entrepreneurs brand their startups and side projects, does around $1,000 a month in sales, and is productized based on his expertise as a logo designer.
5. PageGuard ($2.4K/year)
Jonathan Moore, founder of PageGuard, came up with the idea for his WordPress website maintenance business after encountering friends and colleagues who experienced website issues. Realizing that these problems could have been avoided with proper maintenance, Moore created PageGuard to offer affordable and flexible website maintenance solutions. Despite being a new business, PageGuard is already attracting customers, particularly smaller businesses, entrepreneurs, and the self-employed. Moore's long-term goal is to expand the team and create a successful maintenance machine.
How much they make: $2.4K/year
How much did it cost to start: $100
Current team size: 0
PageGuard is a new WordPress website maintenance business bringing in $200 a month, catering mainly for smaller business, entrepreneurs, and the self-employers, offering three levels of support at different price points.
6. PodReacher ($420K/year)
Jaclyn Schiff, the founder of PodReacher, came up with the idea for her business after noticing podcast creators asking to turn episodes into articles. She saw an opportunity to repurpose recorded content into valuable marketing materials, and after pitching the service to potential customers and receiving positive feedback, she knew she had a viable business on her hands. Since launching in 2018, PodReacher has worked with over 250 customers and generates $30,000 to $40,000 in revenue per month.
How much they make: $420K/year
How much did it cost to start: $2.5K
Current team size: 1
Jaclyn Schiff founded PodReacher, a niche Content Transformation agency that repurposes recorded webinars, virtual events, podcasts, and videos into written content, which generates $30,000 to $40,000 per month, offering a valuable marketing solution to B2B SaaS or tech companies, resulting in a 2-3x increase in revenue each year.
7. OJ Digital Solutions ($720K/year)
Omar Deryan, founder of OJ Digital Solutions, came up with the idea after receiving requests to write, optimize, and translate product descriptions for Shopify and Amazon sellers. Recognizing the high demand, he dedicated his time to building a quality agency and hiring experts to serve this audience better. Within a month of quitting his corporate job, his new company generated $7,000 in revenue, setting the stage for its success.
How much they make: $720K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
Current team size: 10
Omar Deryan's agency, OJ Digital Solutions, boasts helping over 3,000 sellers worldwide and making around 60K USD per month by creating launch-ready, fully optimized product listings that boost click-through and conversion rates for Amazon sellers.
8. Regex SEO ($480K/year)
Dmitrii Kustov, the founder of Regex SEO, came up with the idea for his data-driven internet marketing agency while working as a PHP developer at a digital agency. After being given the ultimatum to learn SEO or get fired, Dmitrii immersed himself in the intricacies of SEO and quickly became the head of the agency's marketing department. In 2015, he decided to start his own business to provide individualized, results-driven marketing solutions for businesses.
How much they make: $480K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
Current team size: 18
Learn how Regex SEO, a data-driven internet marketing agency, grew from a one-man company to a team of 16 full-time employees and over 30 contractors, with $1M+ annual revenue pre-COVID, by prioritizing individual approach, hard work, and retention of good people.
9. theta. ($864K/year)
Emmanuel Iroanya, the founder of theta, had a unique journey that led him to start his civic and government-focused digital firm. Inspired by his father's entrepreneurial efforts in working with the City of Baltimore to provide mental health and family preservation services, Emmanuel realized he could make a difference by working with federal agencies. His time at a large federal systems integrator solidified his idea to create a company that existed at the intersection of technology and government, with the goal of addressing the limitations and implications of technology in the public sector.
How much they make: $864K/year
Current team size: 0
Digital and management firm theta. has served over six government agencies since its inception, providing innovative solutions to unique computing problems that meet client needs so effectively, it has doubled its employee number and is aiming for a 50/50 prime-subcontractor revenue split.
10. Las Vegas Information Security (Now TCM Security) ($168K/year)
Alex Tushinsky, founder of Las Vegas Information Security, came up with the idea for his business after hearing stories of small businesses falling victim to cyberattacks and realizing the lack of preparedness within this sector. Recognizing the need for practical and affordable cybersecurity solutions, Tushinsky launched LVIS to focus on prevention and education, offering tailored controls and guidance to help businesses mitigate risks and avoid costly cybersecurity incidents.
How much they make: $168K/year
How much did it cost to start: $2.5K
Current team size: 1
Las Vegas Information Security focuses on providing practical and affordable cybersecurity solutions to startups and small businesses by concentrating on prevention and education, rather than remediation, to reduce the risk of cybersecurity events for their clients.
11. Easy Song ($3.78M/year)
Aaron Green and his childhood friend Mark Meikle started EasySongLicensing.com as a side project while running their mobile recording business, Legacy Productions. Sensing that the mobile recording industry had limited growth potential, Mark built a website to organize music licensing and saw an opportunity to bridge the gap between indie artists and large music publishers. They invested in the domain name EasySongLicensing.com and ultimately transitioned their focus to building the licensing agent business, which now boasts a user base of over 60,000 clients and brought in $2.5M in 2018 alone.
How much they make: $3.78M/year
How much did it cost to start: $75K
Current team size: 11
EasySongLicensing.com grew from a mobile recording business to a bootstrapped music licensing agent, with a user base of over 60,000 clients and a gross profit of $2.5M in 2018, seeing a 30% increase in 2019, through investment in online marketing, customer service, and forming new partnerships.
12. Filmbaker ($600K/year)
Tarun Lachhwani, along with his co-founders Rakesh R, Gaurav Singh, and Soman Surya Yadav, developed their passion for storytelling while making short films in college. Inspired by their success and their desire to help brands tell their stories, they launched Filmbaker in 2017 with just 4-5 lakhs (INR) in initial funding. Since then, they have grown to serve over 250 clients, including Google and Kingfisher, and are projected to reach 5Cr in revenue this year.
How much they make: $600K/year
Current team size: 35
Indian video production company Filmbaker has a clientele of over 250 brands and has grown from an initial funding of 4-5 lakhs INR to clock over 3Cr in FY 20-21, en route to cross 5Cr this year, by providing storytelling services and delivering consistent, high-quality work.
13. Intellitonic ($1.62M/year)
Intellitonic, a digital marketing agency, was founded by Alex, Courtney, and Jared after realizing they could do digital marketing more effectively and transparently with organizations they care about. With their collective skills and experience in SEO, PPC, and software, they launched Intellitonic and have grown to a team of eleven without compromising their values.
How much they make: $1.62M/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
Current team size: 12
Intellitonic is a digital marketing agency that grew from 3 to 11 people in less than 5 years without investment, earning $90k/month in revenue, with over 97 clients through a combination of referrals, relationships, and online ads.
14. Thankbox ($420K/year)
Val, the founder of Thankbox, came up with the idea while working as a contractor and noticed the challenges of organizing a card and cash collection for team occasions. After realizing there was no existing solution that covered both aspects, Val launched Thankbox in May 2020. Through strategic marketing and design improvements, Thankbox experienced rapid growth and generated over $2 million worth of gift cards since its launch.
How much they make: $420K/year
How much did it cost to start: $2.5K
Current team size: 3
30-year-old Val shares how she founded Thankbox, an online group card and gift collection service in Scotland that has been used to send over 40,000 cards, issued over $2 million worth of gift cards, and now pulls around $25k in revenue per month, with plans to expand and offer physical versions of cards.
15. Zero Gravity Marketing ($9.6M/year)
Chris Uzzo, the founder of Zero Gravity Marketing, came up with the idea for his digital marketing agency after building and overseeing the SEO and PPC departments for multiple agencies. With a focus on data-driven strategies and a commitment to transparency, Zero Gravity Marketing has experienced impressive growth, including being recognized by Inc as one of the fastest-growing privately-owned companies and projecting over $10 million in revenue for 2022.
How much they make: $9.6M/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
Current team size: 70
Zero Gravity Marketing is a five-star rated digital marketing agency with Premier Google Partnership and recognized by Inc 5000 for the last three years, on track to gross over $10M in 2022, specializing in SEO, paid media management, social media marketing, email marketing, website design, CRO, content marketing and creative services.
16. Smart Yeti Creative Agency ($96K/year)
Jeremy Kanne, founder of Smart Yeti, came up with the idea for his creative agency after realizing that technical companies needed help with messaging and marketing. With his background in civil engineering and a creative streak, Jeremy decided to combine his skills and provide affordable, high-quality services to these companies. The focus on technical clients and the introduction of retainer engagements have helped Smart Yeti attract and retain customers, leading to steady revenue growth of $1-2k per month.
How much they make: $96K/year
Current team size: 1
Smart Yeti is a successful creative agency offering fractional access to marketing services to highly technical companies and has seen YoY growth of 40%, with an average lifetime value of its customer of $50k in revenue.
17. Fruity Llama ($96K/year)
Steve and his wife Stephanie started their digital marketing agency, Fruity Llama, as a side hustle selling graphic design services on Facebook. Inspired by successful YouTubers, they decided to turn their side hustle into a full-time business and evolved it into a digital marketing agency. Within three months, they were making £7,000 per month and their future plan includes hiring more employees and expanding their services.
How much they make: $96K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
Current team size: 3
Digital marketing agency Fruity Llama, based in Lancashire, has grown their business from selling graphic design services on Facebook to a full-time digital marketing agency offering web design, SEO, and branding, and currently generate £7,000 per month within 3 months of launching.
18. SEO Hacker ($1.01M/year)
Sean Si, the founder of SEO Hacker, stumbled upon SEO while working as an intern. Despite his lack of formal education and experience, he taught himself the ins and outs of SEO through experimentation and launched his own blog, which gained traction and led to his first client. Through word-of-mouth marketing, the success of his blog, interviews, and community-building efforts, SEO Hacker has attracted and retained clients, earning its status as the best SEO agency in the Philippines.
How much they make: $1.01M/year
How much did it cost to start: $60
Current team size: 50
19. Kenji ROI ($1.26M/year)
Danny Carlson, the founder of Kenji ROI, came up with the idea for his business after a near-death experience while longboard racing in the Philippines. This experience pushed him to reevaluate his life and pursue his passion for online business. He chose Amazon FBA and quickly grew his own revenue account, but when it got suspended, he made the decision to use his skills to build an agency serving brands on Amazon. And thus, Kenji ROI was born.
How much they make: $1.26M/year
Current team size: 25
How Danny Carlson started an Amazon FBA seller services agency, growing it to over 10 team members with 638+ Amazon sellers served, resulting in more than $40k per month in revenue through copywriting, photography, video, and Amazon PPC management services.
20. Lone Fir Creative ($1.8M/year)
Tyler Pigott, the founder of Lone Fir Creative, came up with the idea for his business after spending years working in the corporate and startup spaces, helping others start and grow companies. He wanted to create a consulting firm that focused on long-term growth and solving clients' sales and marketing problems. Through constant iterations and improvements, Pigott built a team of creative problem solvers and developed processes and systems to ensure the delivery of quality services to clients. With a focus on building relationships and a brand that wasn't centered around himself, Pigott has been able to attract and retain customers, resulting in steady growth and an expected revenue of $3.5M-$4M this year.
How much they make: $1.8M/year
How much did it cost to start: $300
Current team size: 15
Lone Fir Creative, a strategic growth agency catering to tech, healthcare, and academic brands, reached $3.5M-$4M in revenue this year since being founded in 2015, with a primary focus on building relationships with key communities and adding value for clients.
21. Lotuly Ltd ($480K/year)
Robert and Mariona Bolohan, a married couple with a passion for languages, started their own translation business, Lotuly. They began as freelance translators and gradually expanded their team to handle more languages. With a focus on human translation and a commitment to quality, they have grown their business to over 500 translators and offer services in over 90 languages. They are now experiencing monthly revenues of $40k and are looking to expand further with a subscription version of their services.
How much they make: $480K/year
Current team size: 2
Lotuly is a remote translation agency with over 500 translators across the globe, offering translation & localization services in over 90 languages and 40 subjects for e-commerce, e-learning, software & marketing companies, universities, and legal firms.
22. Argona Partners ($120K/year)
Jeremy Imlach, CoFounder and CEO of Argona Partners, came up with the idea for the business while working alongside his brilliant CoFounder, Amadin Agho, and Argona Founder, Richard Anderson III. They noticed a problem in the higher education system, where scientists and engineers struggled to scale their impactful technologies as businesses. They received positive feedback from the market and landed deals with entrepreneurs, leading them to create Argona Partners to help early-stage impact technology companies scale and make a difference.
How much they make: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $200
Current team size: 3
Argona Partners, a consulting and startup development firm focused on early-stage impact technology companies, has achieved over 100% YoY revenue growth since its inception in 2017, and has been recognized as a National and Global Top Startup Consulting Firm for its targeted approach to Growth Strategy and Fundraising Readiness in the clean tech industry.
23. Thrive Internet Marketing Agency ($15M/year)
How much they make: $15M/year
Current team size: 222
Thrive, a full-service digital marketing agency, started as a small team and grew into a global company with over 220 workers in 34 states, providing custom WordPress design, e-commerce optimization, social media marketing, and more.
24. Awesome Pros ($120K/year)
How much they make: $120K/year
Current team size: 5
Awesome Pros founder built a specialized drop-servicing business generating $10k/month with strategies to expand clientele, determine niche, and pricing.
25. Siege Media ($5M/year)
How much they make: $5M/year
Current team size: 93
Get an inside look at how Ross Hudgens built one of the largest content marketing businesses in the US, working with some of the biggest names on the internet through a fully inbound sales funnel.
26. SanityCheck ($33.6K/year)
Nick Swan, the founder of sanitycheck.io, came up with the idea for his SaaS tool while working on his voucher/coupon site. As an SEO expert, he realized the need for a tool that could analyze and present data from Google Search Console in a more meaningful way. After building a basic version of the tool and receiving positive feedback from the SEO community, Nick decided to launch paid plans and turn sanitycheck.io into a chargeable product.
How much they make: $33.6K/year
Current team size: 1
How founder Nick Swan started and grew SanityCheck.io, a SaaS tool helping businesses rank higher on Google, while also navigating his daughter's leukemia diagnosis and treatment.
27. heylexi ($120K/year)
Milly Barker-DeStefano, founder of heylexi, came up with the idea for her business after experiencing the frustrations of hiring freelance writers for her projects. She noticed a lack of reliable, high-quality writing services and decided to create heylexi, a productized service offering publish-ready copy and content. Since its launch in November 2022, heylexi has been doing around $10k per month in revenue.
How much they make: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $500
Current team size: 0
Heylexi, a productized service offering publish-ready copy and content, was launched in November 2022 and is already doing around $10k per month, providing an alternative to the low-quality expensive freelance writing market.
28. Stack Against ($144K/year)
Federico Jorge, founder of Stack Against, came up with the idea for his business when his clients kept asking him to create comparison pages for their SaaS products. Recognizing the demand and his expertise in writing and designing these pages, Federico decided to package this service and create Stack Against, specializing in comparison pages for SaaS companies. Through networking and sharing his idea in SaaS groups on Facebook, Federico gained initial clients and validation for his business.
How much they make: $144K/year
How much did it cost to start: $300
Current team size: 1
Stack Against is a comparison page writing and design service for SaaS companies that helps separate them from competitors, and after only launching in 2021, is now making $12,000 a month in sales and is planning to add new recurring services to its offer.
29. SNAP Copy ($120K/year)
Lianna Patch and James Turner came up with the idea for SNAP Copy after being members of Joanna Wiebe's copywriter mastermind group. When Joanna decided to close down the first iteration of SNAP, Lianna and James took over the business and transformed it into an on-demand copywriting service that sells packs of Copy Credits. Their unique credit model and focus on outstanding conversion-optimized copy attracts agencies, small businesses, and e-commerce shops.
How much they make: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $1K
Current team size: 0
Lianna Patch and James Turner started SNAP Copy, a conversion-optimized copywriting service that sells packs of Copy Credits instead of working on a per-project or retainer basis, attracting clients through targeted referrals, speaking engagements and podcasts.
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- 4,818 founder case studies
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- 8,628 business ideas
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- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
