18 Project Management Tool Success Stories [2024]
A project management tool business involves developing software that helps managers and teams organize, plan, and track projects.
Features may include task lists, Gantt charts, time tracking, resource planning, collaboration tools, reports, and more.
You can offer the software as a web or mobile application through a software-as-a-service subscription model.
Building an innovative and user-friendly project management tool has excellent business potential as organizations constantly seek solutions to improve workflow, accountability, and efficiency.
Here are some real life success stories of starting a project management tool:
1. GreenRope ($1.92M/year)
metrics for our business are our customer satisfaction and retention rates, which remain consistently high. We currently have over 1,000 customers in over 20 countries, ranging from startups to universities and municipalities. Moving forward, we plan to continue evolving and improving our platform to meet the changing needs of businesses and provide even greater value to our customers.
How much they make: $1.92M/year
Current team size: 15
GreenRope, a self-funded CRM and marketing automation platform with over 1,000 customers in 20 countries, was built organically and focused on creating a positive, customer-centric culture without outside investment, with an all-in-one interface solving challenges in managing sales, marketing, customer service, and operations.
2. Ora ($252K/year)
Nikolay Mihaylov, along with his co-founders Vasil Enchev and Nikolay Yanev, came up with the idea for Ora PM while working at Codemotion in 2015. As they were managing their work with existing project management systems like Trello and Slack, they realized the need for a more sophisticated system with time tracking. Unable to find a suitable solution in the market, they decided to create their own project management system, which eventually evolved into Ora.
How much they make: $252K/year
How much did it cost to start: $50K
Current team size: 5
Ora PM is a project management system that generates an average monthly revenue of $21k, and is designed for use by individuals as well as companies with big projects.
So... can you actually make money with a project management tool?
Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.
But how?
- Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
- Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
- Take action, because now you have the roadmap.
Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:
3. Agiled ($120K/year)
Asad Ali, founder and CEO of Agiled, came up with the idea for his all-in-one business management software while running a web development agency. Frustrated with switching between multiple tools, he decided to create a centralized platform to help business owners efficiently manage their operations. Since launching in early 2020 and with the help of an Appsumo launch, Agiled has grown to serve over 5,000 companies and generate $10k/month in revenue.
How much they make: $120K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
Current team size: 15
Agiled is a bootstrapped business management software company founded by Asad Ali that has generated $10k/month serving over 5,000 companies, with a goal of reaching $100k MRR by the end of next year.
4. COR ($1.24M/year)
Santi Bibiloni and his co-founders came up with the idea for COR when they realized that many professional service companies struggled with low profitability due to poor budgeting and project management. They wanted to create a solution that would help these companies increase their profits and provide better opportunities for their creative and professional teams. After launching in 2016, COR attracted top clients such as Ogilvy, Wunderman Thompson, and Leo Burnett, and recently closed a Series A round with $6 million in funding.
How much they make: $1.24M/year
How much did it cost to start: $7K
Current team size: 70
COR, an AI-powered solution for Advertising Agencies and Professional Services firms that offers project management, financial management, and resource management, has reached a current MRR of $103k and just closed their Series A round having raised $6M after almost 5 years in the market.
So... can you actually make money with a project management tool?
Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.
But how?
- Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
- Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
- Take action, because now you have the roadmap.
Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:
5. SmartTask ($48K/year)
Shyamal Parikh, founder of SmartTask, came up with the idea for his project management tool while working in his father's unorganized business. He saw the need for a tool that could help businesses manage tasks and sales in a more efficient and organized manner. After personally visiting hundreds of businesses and validating the idea, Shyamal decided to build SmartTask and has since attracted notable clients such as Amul, Adecco, and ABB.
How much they make: $48K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
Current team size: 8
SmartTask is a project management tool that has received $300K in seed funding this year and it currently has 40,000+ active users, serving prominent brands such as Amul, Adecco, Ecolab, and ABB, among others, aiming to make people 3x more productive.
6. Product Focus ($1.8M/year)
Ian Lunn and his co-founder Andrew Dickenson started Product Focus after seeing a need for high-quality product management training. With their background in product management and marketing, they launched their first public course in 2006 and have since grown to become the European leaders in product management training. They have adapted their business model during the pandemic and continue to provide world-class training online. [Word count: 36 words]
How much they make: $1.8M/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
Current team size: 5
Product Focus has become the European leaders in product management training, running multiple courses every week and receiving over 20,000 subscribers for their resources in 2018, now providing both face-to-face and online training options after COVID forced them to pivot their business model.
So... can you actually make money with a project management tool?
Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.
But how?
- Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
- Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
- Take action, because now you have the roadmap.
Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:
7. GanttProject ($36K/year)
Dmitry Barashev came across GanttProject while searching for open-source Gantt chart drawing software to use on Linux. He made a contribution by implementing a command-line export feature and eventually took over leadership and administration. With no paid advertising, GanttProject has grown steadily and generates $3000-5000 in monthly revenue, with loyal customers and a low churn rate. The team is now working on GanttProject Cloud, a low-cost commercial product offering collaboration features and online project storage.
How much they make: $36K/year
How much did it cost to start: $0
Current team size: 0
GanttProject, a popular free open-source project scheduling application, generated $3000-5000 monthly through the pay-what-you-want model, despite not spending a single dollar on paid traffic, and has now grown to over 2-3k monthly active users.
8. Standuply ($1.2M/year)
How much they make: $1.2M/year
Current team size:
Learn how Standuply gained 750 signups after being featured on the Slack App Directory with their Slack bot designed to run standup meetings and team surveys.
9. Inflectra Corporation ($9.96M/year)
Adam Sandman, founder and CEO of Inflectra Corporation, came up with the idea for his business while working at Sapient. He and his colleague realized that there was a need for a more affordable and agile requirements and project management system in the software industry. This led Sandman to quit his job, code the first version of SpiraTest himself, and launch Inflectra.
How much they make: $9.96M/year
How much did it cost to start: $20K
Current team size: 50
Inflectra Corporation's Founder and CEO Adam Sandman shares how he went from being a stay-at-home dad to running a tech company with $10MM in ARR, offering insight on launching and marketing a tech product in the industry.
10. Promys ($4.5M/year)
In starting their business, the founder realized the need for a workflow system to offset the complexity of a growing company. Unable to find a suitable solution in the market, they had their development team build the first version and eventually spun it out as a focused business. Throughout the process, they emphasized the importance of getting an early version of the product to customers to gather feedback and make necessary adjustments.
How much they make: $4.5M/year
Current team size:
This case study follows a serial entrepreneur's journey in the Information Technology industry, where he founded successful companies such as UNIS LUMIN and Promys, and offers advice to aspiring founders, emphasizing the importance of adjusting to changing markets and learning from early customers' input.
11. SmartSuite ($1.2M/year)
How much they make: $1.2M/year
Current team size: 8
SmartSuite gained 400 customers and $100,000 in monthly recurring revenue in just 4 weeks after 3 years of development, offering three monthly seat pricing tiers with the largest deal closed for 150 seats.
12. Rent Ready ($13.3M/year)
How much they make: $13.3M/year
Current team size: 78
Rent Ready is a modern solution that helped to streamline the time-consuming process of preparing apartments for rent while connecting community staff with service professionals, and raised a $10 million Series A investment after reducing overhead costs by 75%.
13. Trello ($17.6M/year)
How much they make: $17.6M/year
Current team size: 106
14. Client Portal ($132K/year)
The founder worked previously as a freelancer. She faced difficulties in finding a suitable platform to manage her clients' project assets. Despite trying different project management tools, the quality of these tools proved to be subpar, which led to her using email as the primary mode of communication.
Determined to find a better solution, she decided to create her own platform. She developed a page on her website that allowed clients to log in and access all the project assets that had been collected. She shared her experience with others about the portal and how it had helped her manage customer projects. After receiving a lot of encouragement from her peers, she eventually decided to sell it.
How much they make: $132K/year
How much did it cost to start: $5K
Current team size: 0
Laura Elizabeth built a $4-10k/month lightweight project management tool for WordPress called Client Portal, which provides clients with a branded, accessible space to access project deliverables and status updates, and has grown organically with the aid of podcasts, email courses, and Google searches.
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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
- 4,818 founder case studies
- Access to our founder directory
- Live events, courses and recordings
- 8,628 business ideas
- $1M in software savings
