I Built a $35K/Month SaaS for IT Admins
Who are you and what business did you start?
Hello,
My name is Tom and I am the founder of Pckgr. Pckgr is a web based tool (SaaS) that helps IT admins deploy and update third party software applications with just a few clicks. I think our business is special because are a small yet trusted team who have built a community around the sole purpose of simply building an awesome product for an affordable price. We are currently generating around 30-35k USD per month (depending on annual subscriptions) and seeing decent growth with currently 135% over last year.
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Founder-Market Fit
Skills
What skills did Tom have that led to their success?
How do you come up with the idea for Pckgr?
I came up with the idea when I was working on a project for deploying applications for a company and found it incredibly time consuming. I did some research on solutions and found there was space for a cheaper solution that focused on simplicity and ease of use. The other major competitor required a sever to host the application on so I focused on building the product as web app. My background is in IT administration, focused on End User Compute. Our idea was validated by releasing the product for free and announcing it via a carefully curated post on Reddit (made by co-founder Dale).
How did you build the initial version of Pckgr?
First was mapping out the design for an MVP, working out how to build the front-end application and backend workflows with relatively low coding experience. We decided on using BubbleIO to build the front end, while the backend workflows were built with on Azure and Github Actions. We also use many SaaS solutions like SendGrid, Gleap (chatbot), Monday, GPT Team and many others. The starting costs were extremely low thanks to free tier SaaS solutions. This allows us to slowly scale up and validate the MVP before going all in. The business received a small advancement from Dale and then we were able to cover costs with income as we expanded. It took roughly a year to build the MVP to a point I was happy with it, it proved to be much more difficult than I thought to build the solution. There were many late and stressful evenings trying to get things to work as I wanted but there were also many exciting moments like landing our first customers and positive feedback as well as our first pay check. Devlopment really sped up with the advancement of AI which assisted in a lot of the coding for new features.
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How did you launch Pckgr and get initial traction?
We launched via a well-crafted Reddit post to share the news of our MVP. We didn't want it to sound overly professional and money focused and more about sharing something we had built as a side hustle. This approach helps when you offer the product completely free, which we did as Reddit users don't take kindly to sneak advertising. The reddit users were mostly positive feedback and constructive criticism, with a few trolls in there. In regard to lessons, I would have put more time into design and tested with a smaller group before unleashing to the wild as I was putting out fires like no tomorrow. As for our first dollar, I was actually at a wedding when we got the first request come through to purchase an annual license. I was so excited I generated the invoice from my phone while at the wedding.
What was the growth strategy for Pckgr and how did you scale?
While we initially grew Pckgr using a reddit post. We have since expanded into working with Microsoft MVPs who run YouTube channels or blog posts and have been able to show demos of the product to their subscribers. Since working with these professionals, we have seen a massive growth in our customer base. We also run a private Facebook group with over 1k members where we share new features and updates we are working on. We also have a budget for running ad campaigns but its been hard to track the metrics of how much this is leading to paid subscriptions.
My recommendation to entrepreneurs is to find a niche in the market of something you are good at. Build a working MVP and then share your work on Reddit, offering the service for free. Be prepared for harsh and sometimes downright mean feedback but it's the best way to get your product out there for free.
What were the biggest lessons learned from building Pckgr?
We initially delayed the launch of the product and almost gave it up when Microsoft announced they were releasing something similar. This cost us time in the market when we should have focused on what we were doing. I think when building a startup, you are always going to have other companies come out with the same thing or similar and sometimes it's just important to keep your head down and focus on building your product and what makes it unique. Customers will also appreciate the hard work and dedication you put into the product. I think we did the right thing growing the product slowly, relying only on the profits of the business and working closely with customer feedback to make continuous improvements.
Pckgr Acquisition: How much did Pckgr sell for and what was the acquisition price?
N/A
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More about Pckgr:
Who is the owner of Pckgr?
Tom is the founder of Pckgr.
When did Tom start Pckgr?
2024
How much money has Tom made from Pckgr?
Tom started the business in 2024, and currently makes an average of $720K/year.
