a single source, nothing corroborates it

Separate the baseline from the spike

Work out the revenue level you hold without running any promotion and treat sale peaks and seasonal months as separate from it, because the month after the peak is the real test. Accept that monthly swings on a product business are largely detached from what you did that month in both directions, that steady linear growth is forecastable rather than disappointing, and that the same percentage growth gets harder as the base gets bigger.

The method

1. 01

   Separate the seasonal spike from the underlying baseline before you believe a revenue trend, and treat the month after the peak as the real test of the business.

2. 02

   Aim for a revenue level you can hold without running promotions, and treat sale-driven peaks as separate from that baseline.

3. 03

   Accept that monthly revenue swings on a product business are largely detached from what you did that month, in both directions.

4. 04

   Treat steady linear growth as a feature rather than a disappointment, since it is forecastable and spares you the cash crunches that hit fast-growing companies.

5. 05

   Expect your growth rate to fall as the base grows, and plan channels accordingly - the same percentage that took a few hundred dollars of new MRR early takes hundreds of thousands later.

What it returned

• $582

  Place Card Me finished December on $582 and the year on $999; Zue framed January as the month that would tell him whether $500 a month was realistic

• 2021

  Zue's January 2021 record of $6,644.64 for Pegasus, up 45.57%, came with no promotions or major marketing beyond a few days of a sale, which he read as a possible sustainable passive pace after a history of profits tied to sales events.

• 56.96%

  Zue's profit rose 56.96% to $5,114.56 in a month he calls lost, with Pegasus up 71.67%, and he attributes it to nothing he actually did.

• 2013

  Storemapper's revenue grew roughly linearly from its late 2013 launch and the author reports never facing a cashflow crisis

Sources

• My theme for 2024: SaaS marketing experimentsJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Real-world case study · undated
• Chapter 6: Thriving in the Long, Slow, SaaS Grind - Tyler TringasTyler Tringas · tylertringas.com · 2017-03-14
• Off to the RacesCory Zue · coryzue.com · Off to the Races · 2021-01-31
• The Lost MonthCory Zue · coryzue.com · Last Month’s Profit · 2021-04-01
• Week 41 RetrospectiveCory Zue · coryzue.com · Place Card Stats · 2018-01-01