6 Steps to Launch and Grow your SaaS to $10K MRR in 2024

Building a Tech or SaaS product can be daunting.

Where do you start? What do you focus on? How do I go to market?

In this post, I’ll outline my unique 6-step launch playbook which is a proven method to help tech founders go from launch to $10K MRR and beyond.

The #1 mistake early SaaS make? Lack of SPECIFIC messaging for the ideal customer profile (ICP):

The #2 mistake is not not implement this Four channel SaaS Marketing Strategy.

But, before you even think about reaching 5 figures, you’ll have to nail your ICP.

6 questions to help you as SaaS founder find your ICP:

Q1) What problem are you solving?

Identify the frequency of the problem then quantify it. Saving time, money or creating efficiency.

Q2) Who is your ideal customer?

Think of the exact person you solve the problem for. List out their problems, dreams, and desires.

Q3) Who and where is your target market?

Understand the market size, geographic area, keyword search volume, and competitors.

Q4) What is your story for the ICP?

Use the

Problem → Solution → Benefit framework

Amazon Prime = Anything you want, delivered quicky.

Problem = Shopping takes time

Solution = Order anything you want, delivered to your door

Benefit = Get time back with unlimited options and free returns

Q5) How will you reach your customer?

Distribution is often more important than the product. Meet customers where they are

Communities / Forums

Social Media

Q6) How will you measure success?

Define success in terms of users, actions, or paying subscribers. Gather data and double down on what works.

Once you have these 6 questions in place, here are 6 steps to follow:

Step 1️⃣: Market Analysis

Market analysis is the foundation for validating that you are solving a problem. We look at the market size, the competition, the keyword volume, then find a gap in the market to attack.

Step 2️⃣: Marketing Strategy

Once we have found a gap in the market, we begin to identify the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). The exercise dives into their pains, desires, wants, and needs.

From there we create a value proposition statement that directly benefits the ICP and users (not always the same person).

I like to use the Problem → Solution → Benefit framework.

Bonus points if you can quantify the problem you are solving into

⌛ Time-savings

💰 Money earned/saved, or

🏃 Efficiency to a process specifically for the ICP.

With the marketing strategy complete, the next step is to create your pricing and packaging. I created the Ultimate SaaS Pricing Guide on how to structure your packages to convert.

You can find it here

Step 3️⃣: Funnel Concept

The 22 immutable laws of marketing include the “Law of the Mind” which states that you must be first in the mind for customers to purchase your product. It takes multiple touchpoints to convince customers your product is the right fit for them. That’s why we build a funnel.

The funnel concept includes creating an organic content strategy to build awareness on various platforms and generate leads. We will create a content calendar and funnel concept.

It begins by prioritizing which channels to focus on first (Linkedin, Twitter, communities, forums, etc) and ensuring there are tracking mechanisms in place to know where the leads are coming from.

Step 4️⃣: Product Launch

Now it is time to launch (or re-launch) your product. This step includes mapping out the customer journey and creating an activation onboarding flow so we can enable product-led growth.

Step 5️⃣: Validation & Feedback

Once the product is launched, it is important to validate the assumptions to this point. We do this by gathering feedback from customers through various mediums including:

💻 Product demos

📲 Customer support

⌛ Beta testing customers

Step 6️⃣: Outbound

Only once you’ve completed the first 5 steps is it time to begin allocating time and money to outbound strategies. The reason I save this step for last is that the previous 5 steps prepare the business for fulfilling customer expectations AND delivering value.

You do NOT want to be the company that starts throwing money at ads only to find out you are targeting the wrong users, or worse your product sucks or the product doesn’t solve a problem.