SaaS •Entrepreneurship

I Make $16K/Month... Even In A "Tiny" Niche

Starter Story • • 17 min • #133
I Make $16K/Month... Even In A "Tiny" Niche

Nic built a micro-saas that makes $16K MRR. And he did it by picking a painfully specific niche and solving their whole problem. This video breaks down how even a "small" niche can still get you to $10K/month

Summary

  • Nick
    • Built Blog to Pin, a Pinterest marketing tool, to scratch his own itch.
    • Grew it to over $16,000 MRR over two years.
    • Learned software engineering at 15 and got his first software engineering job after graduating from school.
    • Reconsidered the corporate path after the war started in Ukraine and he went through a long depression.
    • Found indie hackers and AI tools, tried several apps that made zero revenue, then found the Pinterest problem while growing an AI cocktail blog.
  • Block To Pin
    • Automates Pinterest pin creation for websites.
    • Scans a website, understands what it is about, and creates Pinterest pins from the site’s content and images.
    • Lets users schedule pins for weeks or months in a few minutes.
    • Generates SEO-optimized, varied pins and lets users review analytics for what works.
    • Saves users from manually designing five to 10 pins per day, each of which could take five to 10 minutes.
  • Metrics And Business Model
    • Reached more than $16,000 MRR.
    • Has more than 400 active subscribers.
    • Has churn around 10%.
    • Charges about $39 per month on the starter plan, with agency and enterprise plans for scaling users.
    • Still has some recurring revenue in Lemon Squeezy from an earlier payment provider setup.
  • Building The Product
    • Got the idea in December 2023 while still working a 9-to-5.
    • Built on nights and weekends with GitHub Copilot.
    • Had a scrappy version in seven days, then rewrote much of it to make a real product.
    • Launched with a lifetime deal because he did not expect anyone to buy.
    • Waited 10 days for the first paying customers, then switched to subscriptions and improved the product.
  • Growth Channels
    • Relies most on word of mouth, affiliates, SEO, and recommendations from ChatGPT and other LLMs.
    • Reviews user screen recordings and account behavior when customers do not see Pinterest growth.
    • Builds requested features in hours or days when they matter to customers.
    • Created articles, reached out to influencers, posted on Reddit, and built backlinks early.
    • Looks for asymmetric marketing where early grinding turns into later autopilot customer acquisition.
  • Micro-SaaS Playbook
    • Find something people already do and already pay for.
    • Research existing products through Google, G2, AppSumo, Capterra, and YouTube reviews.
    • Identify competitor weaknesses and places where AI can remove complexity.
    • Build an MVP that is faster, cheaper, and better for one specific person.
    • Create the MVP with Claude Code in one or two weeks.
    • Talk to the ICP through Reddit, X, cold outreach, YouTube, TikTok, Reels, and Facebook groups.
    • Treat the first customer like an employer and make that person fully satisfied.
    • Improve the product by 1% every day across churn, onboarding, emails, and features.
  • Tech Stack
    • Uses Vercel for the web app.
    • Uses Hetzner for scrapers.
    • Uses Oxylabs for proxies.
    • Uses Gemini for AI text and Fal.ai for AI images.
    • Uses sequencing for emails and churn prevention.
  • Lessons And Advice
    • Try different things until a niche and pain point becomes clear.
    • Pick one niche, solve one specific pain, and stick with it for at least a few months.
    • Do not hide behind directories or Product Hunt launches; find a real human who benefits from the product.
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