All businesses / Micro-SaaS

Fingerprint: capital · hours · speed to income · margin · ceiling. The dashed line is mid-scale.

Start a micro-saas: the real numbers

Subscription software for a narrow niche. Below is what it actually costs, how long before money arrives, and the part most guides leave out.

Startup capital

€400–€3,000

Hours / week

10–30

First income

~28 wks

Net margin

90%

Saturation

medium

Realistic ceiling

€400–€6,000+

This ceiling is not a wall

The figure above is what this earns in the shape described — you, running it. Past that it keeps going, but by hiring people or adding units, not by you working more hours. That is a different job from the one you would be starting, and worth knowing before you start it.

What nobody usually tells you

Recurring revenue: month twelve beats month one, and it's the only thing here that truly compounds. But six to eight months to the first subscriber, and support never ends.

The route, in five steps

  1. Pick a problem you have, in a field you know
  2. Sell the idea before writing it: twenty conversations
  3. Build the minimum version in six weeks
  4. Charge from day one, even a little
  5. Add features only when three people ask

What you'll need to buy

These are the categories every micro-saas pays for in the first month. We break down what each one actually costs at this size on the tools page.

hostingpayment platformcustomer support

Does it hold up for you?

These numbers are the average case. Whether this business clears your target depends on your capital, your hours and how long you can wait — put them in and see.

Run my numbers → See the tool stack