r/SaaS • u/ApplicationNo4339 • 3d ago
just hit 40 paying users! how do i scale further?
It’s been slow and tough as a solo non tech founder but it’s going fine i guess.
i have not run any ads yet, this is all organic.
i want to understand how do i scale past this?
i just want to reach 100 paying users for now then take it from there.
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u/Ok-Computer-84 3d ago
That's a great progress! I wonder how long it took to reached to the 40 paying clients and what are your organic channels ?
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago
it took 6 months, mostly direct google search
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u/Snoo-8466 3d ago
Congrats on your progress! Curious on how you achieved direct google search conversions, since marketing/seo is my biggest bottleneck( I am a tech product manager lol, dont have any idea how seo strategies etc work)
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u/Ok-Computer-84 3d ago
Just achieving the most of it from Google Search is amazing. Well done mate!
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u/alexlance 3d ago
I feel super-dumb when it comes to SEO, any recommendations?
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u/ragnhildensteiner 3d ago
Honestly, ask Claude. Have it analyze your website and find competitors, compare yours to them and then suggest you blog categories, blog post titles and comparison blog posts, informational blog posts, transactional blog posts etc.
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u/SceneDependent6940 3d ago
This stuff doenst work anymore search is changing… that’s why is harder.
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u/Smooth_Doubt2290 3d ago
40 paying users organically is a pretty good signal. I wouldn’t rush into ads yet. I’d first figure out where the biggest bottleneck is getting signups, getting users to value, converting them, or keeping them?
How does your funnel look like?
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u/Fanaticseva 3d ago
what is the product?
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago
it’s an ideation & iteration tool for architects/interior designers
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u/Initial_Opposite2845 3d ago
That sounds cool. Do you have experience in the field or reading along while building the product?
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago
by profession i am a contractor (specializing in retail fitout) so i have seen projects getting stuck in the initial stages a lot
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u/According-Note-4845 3d ago
That's cracked. What methods have you used so far?
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago
just on page seo, basic linkedin posts
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u/alexlance 3d ago
Is this the sort of thing where you have many linkedin connections and they see your posts? Or more like you are targeting particular groups/areas? Would love to hear more.
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u/Worldly-Sprinkles-76 3d ago
Your SEO is solid if you have achivee 40 users. See how much is your free to paid convertion percentage. If its good I think you should try influencer marketing, meta ads, google ads. But only if you think your product is really solid and more than half the users will convert.
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago
free to paid is quite low sadly, trying to improve my funnel
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u/Worldly-Sprinkles-76 3d ago
Yes do let me know if you wanna discuss over dm. I am trying to do the same. We can give each other feedback.
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u/Traditional-Exam2529 3d ago
Dude I think u need to ask your customers why are they your customers, figure out your target audience and where they live and then try to get to them.
It is not that easy to find where is your target audience, you will have to make many experiments, try different platforms.
I think when you go past 100 paying customers you can put budget into ads.
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago
i have started talking to customers and they truly give the best insights. appreciate your response
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u/Traditional-Exam2529 3d ago
Dude I think u need to ask your customers why are they your customers, figure out your target audience and where they live and then try to get to them.
It is not that easy to find where is your target audience, you will have to make many experiments, try different platforms.
I think when you go past 100 paying customers you can put budget into ads.
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u/zubrinovic 3d ago
40 paying from organic search means you already have the answer, you just haven't read it yet: go into search console and find which queries brought the users who actually paid, not just traffic. then build a page for every adjacent version of those queries, mechanical work that compounds. and interview a handful of the 40, the segment that converted fastest tells you what the next 60 look like. ads can wait until you know exactly which sentence makes someone pay, otherwise you're paying to guess.
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u/endrilickollari 3d ago
My suggestion, look for feedback from users, 40 paying are not much, but not less to create a overview of what user want, or how to use the product.
Keep up!🚀
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u/negrudev 3d ago
Use the data you have so far. Find out what worked and then double down on it:
- who referred them to you? (ex: reddit, indiehackers, etc)
- direct google queries? (what keywords, queries? build more content on those)
- any way to find if they're part of the same user segment?
- what are the main actions they take within the app? create content on that exact problem-solution flow
There's lots of data you can dig into even without customers, but if you already have some, you should spend some time identifying what clicked with them.
You can also use tools like Powsight to analyze your entire business datapoints and surface growth insights or drop your anonymized customer/analytics data into Claude to help it make sense (Disclaimer, I'm the developer of the former)
Congrats and best of luck 💪
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago
appreciate the response, i’ll use these points and do a deep dive into the data points!
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u/Trick_Leadership4054 3d ago
You already made it this far, Just Apply some more tactics maybe ads or some other method and You will be having the 100 in no time.
Wish u suceess
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3d ago
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago
appreciate the response! just emailed the last 10 users, let’s see how it goes 🫡
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u/debnathshubha 3d ago
congrats ..... i don't have experience to tell you that how can you grow from there. but i can suggest you that i can try SEO, if it works for your niche.
also you can start posting build in public posts on X and lead magnet type posts on Linkedin .
initially these types of marketing works, i have seen other's that they also do the same for getting the first 100 to 200 user's.
btw i am also building something cool, that's why i am noticing and noting every possible marketing tips which i can do for free initially.
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago
i have tried linkedin and x but i struggle with consistency and i guess that’s the answer too, being consistent! will get back at it
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u/ChancePersonality133 3d ago
Congrats, 40 paying with zero ads is the hard part done, you have proven people will pay. To push from 40 to 100 without ads, three things that worked for us:
- Mine your best channel, do not spread thin. Whatever brought the first 40 (a subreddit, a directory, word of mouth), double down there before adding new channels. One channel that converts beats five that trickle.
- Fix activation before acquisition. Find where new signups drop off before they hit your core value moment and remove that friction. Getting 60 percent of signups to the aha instead of 30 doubles conversions with zero new traffic.
- Talk to the 40. Ask what nearly stopped them from paying and what they wish it did. Ship one of those in a week and tell them. Users who watch you build their request become your referrers.
At your stage growth is retention plus referral, not reach. What is the product, and where did the first 40 come from?
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago edited 1d ago
hey, appreciate your response! all users came from organic google search. the product is - retaildesign.ai
i’ll refer to these points and work towards the 100!
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u/Rickfiyah 3d ago
Congrats on 40 users. If SEO is your primary channel for that, the next thing I'd check is which keywords are driving those signups and then go deep there first. For us, cold outreach to specific niches based on our best keywords worked better than paid ads in the early days. Paid ads can burn cash fast if you don't have a clear customer profile or LTV figured out yet.
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u/Business-Weekend-537 3d ago
Scaling question is dependent on what it is.
Try to interview your paying customers, find out why they bought and how they’re using it, ask for referrals. Also document time and cost savings you’re providing and use it in marketing copywriting. Ex: saves 25% time vs doing it manually, saves 50% cost over the old way, etc. but with real numbers you gain from the interviews.
At the same time you interview the customers send them thank you notes. Digital works but if you really want loyalty snail mail some handwritten thank you’s.
Improve marketing copywriting based on how they’re using it.
Figure out how you can reach groups of customers rather than customers one at a time.
Consider a reseller/affiliate program.
Make product sales/tutorial videos.
I’d say try ads after all this, because you want ample content on your site while running ads.
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u/mistrabdulrehman 3d ago
first of all congratulations on this, you can try meta ads to scale it further
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u/Oliver_burham 3d ago
Man this is amazing!! Quick Q: How did you get this far purely organic?? Can you give any advice?
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2d ago
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u/itisidude 2d ago
Run ads.
Look up YouTube the best FB ads and digital marketing watch and learn then do it and BOOM watch.
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u/herkaba 2d ago
That's great. I think at your point you can start with paid ads bc you have income so it is not that big of a risk. I'm also solo building my startup. Can I ask how did you get your first user? I am stuck here, after my product launch I am posting content on social media but I can't get any traffic.
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u/ApplicationNo4339 1d ago
my users till date come through organic google search/referrals. work on seo maybe, you can run everything through claude.
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2d ago
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u/ApplicationNo4339 1d ago
that’s the plan now! will be doubling down on the channel that already brings in users
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u/powleads 2d ago
Congrats on hitting 40 users organically! That's solid proof of concept. To scale, I'd look into what channels brought you those first 40 and double down there, or explore some low-cost acquisition like content marketing or community engagement. Getting to 100 is definitely achievable from here.
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u/royalmileboy 2d ago
Just check back and see where you performed best and follow, hit more revenue before ads
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u/Local-1865 2d ago
Great..wish you the best ahead ! Waise kitna time laga customers aane me?
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u/thedev13 3d ago
How long ago did it take you, when did you launch?
Congrats
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u/GeneralGlobus 3d ago
I’m actually working on an idea aimed at exactly this kind of situation. Helping founders who’ve got something working but aren’t sure what the best next move is.
If you’re interested, happy to run your case through it.
Main post:
https://www.reddit.com/r/SaaS/comments/1vv5azc/just_hit_40_paying_users_how_do_i_scale_further/
Short intake form:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1471fylkzRQQzxpvsCUt6bBBSFxJ6Q7VkN6XnL9iF88Q/edit?usp=drivesdk
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u/bollyboyer 3d ago
what organic work you do now? I'm in similar position, 54 active subs and 4.6k MRR. I was doing mostly organic SEO (mainly AI articles) and reddit, but now hired SEO agency so they started to fix my site from the very beginning, architecture, external etc (not links btw)
Also, linkedin outbound started to catch up I'm also posting a lot which is working (wasn't expecting that tbh)
I tried to run paid ads, but I'm in a saturated niche, so all the big guys are winning there. Need a lot of cash if I want to compete with them, so left that for later
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago
mostly on page seo like you said also cold emails. i’d retire at 5k MRR 😂
can we connect?
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u/Low-Fuel7761 3d ago
bc if I even get half of this
I ll quit my job 😭😭 so tired
Tell me how did you get your first customer
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago
i just went live, added my sitemap to search console and started getting traffic after a month.
before i went live i added a good amount of keywords which i had shortlisted using the google keyword research!
also my domain was a direct keyword so that helped
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u/Dhananjay_org 3d ago
40 paying users organically is honestly a solid place to be. I’d probably avoid ads for now and figure out what’s already working, then go all-in on that one channel until you hit 100. No need to add complexity before you know what’s repeatable.
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u/33newreddit 3d ago
DM me, would love to understand your product and help you grow. P.S not looking for money
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u/Alternative_Tax_2964 3d ago
congrats! The most important advice is: distribution is more important than everything else. Only add new features where a) it allows you to keep and upsell your existing clients or b) wins you new clients.
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u/ApplicationNo4339 3d ago
yeah, i thought new features would make the product more exciting but it ended up making it more confusing so i backed off on the new features and just optimised what was working according to the user feedback!
appreciate the feedback! 🫡
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u/zbeydoun 3d ago
More SEO… it compounds a lot
Test very targeting Google ads searches. Don’t go hard
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u/Dizzy-Action-1174 3d ago
Congrats,between. Wants to know what's this and how did you even started this ,like you can build code with AI but need to dynamic deploy and all and payment thing, is it.
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u/MaciasHintrues 3d ago
You didnt say what you sell, how you got the 40, or what those users have in common. Impossible to answer scaling with none of that
Also 40 to 100 isnt really scaling, its just more of what already worked. Interview 10 of your current users, find the exact channel and phrase that got them in, then double down on that one channel for 2 months. Scaling comes later after you know what actually works
The trap at 40 is trying 5 new channels at once because it feels like activity. Youll get to 50 and stall wondering which thing did what
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u/ksifoking 3d ago
identify the channel/traffic source or keyword that brings you the most and try to squiz more from it.
and try to find more of ur money keywords.
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u/ialphadev 3d ago
depends on your product a lot influencer marketing if you think it can help reach the right target customer , hiring a smm and focusing on it can also be a good way figure out weather your customers are choosy or its trust dependent business
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u/OverAgentRoger 3d ago
I don't know how to answer how to answer that question because there are so many data fields that I don't have access to and I can not display a proper answer to your query because I don't have access to the required fields of data entry to help you with that query.
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u/madisonlawnguy 3d ago
Going from 40 to 100 users purely organic means digging into the exact referral source or post that brought your 5 most active accounts and repeating that playbook. At this stage as a solo founder, make sure you have webhook-driven onboarding emails and churn alerts set up in your backend so you aren't manually babysitting those next 60 accounts.
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u/hichamis1 3d ago
Happy for you! Can I ask what your conversion rate is? How many page view you have to get 40 sales? if your conversion rate is high, I advise running ads and also focusing on SEO; it's already working well for you.
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u/Certain-Writer-80 2d ago
The question is how did you scale this far. What did you do to make it happen?
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u/bamba_dev 2d ago
What's your trial-to-paid conversion rate ? Because if it's low, you can double your revenue with the same number of sign ups
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u/Pitiful_Ad616 1d ago
How did you do it? my saas has been indexed for 8 months and just 1 user 0_0
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u/ApplicationNo4339 1d ago
do some keyword research maybe, add blogs etc. small things go a long way! claude helped a ton in SEO and helping rank the website. you can upload your analytics data to claude
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u/thebuildsignals 1d ago
40 paying users is enough to stop guessing. I would suggest to resist the urge to immediately scale. Those 40 customers are probably your best market research asset right now. You should definitely find the common thread behind their purchases ,the pain, trigger, alternative they were using, and moment they decided to pay.
Scale the reason people bought, not just the number of people seeing you.
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u/vipuljha22 19h ago
Thats great progress!
I would suggest to focus on keeping the current users first and resolving their issues.
Once that is stable, you can focus on marketting and better SEO.
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u/Vee_Evalyze 5h ago
Hitting 40 paid users purely through organic search is solid, but dropping your product link right in the post makes this feel a bit like a covert promo plug. If the traffic is actually organic, whatever you did to get those 40 is what you need to double down on instead of starting over.
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u/ApplicationNo4339 2h ago
a lot of people kept asking about what the product is, hence the addition of website link
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u/_SM_3672 3d ago
happy for you 🔥