Do not index
Do not index
How much do you charge for your software?
$20? $50? $100?
Well, a few weeks ago, I launched an offer for outrank.so for $1,000/month.
And it sold like hotcakes on a cold winter evening (sold 3 actually 😆).
Only for me to realize that this was all wrong.
Here’s the full story 👇🏻
The Tempting Offer 💸
When we launched Outrank, we created a premium service alongside the base software:
- $1,000/month
- Human writer polishing AI-generated blogs
- Posting on behalf of clients
It SOLD. Like, faster than we expected.
It's a great problem to have, right?
The reality check
We onboarded our first few clients and immediately hit a wall.
One client in particular started asking for WAY more than what we initially planned to offer.
What did we do? We tried to deliver it anyway.
Bad move.
The SaaS-to-Agency trap
The work quickly became:
- Completely unprofitable
- Time-consuming
- Distracting from our core product
We were falling into the classic trap:
Start as a SaaS → End up as an agency
The hard decision
After weeks of trying to make it work, we had a tough team discussion.
Some of my co-workers wanted to keep the client. "It's guaranteed revenue," they said.
I pushed back.
We ended up sending a message asking for significantly more money than our initial agreement.
The client declined.
Contract over.
We still run the $1,000/mo custom offer — but we don’t treat it like our main business anymore. It’s a way to provide better service AND improve the product. (Reply if you are interested btw)
The lessons 📝
This experience taught me some painful but valuable lessons:
1. Your time has a cost
$1,000/month sounds great until you realize you're making $10/hour on it.
2. Agency work is a different business
Running a SaaS and an agency simultaneously is nearly impossible to do well.
3. Saying no creates space for yes
The time we spent on this client could have been spent improving our core product.
4. Set clear boundaries from day one
List EXACTLY what's included and what costs extra.
5. Trust your gut
We knew it was too much work almost immediately. We should have acted sooner.
Every dollar isn't a good dollar.
Sometimes, firing a client is the best business decision you can make.
It frees you to focus on what matters - building a scalable product, not a service business.
We refused this client to make Outrank - the software even much better.
If you haven’t tried it out yet, I highly recommend you do. Organic search is the only long term differentiator.
Here is a 20% off coupon for the first month to get you started: FRIENDS
Start here: outrank.so
Have you ever said no to revenue because it was the right decision for your business?
Hit reply and tell me about it 👇🏻👇🏻
Tweet of the week
If you want to understand how to work in the AI driven world, this is for you.
An internal memo from the CEO of Shopify:
Thanks for reading, I will see you next week 👋🏻
Keep building
Tibo 💻
P.S. If you're running a SaaS and feel pulled toward agency work, take this as your sign to resist. It's a different business model entirely.
Written by
