Productized

Stop Selling Your Time & Transition To SaaS & Scalability

This book is for Agency Owners who either have a product bubbling away in their heads and want to figure out the best way to make it a reality; or have an existing product and are wrestling with where to take it and how to balance that against the demands of running an agency.

As a former Agency Owner, successful SaaS Founder and Advisor to agencies creating their own SaaS products, this is the book I wish I'd been given when I embarked on my own Agency-to-SaaS journey.

The book is split into four broad sections, providing specific outcomes for the reader:

1. The case for SaaS as an alternative or an addition to client work, and whether the time is right for you to make the change.
2. How to work out whether your idea has potential, what that looks like for your current business and creating a plan that the key stakeholders can get behind.
3. The practicalities of making the switch from an organizational and funding perspective.
4. How to scale a SaaS business as an Agency Owner. You have a lot of advantages because of your background, but also a couple of extra things to contend with, too.

Agency Owners look to switch to a SaaS model for four main reasons:

1. Scale. Selling consultancy has a direct correlation to the people you hire to deliver whereas a product has a less linear connection to the size of your team.
2. Predictability. Project-based consultancy is often subject to peaks and troughs which can make resource planning a nightmare. Products, especially SaaS, tend to have a predictable revenue stream.
3. Control. A consultancy's output is largely what the client wants. Even if it's a stupid idea. When it's your product business, you're the final arbiter of what good looks like.
4. Valuation. Agencies are valued as a multiple of EBITDA: SaaS as a multiple of Annual Recurring Revenue. SaaS companies are often worth between 5X and 10X that of an agency doing the same level of revenue.

What this book is not:
A manifesto. I made a whole switch from Agency to SaaS, but my way isn't the only way. I've worked with plenty of agencies who run a SaaS business alongside their consultancy. I deal with these questions in the book. But it's not a 'my way or the highway' type of approach.
A biography. I reference my own and others' experiences, but only to illustrate the broader themes that are covered.
A SaaS Sales & Marketing Guide. There are hundreds of books and other resources out there to help you with these subjects. While I make reference to them, my main goal is getting you to the best place to make the transition to selling SaaS.

Agency Owners have an unfair advantage over others when it comes to starting a SaaS. Done well, you can create significantly more financial value for yourself and your family. Isn't it time you made the transition?