Profitable from Day One : How a Bootstrapped SaaS Found a Successful Exit

WordPress powers more than 43% of the web. Whether you’re shopping online or catching up on your favorite blog, it’s likely you’re browsing a site published through WordPress. Yet, the open-access philosophy doesn’t always translate to successful outcomes for first-time business owners, who require a full suite of ready-to-use digital marketing tools to begin operations.

Founders often underestimate the power of good marketing–and the work required to maintain it. The struggle at launch to balance product iterations, which help keep the software running, with marketing funnel maintenance, which keeps new clients coming in the door, can be a huge setback in the process of getting a good idea to market.

That’s why Jordan Mederich founded DropFunnels, a tool to help small businesses instantly create a full marketing funnel. From landing page creation to SEO optimization and sales tracking, the platform was designed to help founders launch products faster. It’s easy-to-use and customizable, making it flexible to specific business needs–a feature Jordan found lacking in other solutions.

Building a Bootstrapped SaaS

DropFunnels was born out of frustration. Jordan isn’t just a founder–he is also a filmmaker. While promoting a documentary film he had produced, Jordan spent months creating a marketing system to sell the movie and drive ticket sales.

“Frankly, I was duct taping all this software together for sales funnels or websites and trying to make them into one cohesive unit, but instead it ended up just creating a headache,” said Jordan.

The complexity of the process, combined with a lack of useful solutions, inspired Jordan to create a platform that could adapt to his business needs. “I wanted to build a sales and marketing tool that would allow anyone, from any background, to very quickly launch, iterate, and scale their business online,” said Jordan. “End to end–something that, at the time, really solved my problem. I wanted to go in and build what I wanted.”

Creating Leads with Community

Jordan quickly discovered it wasn’t a unique problem–hundreds of business owners sought a similar solution.

At first, he built a community of founders on Facebook primarily to brainstorm and troubleshoot his own operational headaches. The group helped him understand common problems founders faced, and he helped the group by turning those problems into solutions.

Founders would book a meeting, give a basic outline of their business goals and marketing needs, and then Jordan would send them a customizable template to get them started.

“People were able to book a call with me to get clarity on their strategy–and were always amazed to have access directly to the founder,” Jordan said. “In fact, some people would book an onboarding call and I would be the one who showed up. They’re like, ‘Holy cow, why are you here?’”

One-on-one support is how Jordan developed an unwavering customer base early on. Then, he deepened that loyalty with an affiliate program, through which early clients could refer new customers for a commission.

By the time DropFunnels officially launched as a stand-alone service, it was no longer just to promote his documentary film–it was a completely bootstrapped, profitable business that had over 500 users on day one.

Strategizing a SaaS Exit

Although the company had an unusual start, one of Jordan’s first goals was a successful exit. He liked owning the business–bringing business ideas to life and building from scratch–but he wanted to find a buyer who would keep growing his vision without him.

When the time came to sell DropFunnels, he turned to FE International. “FE International was not a small-town outfit. They have teams all over the globe. They have a huge list of potential buyers for an acquisition. I knew that it was the right partner for me at that time.”

Beyond the access to interested buyers, working with a broker helped Jordan both uncover hidden values of his business and plan a quick exit. “I have this desire to go out and build new companies–I wanted a clean break,” said Jordan. “I could take the company and pass it to someone who is going to continue to grow it. They’re going to improve it and make more of it.”

DropFunnels received many offers, but only one buyer was the perfect fit–Beau Crabill, Founder of Option Scout and a former client of FE International who is a proven business leader with significant experience in WordPress development.

“I was interested in DropFunnels as soon as I saw it on the market,” said Beau. “This is a product I am passionate about. I believe it truly helps entrepreneurs.”

His first plan as the owner of DropFunnels is to continue refining the platform. “The only priority is the product,” said Beau. “I’ve been tracking customer tickets and the reason for them. Operationally, we’ve made zero changes to support, but our support tickets are down about 80%. Why? Because we’ve been focusing on product–making fixes and adding improvements.”

They agreed on a three-month transition for Jordan, who is already building his next venture.

Back to Building

Now, Jordan has shifted his focus to Revatto, a payment recovery solution for subscription brands–and he’s using his experience as a founder to launch an even bigger product. “We’re selling it before we build it. My whole process for DropFunnels was to get people on board, get beta moving through, and deliver incredible outcomes for them.”

Their innovative solution has already shown impressive results, with churn reductions ranging from 52% to over 90% for their clients. The company has experienced rapid growth, expanding by 70% month-over-month two months ago and achieving a 90% growth rate last month.

Jordan’s successful career as a founder is just getting started. “In a couple years, I’ll probably come back to FE International and do another acquisition round. And with that, I’ll start another company again.”

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