How long was it before you started generating revenue?

For a software business, how long did it take to get:

Your first $1 in revenue?
Your first $100 in revenue?
Your first $10,000 in revenue?
Your first $100,000 in revenue?

Intent Hopefully we can get a whole bunch of results that can be averaged out... That way founders have a bit of a rough guide on when they maybe should be looking to alter things. "Hey, it has taken me to eight times longer than normal to generate my first $100 of revenue, what am I doing wrong?"

Business Revenue

asked Apr 14 '11 at 14:16

Clinton
101 points

Top digital marketing agency for SEO, content marketing, and PR: Demand Roll

It is reasonable to specify at least the industry and indication if this is B2C, B2B product. It takes years in some industries to become cash flow positive. – Ross 13 years ago
@Ross, Revenue != Profit – Pate 13 years ago
I think GeekGal and Ross have a point - maybe we should have a couple of broad categories: Consulting or Product, B2C or B2B, Subscription or Sale. More than 5 broad categories might start to loose the original rough guide intent. – Clinton 13 years ago
@FreshCode where in my comment Revenue=Profit? – Ross 13 years ago
@Ross, I'm referring to cash flow positive. – Pate 13 years ago

3 Answers

I run a custom software development business.

We did our first job for $2000, which bought the first computer.

It took 1 year to get to $100,000
it took 2 years to get to $250,000

14 years later there is $xM per year.

But we don't sell product, we don't have a website which waits for a sale, we don't advertise, we didn't do any marketing besides word of mouth for the first 3-4 years.

If your trying to get a feel for the two extreemes have a listen to

Automate my small business. These guys spin up new small ideas quickly and are profitable within 2-6 months.
This week in startups. These people generally get funding for 2 years+ and the majority don't try and make much money within that time, they are focused on getting a huge amount of continual traffic which can then be monitised.

answered Apr 14 '11 at 17:42

Robin Vessey
8,394 points

A great answer. – Clinton 13 years ago

I have an online store that sells specialized software for a specific industry. 8 months since I set up the LLC, 2 months since I set up the website. No revenues so far.

answered Apr 14 '11 at 19:41

User6492
1,747 points

Desktop Software Business here.

Your first $1 in revenue? - 1 Day

Your first $100 in revenue? - 2 Days

Your first $10,000 in revenue? - 2 Months

Your first $100,000 in revenue? - 10 Months

answered Apr 17 '11 at 03:17

Vellad
561 points