Shopify not only powers merchants to sell independently across the internet but also helps app developers reach the right users and achieve astonishing returns. Recently, Monk Commerce co-founder Ravish explained what took his Shopify app to reach $250k ARR in 20 months.
“After 20 months of going full-time on my Shopify app, Monk, we’ve finally hit $250k ARR,” Ravish tweeted, breaking down his journey to the massive Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) in a long tweet.
After 20 months of going full-time on my Shopify app, Monk, we've finally hit $250k ARR 🥂
— Ravish (@hsivar20) June 15, 2023
This legit feels surreal. What started off just as three 20-somethings trying to pay rents has now ballooned into a viable, growing SaaS business. All being done remotely from our… pic.twitter.com/SUFvVYIe7E
About the Shopify App
On the Shopify App Store, it is available as Monk Cross Sell & Free Gift with a free plan, which is useful for stores processing less than 100 total store orders per month. Monk Cross Sell & Free Gift offers two other pricing plans Growth I and Growth II for $40/month and $80/month respectively. While the first paid plan is for stores processing 101-500 total store orders, the second one helps those who process 501-1000 total store orders on a monthly basis.
Ravish explained how he started the SaaS business with two others at the age of “20-somethings,” remotely from their apartments in India. He takes pride in the fact that the app is now used by merchants and agencies from more than 40 countries.
“This legit feels surreal. What started off just as three 20-somethings trying to pay rents has now ballooned into a viable, growing SaaS business. All being done remotely from our apartments in India with a Shopify app that is now used by merchants & agencies from >40 countries,” he said.
The co-founder documented the journey of his Shopify app in 14 “snapshots” explained below.
1. App Launch
All big things start with small steps. While the fully functioning app was launched on the Shopify App Store on July 5, 2021, the basic format of the app had come a month earlier. “Launched a basic popup recommendation app in June ’21,” Ravish said in his first snapshot.
2. Quitting Jobs
One of the toughest choices to make for founders is when to quit their jobs and focus full-time on a business. Ravish and his partners knew that the right time was when you see the “early traction,” a hope for building the app better.
“Hustled our way to early traction and quit our cushy jobs. Went full-time building the app by Oct ’21,” he added.
3. Thinking Bigger
Monk found some of its audience on Reddit and LinkedIn in the first few months. However, it was essential for the developers to think big to achieve something bigger with the app.
“Found our first few users through Reddit & LinkedIn and realized our popup feature is too basic to create genuine $ impact for Shopify merchants,” Ravish said.
4. Bootstrap
Funds help developers create useful apps but sometimes the investors come with a conflict of interest. It didn’t take much time for Monk Commerce to decide “to bootstrap it and avoid investor conversations/interest”.
5. Sacrifice
For the unversed, bootstrapping in reference to a Saas startup means self-funding your business in the early stage. Some founders use private funding sources for bootstrapping, but Ravish and his partners relied on their personal savings to help the company grow.
“Cut down on personal expenses and lived off of our savings for several months,” Ravish explained in his next point.
6. Plan B
It is essential to have a Plan B to avoid a major crash. Ravish and his partners decided to move back to their family homes to cut down on additional costs and create “alternate contingency plans”.
“Created alternate contingency plans to move back into our parent’s homes to cut expenses if things didn’t go as per plan,” he said.
7. First Income
Eventually, it is the struggle that pays you well. Monk Commerce made its “first $ in Dec ’21”. It took six months for the SaaS startup to make money but the founders were ready to multiply it further.
8. Expansion
Monk Commerce expanded its business based on its early success and increased “product depth and breadth” to launch the complete software solution.
“Doubled down on product depth + breath and pushed feature after feature almost every week to grow the app into a full-suite AOV enhancement solution. We still push regular updates every ~15 days,” Ravish said.
9. Customer Support
Once established, a startup must focus more on customer support to grow and promote business. “Simultanously hustled on customer support, especially through Black Friday ’21 and ’22 collecting tons of merchant feedback + word of mouth + user delight,” he said.
10. Partnerships
This is also the time when you should partner with the right people for the growth of your business. “Initiated partnerships with marketing & CRO agencies & went above and beyond to help their clients grow,” Ravish explained.
11. $100k ARR
Monk Commerce reached the first $100k ARR in January 2023. Ravish said it was when he decided to rope in more employees on a remote basis.
12. Feedback
Monk Commerce was not complacent after reaching the $100k ARR milestone and decided to improve the app based on users’ feedback. “Spoke to 300+ Shopify merchants & agencies and built resident expertise in knowing what truly helps a DTC brand scale,” Ravish said.
13. Team Building
Ravish and his co-founders value the effort made by their employees. “Had our first team offsite in May ’23,” he said, hinting at how team-building exercises help companies grow bigger.
14. Current Status
In June, Monk Commerce reached the $250k ARR. Ravish has now set his eyes on $1M ARR. To conclude the long tweet, Ravish thanked Shopify, merchant partners and agencies for being the “most valuable players” in his app journey.
“It’s still Day 1. Road to $1M ARR now! Also a huuuuuuuge shoutout to the entire Shopify team, our merchants & agency partners. You the real MVP.”
What is ARR?
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) is a key financial metric used to measure the predictable and recurring revenue generated by a startup’s subscription-based or recurring revenue business model over a year. It represents the total value of contracted or subscription-based revenue that a company expects to receive on an annual basis and does not include one-time or non-recurring revenues.
ARR is often used by startups, particularly those operating in the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) industry, to assess their financial performance and growth potential. Tracking ARR allows startups to evaluate the health of their business and monitor revenue growth over time. The metric also helps investors and stakeholders to gain insight into the startup’s ability to generate consistent revenue streams and establish a solid foundation for future growth.
