Ship a SaaS From Zero to Customers in One Month

preview of three apps by Rails Designer

Yes, that’s right… Launching a SaaS doesn’t need to take months! But only possible with a narrow scope, carefully cherry-picking the features that make your SaaS valuable to customers and skipping all the bloat.

A SaaS can be launched quickly

Many agencies will tell you it will take months to build and launch your SaaS. That is because they follow your requirements to the dot. They don’t question anything on your list. That’s where I differ. I’ve launched multiple, successful SaaS’ in the last decade and I’ve started them all in one month. How? Choosing the right stack and carefully picking which features are crucial to my (future) customers.

That is because I know to get customers in the door (and start a subscription), you don’t need all the features in the world. What you need are features that get the job done for your customers. With my experience I help you get rid of all the features you thought you needed, but really don’t need. This will help get a solid MVP out the door your customers will love to pay for. All in one month.

Wait, what is a MVP?

It means Minimum Viable Product. It’s debated, hated ánd loved in the web-entrepreneur community. But to me it means a SaaS product that customers are willing to pay for without all the features under the sun. Typically 1-3 core features. It does what it says on the thin. Nothing half-assed or buggy though!

How does it work?

Curious to know how the month will go? Let’s go over it. Before the month starts, we have a (video) call and discuss your new product; deciding on those 2-3 core features. I will help you skip all the fluff. Once decided, I get to work. I will create the foundation of the app with the authentication flow, craft the data models for your business logic and build the first feature using the outside-in approach.

Once there is something tangible to show, I’ll deploy and share it with you. This process repeats with every progress to the app. Near the end we have another (video)call to go over the app. Here we can go over the codebase and discuss any future steps.

What do I get? What is included?

I build all evergreen apps using the latest available dependencies, from Rails, to Tailwind CSS or Hotwire. Making sure you are good to go, now and well into the future. For Ruby on Rails most of the default stack is used, with the exception of a few things: Rspec, ViewComponent and Tailwind CSS. But both ViewComponent and Tailwind CSS are optional. The authentication generator from Rails is used as a foundation to which the sign up flow is build.

The app comes with a modern, responsive front-end that’s ready to go. The UI is built with a clean, professional design using Tailwind CSS for styling, ViewComponents for reusable UI elements, and Hotwire for seamless interactivity (without the React overhead).

What happens after one month?

That’s up to you. There are multiple retainer-options:

  • Maintenance Mode: make sure your app stays online;
  • Continuation mode: implement new features (based on customer feedback).

You can also choose to continue extend the app yourself or with your team.

Pricing

For just $18,000 $12,000 you get your own SaaS ready for paying customers.

FAQ

Who are you?

I’m Eelco 👋 A designer, turned developer, turned founder of multiple successful SaaS businesses. With more than two decades of experience. Currently working on something new (while running 1.5 SaaS). I also built Rails Designer (this site!). Rails Designer is incorporated in The Netherlands.

What's your tech stack?

I’m using the latest Ruby on Rails. It’s the framework used by some great companies in the world (see some of them here). Apart from making it possible to ship a SaaS in a month—with one person—it’s mature enough to push you way beyond the PMF-phase. Next to Rails, it will include Hotwire, ViewComponent and Tailwind CSS (though the latter two are optional). React (or similar framework) is not a consideration.

Will I own the app?

Yes, every line of code, the servers and so on, will all be yours.

What if we need changes or more features?

Once your SaaS is live, we evaluate and see what next steps to take. I offer various retainers to either keep your app available/fix bugs or continue building and improving based on your customer’s feedback.

Can I pay in installments?

Yes, please reach out for the details.

Can I hire you just for UI/product-engineering work?
Sounds good—how to get started?