Decision page
Should I build a SaaS or run an agency?
Verified · editorial policy
Verdict
Verdict: Depends
Run the agency first, build the SaaS second. The agency funds the SaaS, surfaces the workflow worth automating, and gives you a dream-100 list of paying customers to sell the eventual SaaS to.
The reasoning
The 'I will skip the agency and go straight to SaaS' bet is faster on paper and slower in practice. Without the agency, you do not yet know which workflow is worth automating, which customer is worth selling to, or which price point clears the air.
An agency run for 12-24 months produces three SaaS-grade assets: a list of named, paying clients who already trust you (the warmest dream-100 you will ever have); a documented workflow that has been delivered enough times to be productizable; and the cash to fund the SaaS build without VC or runway anxiety.
Agency-to-SaaS founders ship faster, charge more confidently, and survive the first-12-months funding gap better than pure indie SaaS founders. The trade-off is that the agency is a real business with its own time demands.
Pre-revenue: if you have no current revenue and no audience, start agency-shaped (paid service for one workflow), document everything, then productize. If you already have a strong audience, you can compress the agency phase to a paid-pilot cohort.
When the verdict flips
- Flip to PURE SAAS if you already have a strong audience for the product and a clear workflow you have delivered before.
- Flip to PURE AGENCY if the workflow does not productize well (high judgment, low repeatability).
What to do instead
- Run a paid 4-week pilot cohort instead of a full agency — productized service, fixed scope, clear deliverable.
- Sell the agency workflow as a 'done-for-you' tier alongside the SaaS once it ships.
Related niches
Related Brunson terms
Frequently asked
- Can the agency and the SaaS be the same brand?
- Yes, and usually should be. The agency builds brand trust; the SaaS inherits it. Splitting brands forces you to build trust twice.
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