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Before you start reading,

I am thinking about replacing Friday’s “Weekly News Roundup” edition with “Cool Products I Found This Week” to feature and support fellow indie makers and startups for free.

Let me know what you think about this idea!

How I Sold My First SaaS At 23 Years Old

I sold my first micro-SaaS or my first solo startup, IconMage, last week. Here’s how and why I did it.

What is IconMage and why did I make it?

IconMage is an AI icon generator platform that allows you to create custom icons using a variety of styles and options. With IconMage, you can easily create icons for your website, app, or other projects.

With the arrival of AI image generation, the use of AI tools for making logos and icons was obvious to me. I combined a good UI/UX, customer support, and prompt engineering with OpenAI’s DALL E 2 API to create IconMage.

The target customers for IconMage were freelancers, website and small business owners.

Why did I decide to sell?

I was making a decent amount of pocket money passively with IconMage. I gave up working on it due to other upcoming projects and personal commitments. This is when I decided to sell IconMage.

The tool had a good growth potential but I did not have the time to dedicate for it. Instead of letting it gradually drown into oblivion, the better option was to transfer the tool to someone who could grow it better than me.

How did I sell IconMage?

Around the end of 2023 and January 2024, I listed IconMage for sale on various websites like Acquire, Microns, Borderline, etc.

I had many interested buyers but some did not like my valuation and some were ready to pay me even more than my valuation but wanted me to stay on the project. The second option, although tempting, would entirely defeat my reasoning to exit in the first place. I wanted a complete exit.

So, I waited without being impatient. Ultimately, the new owner of IconMage found IconMage on Borderline and we had a chat. Contracts were signed and all communication was done using email and X. We did not even have a single call.

Important Points To Remember Before Selling

• Be sure that you want to sell.

• Value your product right. Take external assistance from experts, if needed.

• List on multiple platforms to increase your chances of acquisition.

• Be completely transparent with potential buyers.

• Be patient. Selling does not happen quickly.

• Always sign contracts. No matter how small or big the sale is, you should have a written and signed purchase agreement and bill of sale. This goes both ways.

• Clarify all doubts before transferring assets. No last-minute surprises in business, please.

This was how I sold my first SaaS. Let me know if you have any questions and congratulate me - yes, I’m waiting for your reply.

What’s next?

With my next project, I help you launch your startup in hours instead of weeks, sign up for the waitlist here.

(P.S. For a much more detailed look at the zero-to-exit SaaS journey, take a look at The Micro SaaS Playbook)

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