If a SaaS product does not self propogate enough of its own leads to reach $1M in revenue in 18-24 months, does this reveal limited growth potential?

Having sold SaaS applications for early stage startups and Fortune 500 companies, there's a lot of factors in play which determine if a SaaS product can "self-propagate" enough of its own leads to which $1M in revenue.

There's several fundamental levels of analysis that need to be taken into account before jumping to the conclusion of limited growth potential.
- What does your marketing strategy look like? Are you targeting the correct potential buyers in your campaigns to generate these leads?
- What is the average deal size? Is there a way to expand your average deal size to help you reach $1M in revenue? - - Are you priced competitively? How long are your sales cycles?

Lead count as a result of pipeline growth/generation is one of many factors that may reveal growth potential. If your SaaS product is top-notch in your own eyes, you still need to figure out if your application has a good fit in your target markets. After doing so, you can start tweaking your marketing campaigns to self propagate more leads and reach your growth potential.

Happy to jump on a call to get more information about your product and see where I can help determine if there is limited growth potential.

Hi -

It doesn't necessarily indicate limited growth potential. However, it does indicate that there must be some problem area(s) or problems with churn rates. SaaS is much like a startup and is very high risk to grow vs. traditional models.

It's also important to consider full life cycle of SaaS. Being able to support operations of the business efficiently is crucial. When it comes down to cost of doing business, capitalism will raise questions whether a company benefits to the economy.

Perhaps better questions to ask are:
Who is the ideal customer for this product?
Am I reaching them?
Do I have the right value proposition?
What is the market telling me I need to change, now?