Your exit options
The right exit depends on revenue, users and how much time you want to keep putting in.
- Sell the whole business, when there is steady recurring revenue
- Sell the assets, such as code, users and domain, when revenue is small or gone
- Merge with a complementary SaaS, when you want to keep building
- An acqui hire, when a buyer mainly wants the team
- Shut down cleanly, after selling anything that has value
Selling a SaaS with revenue
Small SaaS with recurring revenue is usually valued on a multiple of annual revenue or profit. Growing, diversified, low churn revenue earns the best multiple. Revenue that depends on the founder or a few large customers is discounted.
Prepare clean metrics before listing, including monthly recurring revenue, churn and customer concentration. Buyers check them, and surprises lower the price.
Selling a SaaS with little or no revenue
Without meaningful revenue the sale is about assets. Users, the domain, search traffic, integrations and the code all count. See how to sell a SaaS with no revenue for the details.
Exit timing
Sell while the product is still running. A live product with active users is worth far more than the same code after it has been switched off. If revenue is falling, every month of waiting usually lowers the price.
AI is shortening the window for many SaaS products, as covered in is SaaS dead in the age of AI. If a cheaper AI native competitor has appeared, consider your exit sooner rather than later.
Common questions
What is the best exit strategy for a small SaaS?
With steady revenue, sell the whole business. With little revenue, sell the assets or merge with a complementary product. Shutting down should come after selling anything with value.
How is a small SaaS valued at exit?
Usually on a multiple of annual recurring revenue or profit, adjusted for growth, churn and how dependent the revenue is on the founder. Without revenue, on users, code and other assets.
Can I exit a SaaS that is losing money?
Yes. Buyers often acquire unprofitable SaaS for its users, product or position, and run it on lower costs than you could.