March at Friendly in Numbers

• Software revenue: 18 768 CHF (+2%)
• Consulting revenue: 10 727 CHF (+14%)
• Total revenue: 29 495 CHF (+6%)
• Costs: 25 728 CHF (+3%)
• Profit and loss: 3 767 CHF (+31%)
• Active customers: 126 (+2%)
• Churn rate (lost customers): 1.6% (-34%)
• New trials: 8 (-50%)
• Website visits: 3 206 (-13%)

These were the key developments in March:

Revenues: Software sales rise slowly, consulting on an upward trend

Our monthly recurring revenue (MRR) from software subscriptions rose by 2% or around CHF 300 to CHF 18 768 in March. This is the ninth consecutive month of reliable growth in software sales.

Consulting turnover continues on an upward trend. At CHF 10 727, we exceeded the CHF 10 000 threshold for the fourth time, following successful consulting months in June, September and November 2023. Compared to the previous month, we achieved a 14% increase in consulting turnover.

This is systematic: we are investing more in consulting, as we are active in the B2B sector with our software and are increasingly reaching larger customers who need customized software solutions.

Thanks to the technical and professional expertise of our CCO Lukas Sigel and CTO Joey Keller (Friendly Automate) and our “permanent freelancer” Peter Boehlke (Friendly Analytics), we can offer these customers personal support and individual solutions.

Our customers request our team to be available for these important services and appreciate the fact that we have reliable contacts on site.

Meanwhile, the number of our active customers rose by +2% to 126, while the churn rate fell to a good 1.6%.

Thanks to the very good result in consulting, our total turnover rose by +6% to CHF 29 495 in March.

This result puts us 48% above the total turnover in the same month last year (March 2023).

Costs: Slight increase in salary costs due to salary increase and exchange rate fluctuations

Our salary costs rose by around CHF 600 in March. This was partly due to exchange rate fluctuations: We pay Joey’s salary in euros. In Swiss francs, his salary cost us around CHF 100 more this month than in February.

At the same time, Lukas was able to increase his workload at Friendly from 35% to a (permanent) 40%. This is a long-term gain for us. Lukas supports our most important customers in a friendly and professional manner. Examples of this are Branchen Versicherung and the pharmaceutical company Pierre Fabre, with whom we recently published two case studies.

Our advertising costs fell slightly in March in line with normal fluctuations, while most other cost factors remained constant.

There was a one-off cost for Stefan’s participation in a marketing event, at which he developed his knowledge and made new contacts.

Here are all our costs including salaries for March 2024 in detail:

Founded writes about Friendly

The Founded magazine reports on the startup ecosystem in Switzerland. They recently published an article about Friendly (in german language). It discusses our beginnings, our goals and what is important to us.

Founded calls Friendly “exemplary for a new generation of software companies that not only drive technological innovation, but also take social responsibility seriously and lead the way”.

Conclusion

The result in March: we achieved a “profit”* of CHF 3 767, an increase of another 31% compared to the good previous month of February.

This is the first time in our history that we have achieved two very good results in succession. And all the signs indicate that the upward trend will continue in the coming months.

* “Profit” is deliberately put in quotation marks because Stefan has not yet paid himself a salary for his work at Friendly and, as a sole founder without investors, he has yet to make up for the loss so far.

Der Beitrag We’re getting the wind in our sails: Open Startup Report March 2024 erschien zuerst auf Friendly.

February at Friendly in Numbers

• Software revenue: 18 428 CHF (+1%)
• Consulting revenue: 9 453 CHF (+14%)
• Total revenue: 27 881 CHF (+5%)
• Costs: 25 007 CHF (-9%)
• Profit and loss: 2 874 CHF (-431%)
• Active customers: 123 (+1%)
• Churn rate (lost customers): 2.4% (+195%)
• New trials: 16 (+14%)
• Website visits: 3 691 (-13%)

These were the key developments in February:

Revenues: Software sales and consulting sales increase

The positive trend of recent months continued in February. Our monthly recurring revenue (MRR) from software subscriptions rose slightly by 1% to CHF 18 428.

Our consulting turnover also grew by +14% to CHF 9 453. This puts us slightly above the average for the last 6 months. The largest projects in February were assignments for a pharmaceutical company, a hotel group, a construction machinery dealer and an insurance company.

We acquired four new customers and currently have 123 active customers. Our churn rate was within normal range at 2.46%.

As a result, our total revenue in February rose by 5% to CHF 27 881. We are very satisfied with this month’s outcome.

Costs: Lower than in the previous month, slight overall increase due to salary increase and sponsoring

Compared to the previous month, our costs fell by -9% to CHF 25 007 in February.

In January, however, we had an outlier on the cost side due to a miscalculation. If we compare the February costs with December, we see an increase of +7%.

This increase is primarily the result of a pay rise that we were able to make possible for our CTO Joey Keller. We increased his salary from EUR 5 500 to EUR 6 000 per month.

Even with this pay rise, Joey’s salary is still lower than that of Kathrin and Lukas, adjusted for working hours. As Joey works from Hungary, this difference is acceptable to us. In the long term, however, we plan to bring all salaries in line with Swiss pay levels.

Another moderate increase in costs is due to higher sponsorship for Mautic, the open source project on which Friendly Automate is based. Previously, we supported the further development of Mautic with USD 130 per month. From February, we are increasing this amount to USD 220.

Here are all our costs including salaries for February 2024 in detail:

Conclusion

Our revenue increased more strongly than costs again this month, and we therefore posted a profit of CHF 2 874 in February.

Even if this figure still looks modest, this is the third-best result in our company’s history, after the successful months of September and November 2023.

Having been largely “in the black”* over the last 6 months, we are very confident about the coming months.

* “In the black” is deliberately put in quotation marks because Stefan has not yet paid himself a salary for his work at Friendly and, as a sole founder without investors, he has yet to make up for the loss so far.

Der Beitrag Things are going well for us again: Open Startup Report February 2024 erschien zuerst auf Friendly.

January at Friendly in Numbers

• Software revenue: 18 212 CHF (+1%)
• Consulting revenue: 8 275 CHF (+47%)
• Total revenue: 26 487 CHF (+12%)
• Costs: 27 354 CHF (+17%)
• Profit and loss: -867 CHF (-370%)
• Active customers: 122 (+2%)
• Churn rate (lost customers): 0.8% (-50%)
• New trials: 14 (+27%)
• Website visits: 4 229 (+12%)

These were the key developments in January:

Revenues: Slow growth in software sales, good result in consulting

Our monthly recurring revenue (MRR) from software subscriptions rose by just CHF 190 to CHF 18 212 in January, an increase of 1% on the previous month.

As our software subscriptions form the basis for consulting, they are the decisive growth factor for our company. The figures for the last few months show: We are growing slowly – but steadily.

And that is okay. Our company is growing healthily, we are continuously improving our quality and we are providing everyone in the team with a solid foothold in life. Not only financially, but also through a balanced working environment in which we do well in the long term.

Our customer numbers are also currently very stable. In January, we lost one customer and gained two new ones, so we currently have 122 customers.

This month, consulting turnover rose by a full 47% to CHF 8 275. The largest projects were assignments for an insurance company, a construction machinery dealer, a bank and a non-profit organization. We assisted with the design of newsletters, set up enterprise instances and provided employee training.

Our total revenue in January was a good CHF 26 487, an increase of 12% compared to December.

Costs: Costs explode due to freelancers and high advertising expenses

By contrast, our costs rose massively in January: from CHF 23 338 in the previous month to CHF 27 354.

The main reason for this was a consulting project that we covered with a freelancer. This project resulted in unforeseeable expenses that we were unable to charge directly to the customer and therefore had to bear ourselves.

I see these one-off costs as an investment in the customer relationship with an important customer. And as a lesson learned. I miscalculated and evaluated the mistake so as not to repeat it.

In addition, our advertising costs in search engine advertising also increased. This increase was directly caused by higher demand for our products on Google and Bing, and I am therefore very pleased with it.

Here are all our costs including salaries for January 2024 in detail:

Open Startup: Does it make sense?

We don’t just run from one success to the next. We grow slowly and make mistakes. And we also share these things in our Open Startup Reports. We are regularly asked if this is “necessary”.

I recently shared my motivation on indiehackers.com:

Marketing and visibility
“We benefit by getting attention. Our monthly open startup reports do very well on LinkedIn because being open is still novel in Switzerland, our home market. We are still the first and only “open startup” in Switzerland.”

Trust
“It creates trust because people see that their fees actually are invested into the product; not into the CEO’s Lamborghini.”

Feedback
“We often get valuable feedback. For example, people questioned our hosting costs and pointed us to better options.”

To summarize – we’ve had positive experiences with it. Others see it differently. Read more in the article on indiehackers.com.

Conclusion

The result of the good revenue figures and the high one-off costs on the other side: the new year starts with a narrow loss of CHF -867.

This is uncomfortable after we had already reached the “black figures”* quite reliably last year.

But it’s also manageable because we understand why it happened.

I expect that we will be able to sustainably consolidate our financial situation this year.

* “Black figures” is deliberately put in quotation marks because I have not yet paid myself a salary for my work and, as a sole founder without investors, I have yet to make up for the loss so far.

Der Beitrag We make a mistake and experience a setback: Open Startup Report January 2024 erschien zuerst auf Friendly.

December at Friendly in Numbers

• Software revenue: 18 022 CHF (+2%)
• Consulting revenue: 5 638 CHF (-50%)
• Total revenue: 23 659 CHF (-19%)
• Costs: 23 338 CHF (+1%)
• Profit and loss: +321 CHF (-94%)
• Active customers: 120 (-)
• Churn rate (lost customers): 1.7% (-62%)
• New trials: 11 (+10%)
• Website visits: 3 763 (-4%)

These were the key developments in December:

Revenues: Sixth consecutive month of growth in software revenue, total revenue drops due to consulting

Our monthly recurring revenue (MRR) from software subscriptions rose reliably for the sixth month in a row with a small increase of 2% to CHF 18 022 in December.

This not only continues the positive trend of recent months, but also of the past few years: In our almost 4-year company history, the MRR has only failed to rise in 7 out of a total of 47 months.

Admittedly, all monthly increases were within a modest range of just a few hundred francs. Even though we would like to see slightly faster growth, we recognize the stability that we achieve through slow growth with small and medium-sized customers.

On the one hand, this allows us to avoid cluster risk and, on the other, gives us enough time to keep pace with the changes in our company.

However, our consulting revenue is constantly keeping us on our toes: In December, the zigzag course once again moved downwards and, at CHF 5 638, was a full -50% below the previous month’s revenue, and even in a one-year comparison for 2023, still -25% below the monthly average. (More on this in our Open Startup Annual Review, coming soon).

At the same time, the number of our active customers stagnated at 120 for the first time after a 6-month increase. As we also recorded a very low churn rate of 1.67%, we are still just about satisfied with this result.

Overall, our total revenue fell by -19% or more than CHF 5 000 to just CHF 23 659 this month.

Costs: Personnel costs stable, cost increase due to initial ISO certification

On the expenses side, most cost factors remained constant: marketing and administration costs hardly changed and wage costs also remained largely at the previous month’s level. However, our freelancers worked slightly more hours.

The ISO certification for the 9 001 & 27 001 standards has a noticeable impact. In addition to the preparation costs, there are now also the costs for the initial certification.

We amortize both items over 12 months each, so we pay CHF 1 735 per month for this investment in the future, or CHF 20 820 in total. This is a considerable sum for our small start-up, but we are confident that we have taken the right course with the certification.

Together with the low expenditure in the area of training & events, there was nevertheless only a slight increase in costs of +1% to CHF 23 338 this month.

Here are all our costs including wages for December 2023 in detail:

Which tool is this actually?

One of the most frequent questions we receive about our Open Startup Report is which tool we use to create our cost table. In the spirit of our Open Startup philosophy, we are of course happy to share this with you too.

We are using Soulver. It’s a text editor that can do calculations. Soulver integrates simple spreadsheet functions into its clean notebook interface and is much slimmer than an Excel spreadsheet. The tool is available for a (one-time) fee and only works on Mac.

Conclusion

At the end of the year, we achieved a narrow “plus”* of CHF 321 in December, a profit that is over CHF 5,000 lower than in November. Despite steadily rising software sales and stable costs, this was once again due to the fluctuations in consulting.

As a sole founder without investors, I have not yet been able to pay myself a salary for my work at Friendly. I mentioned several times in my Open Startup reports that I wanted to change this within 2023. We have missed this target in the past year.

Despite this, the last month of the year saw a (small) “black figure”* and, for the first time, we recorded a five-digit “profit”* for the year as a whole.

In all likelihood, 2024 will therefore be the year in which we will be able to build up financial reserves at Friendly for the first time.

* “Profit”, “plus” and “black figure” are deliberately put in quotation marks because I have not yet paid myself a salary for my work and I have yet to make up for the loss so far.

Der Beitrag As the year ends, we only just reach our target: Open Startup Report December 2023 erschien zuerst auf Friendly.

November at Friendly in numbers

• Software revenue: 17 726 CHF (+5%)
• Consulting revenue: 11 310 CHF (+87%)
• Total revenue: 29 036 CHF (+27%)
• Costs: 23 139 CHF (-2%)
• Profit and loss: +5 897 CHF (-947%)
• Active customers: 120 (+4%)
• Churn rate (lost customers): 4.3% (+59%)
• New trials: 10 (-41%)
• Website visits: 3 934 (-10%)

These were the key developments in November:

Revenues: Record software revenue for five months in a row, new record for new and active customers

Our monthly recurring revenue (MRR) from software subscriptions continues to rise slowly but reliably. We have now recorded revenue growth for the fifth month in a row, with an increase of 5% to CHF 17 726 in November. This means that we have now set a new record for our most important KPI for the fifth month in a row.

In November, we also achieved a small record with new customers: we were able to conclude 10 new software subscriptions. Among our existing customers, however, we recorded a slightly higher churn rate of 4.3% with 5 terminations compared to an average of around 2% in the previous months. Overall, our customer base has thus increased by 5 to 120 customers. This is also a record.

In Consulting, the rollercoaster continued – this time upwards again. At CHF 11 310, we recorded the second-highest consulting turnover in our company’s history; the only time this turnover was higher was in September 2023. We advised more than 15 clients, including customers from the financial sector, insurance and trade unions.

Despite the major fluctuations in consulting, we were able to count on an income of around CHF 7 000 per month on average last year. In absolute terms, the figure has never been below CHF 4 000 in the last 12 months, so we can also rely on this income with some certainty.

As a result, we also recorded the second-highest figure in our history for total revenue at CHF 29 036, having already reached a one-time figure of CHF 33 215 in September. Compared to the previous month, our revenue rose by an impressive +27%. Looking back a year, our total revenue has almost doubled compared to the same month last year: in November 2022, it was still at CHF 15 625 and has increased relatively steadily since then.

Costs: Wage cuts finally lifted, costs still down slightly due to further savings on freelancers

A year ago, our balance sheet did not look good: Our MRR was declining and we were only reaching a few new customers. As a self-financed start-up, we were forced to cut our costs. The result was self-imposed wage cuts.

We are proud that these measures and constant hard work have enabled us to overcome the crisis by our own efforts and that we have now been able to fully reverse the wage cuts. Lastly, we raised Joey’s salary by EUR 500 back to the original EUR 5 500.

This increase in costs was offset by further savings on freelancers, meaning that our costs fell by a total of -2% to CHF 23 139 last month.

Here are all our costs including wages for November 2023 in detail:

Is this all going too slowly?

One criticism we received in response to our last Open Startup Report was that Friendly should finally be profitable. According to them, there was not enough healthy pressure to drive us forward.

This is true. We have less pressure than some others.

I still earn my income from my second company Wortspiel. This means I can afford to work for Friendly for free.

If this were not the case, we would indeed have to invest more in short-term successes such as outbound sales.

However, this does not mean that we are not “putting our foot down” and working less hard.

On the contrary, we can afford to invest in things that will take us forward in the long term:

• Building our brand
• Enhancing safety and quality with certifications in ISO 27 001 and ISO 9 001 (to be completed shortly)
• Strengthening our team culture

This does not bring high short-term profits, but I am convinced that it will pay off and is currently the right use of our resources. And I am glad to have this freedom.

Conclusion

Thanks to strong revenue in Software and Consulting and stable costs, we achieved a “plus”* of CHF +5 897 in November.

This is the second-highest “profit”* in our history. The only time we did better was two months ago in September 2023.

Looking back on the current year, we are very satisfied with what we have achieved. Overall, we were in the black* in 5 out of 11 months in 2023.

This is a clearly positive trend, after we only just managed one “profitable”* month each in 2021 and 2022. Over the whole of 2023 so far, we have even achieved a “plus” of CHF 12 645.

I am particularly pleased that we were also able to completely reverse last year’s pay cuts in November.

In addition to a salary for me, my main goal for 2024 is to build up financial reserves at Friendly.

* “Profit”, “plus” and “in the black” are deliberately put in quotation marks because I have not yet paid myself a salary for my work and, as a sole founder without investors, I have yet to make up for the loss so far.

Der Beitrag The second best month in our history: Open Startup Report November 2023 erschien zuerst auf Friendly.

Back then, there were still dolphins in the children’s zoo and birthday children were allowed to ride in a boat pulled by the dolphins.

This moment is one of my favourite childhood memories.

So I’m all the more pleased that more than 38 years later, Knies Kinderzoo is one of Friendly’s customers.

Today there are no more dolphins at the children’s zoo. The pool in the photo has been replaced by the innovative event location “Knies Zauberhut”.

For over a year, we have been supporting Knies Kinderzoo, Knies Zauberhut and the associated restaurant Himmapan in simplifying their marketing activities with Friendly Automate.

Many thanks to Annett Sprenger and Roberto Scheuer for the good cooperation so far and to Lukas Sigel from our team for his strong commitment.

Read more here in our first case study:

Kinderzoo, Zauberhut and restaurant under one roof: The traditional Swiss circus company Knie simplifies their marketing activities with Friendly Automate

Der Beitrag Knies Kinderzoo × Friendly: our first case study erschien zuerst auf Friendly.

October at Friendly in numbers

• Software revenue: 16 864 CHF (+2%)
• Consulting revenue: 6 035 CHF (-64%)
• Total revenue: 22 899 CHF (-31%)
• Costs: 23 595 CHF (-10%)
• Profit and loss: -696 CHF (-110%)
• Active customers: 115 (+5%)
• Churn rate (lost customers): 3% (+45%)
• New trials: 17 (+31%)
• Website visits: 4 367 (-5%)

This is what moved us in October:

Revenues: Software revenue and customer figures on an upward trend for months, consulting revenue on a rollercoaster ride

Our monthly recurring revenue (MRR) from software subscriptions increased by +2% to CHF 16 864. This is once again the highest software revenue in our history and the fourth consecutive month of revenue growth.

It is particularly encouraging that the number of our customers has also been rising reliably for many months. With an increase of +5%, it also reached a record level for the fourth month in a row and now stands at 115.

In addition to the increasing quality and visibility of our offering, we also attribute this development to the introduction of the new Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection, which is prompting companies to look for Swiss software alternatives.

Our consulting turnover continues to be a rollercoaster ride. After the best result by far in September, Consulting sales plummeted by -64% to CHF 6 035.

The largest consulting projects were marketing automation consulting for a Swiss insurance company and analytics consulting for a Swiss social security institution and a Swiss luxury hotel.

Our income therefore amounted to CHF 22 899 in October. Overall, the increase in sales and customer numbers and the fall in consulting resulted in a decline of -31% compared to the previous month.

Expenses: reduced due to savings on freelancers and marketing

Our costs fell by -10% to CHF 23 595 in October. This was due to savings on freelancers and in marketing.

As we had fewer consulting projects than in the previous month, we were able to cover more with our employees and had to purchase fewer services from freelancers.

We also reduced our advertising expenditure and had lower costs for participating in events.

However, there was an increase in salary costs. We increased Kathrin’s salary to bring it in line with Lukas’ salary, which had also recently increased.

Here are all our costs including salaries for October 2023 in detail:

Conclusion

Despite the significant decline in consulting revenue, we only posted a small loss of CHF -696 in October.

My goal was to pay myself at least a small salary by the end of this year. We will probably miss this target.

Nevertheless, after years of high losses, we have managed to get “into the black”* in a reasonably stable manner. Over the whole of 2023, we have so far posted a “profit”* of CHF 6 748.

I am confident that we will be able to maintain and build on this positive trend.

* “Profit”, “profitability” and “into the black” are deliberately put in quotation marks because I have not yet paid myself a salary for my work and, as a sole founder without investors, I have yet to make up for the loss so far.

Der Beitrag Software revenue and number of customers on an upward trend, but still a small loss: Open Startup Report October 2023 erschien zuerst auf Friendly.

“swiss hosting” is also awarded by swiss made software and stands for two key promises:

1. The data remains in Switzerland.
2. The data can only be accessed by third parties via the Swiss authorities.

We are fulfilling these promises with our hosting in Switzerland with providers headquartered in Switzerland since day 1 and are pleased that we can now communicate this with this label.

PS: Find an overview of our certifications and awards here.

Der Beitrag Data securely stored in Switzerland: Friendly receives the “swiss hosting” label erschien zuerst auf Friendly.

We are proud to have recently become an official bearer of this distinction, which expresses quality, innovation and precision in software development.

With over 1 100 member companies, “swiss made software” is now the largest network of Swiss ICT companies.

As a result, there is hardly a digital need left for which a Swiss solution cannot be found. Swiss software allows players to have sovereignty over their own data and represents an important value proposition.

We are currently contributing to this with our two software solutions Friendly Automate and Friendly Analytics. Further Swiss software offerings are being planned.

PS: Find an overview of our certifications and awards here.

Der Beitrag Friendly receives the “swiss made software” label erschien zuerst auf Friendly.

September at Friendly in numbers

• Software revenue: 16 523 CHF (+4%)
• Consulting revenue: 16 692 CHF (147%)
• Total revenue: 33 215 CHF (+47%)
• Costs: 26 283 CHF (+15%)
• Profit and loss: 6 932 CHF (-4 645%)
• Active customers: 110 (+4%)
• Churn rate (lost customers): 1.9% (-6%)
• New trials: 13 (-24%)
• Website visits: 4 619 (-39%)

This is what moved us in September:

Revenues: Software revenue up slightly, consulting revenue exploded

Our monthly recurring revenue (MRR) from software subscriptions increased for the fourth consecutive month in September, this time by a significant +4% to CHF 16 523. This is the highest software revenue in our history.

The number of customers also rose again slightly by +4% to 110.

We are used to fluctuations in consulting. In July, we experienced a real slump in revenue. Since then, consulting revenue has recovered and virtually exploded in September. It rose by an incredible +147% to CHF 16 692.

Among them was analytics consulting for a Swiss bank, a newsletter template for a retail company, a lectureship at a technical college, and marketing automation consulting for a chamber of commerce.

For the first time, consulting revenue even just overtook our software revenue. We assume that we will probably not be able to maintain this high level yet, but it is a nice confirmation that sustained effort pays off at some point.

Our total revenue for September was CHF 33 215, an increase of +47% over the previous month and the highest revenue in our history.

Costs: increased due to higher salary costs

Our costs increased by +15% to CHF 26 283 in September. Our costs have never been this high.

In addition to the permanent increase in costs due to investments in a management system for ISO 27 001 and ISO 9 001, the increase was mainly due to higher salary costs.

Since we could not cover the enormous amount of consulting with our employees alone, we had to rely more on freelancers, which more than doubled the costs for this item.

I also paid our employees bonuses totaling CHF 1,300 in addition to their salaries as a result of their outstanding performance recently.

The other cost blocks were about the same as the previous month. Here are all our costs including salaries for September 2023 in detail:

Conclusion

There are months when everything just flows.

After posting a small loss in the previous month, we achieved the highest «profit»* in our history in September with almost CHF 7 000.

We owe this to exceptionally high demand for consulting services from our customers.

Even though we will probably not be able to maintain this high level in the long term, the trend in recent months is clearly moving in a good direction.

Our goal remains to achieve sustained profitability and to expand the margin to such an extent that I will be able to pay myself a salary this year if possible.

* “Profit” is deliberately put in quotation marks because I have not yet paid myself a salary for my work and, as a sole founder without investors, I have yet to make up for the loss so far.

Der Beitrag Our best month: Open Startup Report September 2023 erschien zuerst auf Friendly.