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Episode Summary
You’re selling the same deal twice a year, every year, and the buyer at the end of the road wants to know what’s actually locked in beyond the handshake. Recurring revenue is the answer most owners don’t want to hear, because it means rethinking the product, the customer relationship, and the systems behind both. I sat down with Loren Horsager, CEO and co-founder of Mobile Composer, who has spent 25 years in software development helping companies find the niche inside their market that a mobile app or SaaS product can actually serve. We got into why pivoting into software starts with the market, not the code. The traps owners fall into when they decide to build their first SaaS product. How recurring revenue takes risk off the buyer’s side of the table and pushes your multiple up. And why planning, not speed, is the difference between a product that compounds and a product that bleeds maintenance costs for the next five years. If your business has zero recurring revenue today, this is the conversation that reframes what’s possible.
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## Top 10 Takeaways- Recurring revenue removes the buyer’s biggest fear: that the revenue walks out the door when you do.
- Your software product should solve a niche problem your market is already paying you to solve manually.
- Pivoting into SaaS starts with the customer, not the code. Build the market case before the architecture.
- The first SaaS product most owners build is a feature, not a business. Plan the business first.
- Recurring revenue raises your multiple because predictability is what acquirers actually buy.
- Building software in a hurry costs you years of maintenance pain later.
- Every industry has a niche software can serve. The work is finding the one your customer will pay for.
- SaaS is easier to build today than it has ever been. The hard part is still knowing what to build.
- Your software should be maintainable and adaptable, not just functional on launch day.
- The internal tool you build to save your team time can become the product you sell to your industry.
Sound Bites
“Developing a recurring or passive income source for your business can triple your value.” (@TBD) — Loren Horsager
“Every business has a niche that can be served better by technology. You just need to know what to focus on and how to solve the problem.” (@TBD) — Loren Horsager
“Don’t push development just to get ahead of the competition. Build the software right and consider the future of your industry when you plan the product.” (@TBD) — Loren Horsager
About This Episode
Loren Horsager is the CEO and co-founder of Mobile Composer, a software development firm that helps companies identify and build mobile and SaaS products targeting niche areas of their market. He has 20+ years of experience building teams to deliver software solutions and managing consulting organizations. Loren is a recognized expert in Microsoft and Xamarin development tools and regularly presents on how companies can develop and execute on mobile strategies. He brings a builder’s perspective to a question most owners ask too late: how do you add a recurring revenue line to a traditional business, and what does that line actually do to your valuation?
Resources Mentioned
- Mobile Composer — Loren’s firm. Software development focused on niche mobile and SaaS products for traditional businesses.
- Loren Horsager email — loren.horsager@mcomposer.com
Connections
Phase + Module:
- Module 5 — Predictable Revenue — Recurring revenue as the engine of predictability and transferable cash flow
- Module 6 — Transferable Margins — How recurring revenue changes the margin profile a buyer is willing to underwrite
Concepts referenced:
- Revenue Architecture — Designing recurring revenue into the business model on purpose
- The Multiple & WACC — Why predictable revenue compresses risk and raises the multiple
- Value Gap — The space between what your business is worth today and what it could be worth with a recurring revenue line
- Enterprise Value vs. Equity Value — How acquirers price businesses with locked-in revenue versus project-based revenue
- The Four Value Levers — Recurring revenue as one of the levers an owner can pull intentionally