<p><b>Startup description</b></p><p>My project is a digital platform specializing in professional photo-retouching tools integrated with Adobe Photoshop. Our flagship product is a premium Photoshop extension designed to simplify and speed up complex editing workflows, making them accessible not only to professionals but also to advanced enthusiasts.</p><p>Since its launch in late 2020, the tool has been used by tens of thousands of photographers worldwide and endorsed by top professionals in the field, including renowned American photographer Dani Diamond.</p><p><b>Key highlights:<b></b></b></p><ul><li>Annual revenue: ~€27,000-30,000 (approx. €2,000/2,500 MRR).</li><li>Annual profit: Positive (low operating costs, mostly digital infrastructure).</li><li>Churn rate: quite high in recent years (subscribers down from ~5,000 in 2021/2022 to ~3,000 today).</li><li>LTV: Historically solid due to long-term loyal subscribers.</li><li>CAC: Close to zero in the past two years (no active paid marketing campaigns).</li><li>Business margin: very high, as the business is digital and low-overhead.</li><li>Other metrics: 30,000 verified customer emails collected; global distribution of customers (U.S mostly., then the main European countries); product used and trusted by tens of thousands of photographers worldwide.</li></ul><p><b>Team</b></p><p>The project is currently operated by a single founder, who has been running the business alone for the past two years. The founder is a professional journalist with strong expertise in brand positioning and reputation management, who has personally handled all marketing and community-building activities.Technical development and updates to the platform have always been outsourced to freelance developers and external agencies, ensuring flexibility and reduced fixed costs. After seeing other projects in journalism and brand consulting take off, the founder has decided to dedicate more time to those ventures, making this business available for acquisition.</p><p><b>Tech Stack</b></p><ul><li>Core Product: built as a Photoshop extension (CEP/UXP frameworks).</li><li>Backend &amp; Ecommerce: WordPress + WooCommerce for the website.</li><li>Payments: Stripe and PayPal integrations.</li><li>Marketing Stack: Email automation (Brevo), social campaigns via Meta Ads, SEO-driven content.</li><li>Analytics: Google Analytics 4, Hotjar, Facebook Pixel, Google Ads tracking.</li></ul><p><b>Marketing and growth</b></p><p>Growth has historically been community-driven and organic, with most customers coming from outside Italy (over 90%), mainly the United States (primary market) and key European countries.</p><p>At its peak, the panel reached over 5,000 paying subscribers. However, due to the lack of a dedicated team and marketing budget in the last three years, subscriber numbers have gradually decreased to around +3,000 active users today.</p><p><b>Key past activities included:</b></p><ul><li>Email marketing: built a list of 30,000+ subscribers with strong engagement.</li><li>Content marketing: tutorials, webinars, and YouTube demos that drove organic traffic.</li><li>Social media reach: ~20,000 total, real followers across Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.</li></ul><p>The decline in numbers is not due to product obsolescence or market rejection, but rather to the absence of consistent promotional efforts. With renewed investment in ads, content production, and international localization, the business has clear potential to return to its previous growth path and beyond.</p><p><b>Revenue and profit</b></p><p>In 2025 year-to-date, the subscription base has shown stability despite minimal marketing activity:</p><ul><li>New subscriptions: 298 (avg. ~33/month)</li><li>Renewals: 742 (avg. ~82/month)</li><li>Cancellations: 229 (avg. ~25/month)</li><li>Net active subscriptions: increased from 3,049 at the beginning of the year to 3,110 at the end of August.</li></ul><p><b>Financials:</b></p><ul><li>ARR (run-rate): €35–40k</li><li>MRR: ~€2.9–3.3k</li><li>Pricing model: €19/year (subscription) or €39 (lifetime license).</li><li>Gross margin: &gt;90% (software, minimal variable costs).</li><li>LTV: €60–70 (driven by multi-year renewals and upgrades).</li><li>CAC: negligible (organic acquisition).</li></ul><p>The overall trajectory confirms that despite reduced promotional activity, the customer base has remained solid, with renewals outweighing cancellations. With renewed marketing, growth can realistically return to historical peaks of 3,000+ paying users.</p><p><b>Return on investment</b></p><p>The business is profitable and cash-flow positive, with minimal fixed costs and a loyal, international customer base.</p><ul><li>At current levels (€35–40k ARR and ~3,000 active subscribers), buyers can expect to recoup the acquisition price in 12–18 months.</li><li>With renewed investment in marketing campaigns, reactivation of the email list, and localization into non-English markets, the ROI period can realistically be shortened to under 12 months.</li><li>Active subscriber numbers previously peaked at 5,000+. Restoring marketing activity makes it possible to return to that level and beyond, unlocking additional growth.</li></ul><p>In short, ROI is fast, predictable, and scalable: the acquisition comes with a stable revenue base and clear upside potential.</p><p><b>Startup assets<b></b></b></p><ul><li>Email list with 30k subscribers.</li><li>Instagram account with 6k followers.</li><li>YouTube Channel with 4k users.</li><li>Facebook Page with 6k users.</li></ul><p><b>Risks</b></p><ul><li><b>Dependency on Adobe PhotoshopRisk:</b> The product is tied to the Photoshop ecosystem, so major changes in Adobe’s licensing or framework could impact the panel.<b>Buyer Mitigation:</b> Diversify by developing additional plugins for Adobe Lightroom or standalone AI-based retouching apps. Buyers can also integrate the panel into a broader suite of creative tools to reduce dependency on a single platform.</li><li><b>Competition from Free or Lower-Cost ToolsRisk: </b>Market saturation and freeware alternatives could limit growth.<b>Buyer Mitigation: </b>Differentiate through branding, advanced features, premium support, and leveraging the strong existing community. Introducing tiered plans (e.g., Pro/Enterprise) could further defend margins.</li><li><b>Founder DependencyRisk:</b> The business is currently operated by a single founder.<b>Buyer Mitigation:</b> Transition can be smoothed with documented processes, external developers already familiar with the panel, and hiring dedicated support staff. The founder is also available for a handover and training period, ensuring knowledge transfer.</li><li><b>Organic Growth DependencyRisk:</b> Past growth has been mostly organic, relying on communities rather than paid ads.<b>Buyer Mitigation: </b>A buyer with marketing resources can accelerate growth with targeted campaigns, retargeting, and international localization (Spanish, French, German markets), unlocking untapped revenue streams.</li></ul><p><b>Summary</b></p><p>The business represents a profitable, ready-to-scale SaaS opportunity with:</p><ul><li>3,000+ paying customers and €35-40k ARR with 0 marketing spending.</li><li>Over 90% of the customer base in high-value international markets (USA + Europe)</li><li>30k+ email subscribers and 20k+ combined social followers</li><li>Immediate ROI potential with strong foundations for growth in the creative SaaS space.</li></ul><p>For buyers looking to acquire a profitable digital asset with global traction, this business is a turnkey acquisition: profitable from day one, with clear scalability and minimal risk.</p><p>I am available to share full proof of sales via video call, showing live dashboards and transaction history across PayPal, Stripe, and WooCommerce, from 2023 onwards.</p></br>✅ $53,800 in ARR✅ 3,000 customers✅ Business model: SaaS+LTD✅ Built with AWS, Brevo, WooCommerce