Building a Niche Software Tool by Scratching Your Own Itch or Finding a Feature Gap in a Larger Competitor, Then Growing and Eventually Selling It
Originally published Sep 8, 2026 — Niche Pursuits
Niche Pursuits · I Just Sold a Niche Software Tool for $2.7 Million...Here's How ↗
Find a niche software idea using one of three approaches: solve a real problem you personally experience in your own work; find a feature that a large, well-known software company offers only as an afterthought and build a focused, better version of just that one feature; or directly interview potential customers to validate demand before building. Hire a developer, launch (ideally to an existing audience), then grow using continuous product improvement, content marketing, email marketing to a growing list, an affiliate program plus direct outreach to bloggers/YouTubers for free-copy reviews, a free/stripped-down version listed on a relevant marketplace to drive upgrades, and outreach to genuine industry influencers.
The presenter built 'Link Whisper,' a WordPress internal-linking plugin, from a $30,000 launch month down to $5,000-7,000 in months two and three, then grew it over five years to roughly $90,000/month average revenue, before selling the company for $2.7 million in early 2025 after a drawn-out, multi-month acquisition process that included two earlier declined offers.
Someone with (or willing to hire) development resources, patient enough to grow a product over years, willing to do consistent marketing across many channels.
Niche software/SaaS businesses built around a validated problem are a real, well-established path to a sellable business, and the specific growth tactics described are standard, sound software marketing practices. His revenue and sale-price figures are self-reported but specific and detailed; note this path genuinely requires real capital or technical resources to build the initial product, unlike many other entries in this database.