Preparing Your App or SaaS for Sale on JINO

Most founders who decide to sell their app or SaaS are leaving money on the table — not because their business isn't good, but because they're unprepared. A well-prepared listing inspires buyer confidence, attracts serious offers, and closes faster at a higher multiple.

Here's exactly what to prepare before you list on JINO.

Step 1: Get Your Financials in Order

Buyers will scrutinize your revenue before anything else. The cleaner and more verifiable your financial data, the more confidence buyers have — and confidence translates directly to valuation.

• 12 months of revenue data: Export monthly revenue summaries from Stripe, PayPal, or your payment processor. Inconsistencies between your listing claims and raw data will kill deals.
• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) trend: Show the growth trajectory. Even flat MRR is fine if you can explain it; unexplained declines raise questions.
• Expense breakdown: List all recurring costs — hosting, tools, subscriptions, contractor fees. Buyers need to calculate true profit, not just revenue.
• Profit and Loss statement: Even a simple spreadsheet P&L covering 12 months is better than nothing. Formal accounting is a plus.
• Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE): Calculate this yourself. SDE = Net profit + owner salary/draws + one-time expenses. This is what buyers use to value the business.

Step 2: Compile Your Key Metrics

Beyond revenue, buyers want to understand the health of your business. Prepare a metrics document covering:

• Active users / subscribers: Monthly active users (MAU), paying subscribers, and trend over 12 months
• Churn rate: Monthly cancellation rate for subscription products. The lower the better — below 3% is excellent
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): How much does it cost to acquire a new customer? If you don't know this, calculate it
• Average Revenue Per User (ARPU): Monthly revenue divided by active subscribers
• App Store metrics (for mobile apps): Total downloads, rating, number of reviews, current ranking for key terms
• Traffic analytics: Share read-only Google Analytics access or export. Show monthly sessions, source breakdown, and trend

Step 3: Document Your Operations

This is the step most sellers skip — and the one that creates the most friction during due diligence. An undocumented business is a risky business from the buyer's perspective.

Create a simple operations document covering:

• Tech stack: What technologies power the product? Hosting provider, frameworks, key dependencies
• Daily/weekly tasks: What does running this business actually involve? Be honest — if it requires 20 hours a week, say so
• Customer support process: How do you handle support? What tools (Intercom, Zendesk, email)? Average volume per week?
• Key vendor relationships: Any critical third-party integrations, APIs, or suppliers? Are these transferable?
• Login credentials inventory: A list (not the passwords themselves) of every account that needs to transfer: hosting, domain registrar, App Store, payment processor, analytics, social accounts

This document doesn't need to be a formal manual. A clear Google Doc covering these areas is enough to show buyers the business is manageable and transferable.

Step 4: Verify Asset Ownership

Before listing, confirm you have full, clean ownership of every asset:

• Domain: Registered in your name or your company's name, with no pending expiry issues
• Codebase: All code is yours — no unlicensed components, no contractor disputes over IP
• Brand assets: Logo, name, social handles — no trademark conflicts
• App Store listings: Developer account in good standing, no policy violations, listing transferable (Apple and Google both allow account transfers)
• Content: All written content, images, and media are owned or properly licensed

Discovering ownership issues mid-sale is a deal-killer. Identify and resolve them before you list.

Step 5: Write a Strong Listing Description

Your listing is your pitch. Buyers look at dozens of opportunities — make yours stand out with clarity and honesty.

A strong listing includes:

• What the product does in plain language — no jargon
• Who the customers are and why they pay
• The revenue model — subscription, one-time, freemium, ads
• Why you're selling — be honest. "Moving on to a new project" or "lack of time" are fine. Buyers will find out the truth anyway.
• What's included — every asset, account, and resource transferring with the sale
• Growth opportunities — what could a new owner do to grow the business?

Step 6: Set a Realistic Valuation

Most digital businesses sell for 2–4x annual SDE (Seller's Discretionary Earnings). The multiple depends on:

• Revenue trend (growing commands a higher multiple)
• Churn rate (low churn = higher multiple)
• Revenue quality (MRR > one-time)
• Transfer risk (documented, low-dependency = higher multiple)
• Market size and growth potential

Pricing too high wastes everyone's time. Pricing too low leaves money behind. Research comparable sales on marketplaces to calibrate your expectations.

The Seller's Pre-Listing Checklist

• ✅ 12 months of verified revenue data
• ✅ Monthly churn rate calculated
• ✅ Full expense breakdown and SDE calculated
• ✅ Key metrics document (users, traffic, ratings)
• ✅ Operations overview written
• ✅ Asset ownership verified and clear
• ✅ Listing description written with growth opportunities
• ✅ Realistic asking price set based on comparable sales

Sellers who complete this checklist before listing consistently see faster sales and better outcomes. Buyers reward preparation with trust — and trust drives price.

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