Best practices for White Label SaaS?

Some more questions I heard from my clients in 2025. As we are concluding 2025, I thought to share it with everyone. Obviously, I have de-identified the problem statements by changing the industry and flipping the problem upside down. 

Let’s roll forward. 

Should we go for white label SaaS? What do you think about it? 

Answer - Based on what I have heard, you should. It worked for us. However, it was very early for us. The product was built and delivered to a customer who then distributed it. It was done for 2 to 3 years and it worked well. The distribution helped us build and stabilize the product … 👏 

Additionally, white-label can help prove the market for the product. Either we sell or our partner sells, if there are customers who are buying then it validates the market and the price as well. This turned out to be a long term hack for the business. 

Now let's look at the cons of this approach. As the revenue and customers start rolling in, the teams within the customer company notice and try to build the capability by themselves. This may risk our business … 👍 

One more con, we need to be careful because we do not own the distribution. This can become a visible weakness down the line. So if the customer/ partner finds someone else who can build what we have for them they will go with them. We can also lose the entire business this way. 

So I suggest going for white label, treating it as a market validation strategy and be cautious. Good luck … 🥇 

What happens if we add bootstrapping and competition to the mix? 

Hmm, ok. Here are my recommendations - 

• Build a culture of productivity and frugality from top down. Explain to everyone in the team that frugality matters and use it as a strength to foster innovation. 

• Develop a niche and community, Iterate fast, release very fast, and eliminate un-fit team members faster. This will set the tone for the company. Bootstrapping is a cultural choice … 💡 

About competition - 

• Differentiate from competition. Find the gaps in the market in terms of innovation, technology, service and excel in those. 

• Last but not the least; operate diligently. Read the market pricing well and map it to your CAC progression. Keep the burn low … 🏍️

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Swagat Irsale is a Growth and Scale Advocate. He works with start ups and scale ups and helps them grow revenue and build enterprise products which users use.

You can connect with him on Linkedin.

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Picture of me with my son; 10 years back. What else a Dad has as wealth?

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