For a solo founder who is also a single parent, the dream of a simple, 100-user Micro-SaaS providing full financial freedom is compelling. But when you layer in the rigid, high-cost reality of a 50/50 custody schedule, the standard financial math falls apart. This isn’t just about revenue; it’s about building a business that fits within the fixed, non-negotiable constraints of your family life.
The Single Parent Founder’s Dual-Budget Reality
A 100-user Micro-SaaS can fund a single parent’s business and 50/50 custody schedule if its Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) covers a dual-budget system: one for kid-weeks (higher fixed costs for food, activities) and one for non-kid weeks (lower costs, focused on work). For example, with 100 users at $49/month, $4,900 MRR must cover not just personal living costs but also duplicate child-related expenses across two households and income volatility during parenting time.
Most solo founder budgets average everything into one monthly number. For you, that’s a dangerous oversimplification. Your financial reality operates on a Dual-Budget Framework. A “Kid Week” budget is 40-60% higher, covering groceries for a growing child, utilities from extra laundry and dishes, and scheduled activities like soccer or tutoring. A “Non-Kid Week” budget is leaner, but every hour must be hyper-focused on work to compensate for the upcoming custody period. This isn’t just about cash flow; it’s about “custody overhead”—the cost of maintaining duplicate essentials (a second car seat, a full set of clothes, bedding, toys) so your child feels at home in both places.
- Track your last two months of spending, sorting every cost into “Kid Week” and “Non-Kid Week” columns.
- Create a separate, higher emergency fund target specifically for kid-week surprises (like a broken laptop before a school project).
- Negotiate with your co-parent to standardize certain items (like winter coat brands) to reduce duplicate spending.
Deconstructing the 50/50 Custody Cost Baseline
Let’s move beyond child support and itemize the recurring costs unique to shared custody. These are the fixed expenses your SaaS MRR must conquer first.
First, duplicate childcare. Even with 50/50 custody, you likely need after-school care or a babysitter on your workdays during your parenting period. This cost doesn’t disappear monthly; it spikes during your weeks. Second, consider the “transition tax”: the fuel and time for exchange drives, plus the mental downtime as everyone resettles. Then there are the split costs: you’re paying for half the sports fees, insurance premiums, and clothing, but often from a single income that also covers your own baseline. In a two-parent household, many of these are consolidated; for you, they’re fragmented and recurring.
Think of it as running two partial households instead of one whole one. The administrative and financial overhead is real.
Hypothetical Example: For a single parent with one school-age child in a medium-cost city, custody-driven costs can easily add $1,800 – $2,500+ on top of a $3,000 adult living baseline. That’s a total personal nut of ~$5,000 before you’ve paid for your SaaS’s hosting or marketing.
- List every child-related expense that occurs specifically during your custody time, not just general support.
- Contact local childcare centers about part-time, custody-schedule-aligned care options, which can be cheaper than standard monthly plans.
- Use a shared digital calendar with your co-parent to plan and split predictable expenses like registration fees well in advance.
The 100-User MRR Target for Custody Stability
So, what MRR do you actually need? We build a formula that includes a critical component most founders ignore: the Volatility Buffer.
Required MRR = Adult Baseline + Custody Overhead + Business Costs + Volatility Buffer. The buffer is extra revenue needed because your effective, deep-work hours are halved during kid-weeks. Your SaaS income must therefore be generated in less time, increasing the required value per hour. Let’s use our sample numbers: Adult Baseline ($3,000) + Custody Overhead ($2,200) + Business Costs ($300) + Buffer ($500) = $6,000 Required MRR. With 100 users, your Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) must be $60.
This changes your product strategy immediately. A $19/month plan won’t cut it. You need pricing tiers that pull the average up, or a plan to secure a few small business clients at $199/month. Could you structure your service to justify that higher price through clear, disproportionate value?
- Plug your own Dual-Budget numbers into the formula above to find your personal Required MRR.
- Divide your Required MRR by 100. If the ARPU seems unrealistic for your niche, explore higher-tier features now.
- Model a “buffer” of at least 10-15% of your total costs to account for the productivity tax of your custody schedule.
Operational Constraints: Time, Churn, and Crisis Management
The financial target is only half the battle. Your operational margins are razor-thin. What happens when life intervenes?
Your time for marketing, sales, and support is compressed. You can’t work 60-hour weeks to brute-force growth. This demands extreme product simplicity and automation from day one. Churn is also more dangerous; losing 3 users from a 100-user base is a 3% hit to your vital income. Now, consider the ultimate edge case: your child gets sick during your custody week. Your work week effectively ends. Without a “crisis runway” of 1-2 months of expenses, you’re forced to choose between care and cash flow.
Mini Case: Founder Alex chose a simpler, managed tech stack (like Laravel Forge + Vue.js) over trendy, complex infrastructure. This cut weekly maintenance from 10 hours to 2, preserving precious time for customer acquisition during non-kid weeks.
- Automate one recurring task this week (e.g., billing reminders, backup checks) to buy future time.
- Build a “crisis runway” fund separate from your business emergency fund, aiming for 6 weeks of dual-budget costs.
- Implement proactive health check alerts in your SaaS to catch issues before users complain, reducing high-time-support churn.
Alternative Paths: When 100 Users Isn’t Enough
What if your niche simply won’t support a $60 ARPU? You need clear signals and pivot strategies before your runway burns.
The signal is clear: if you can’t realistically see a path to your required ARPU with 100 users, the pure 100-user model alone is insufficient. Here are your alternative paths. First, the 90/10 Model: 90 users at a lower SaaS price ($29) plus 10 high-touch consulting or implementation clients at $500/month. This hybrid model leverages your expertise for premium income. Second, extend the timeline. Keep your day job (or part-time work) longer and build the SaaS to 150+ users slowly, lowering the required ARPU. Third, build a “Custody-Coordinated SaaS”—a product specifically for other single parents or busy families. Your deep, personal understanding of the market’s time constraints becomes your competitive advantage.
- Interview 10 potential customers in your niche right now to gauge their willingness to pay for a premium, $60+/month solution.
- Outline one consulting service or premium support package you could offer alongside your SaaS to boost ARPU.
- If pivoting, spend one week solely researching problems faced by other single parents in your professional network.