# Revenue concentration: one customer too big > A franchise of 40 shops wants a special price, custom work and its own branding. Compute the revenue concentration it would create, and answer in a way that keeps the product yours. Ends with the module case. - Course: [From Idea to Profitable Product: Building Without Investors](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product.md) - Module: Numbers every month - Lesson 23/30, ~36 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/one-customer-too-big ## Forty shops at once: a big customer's share of MRR **Alex Tutor:** A call from GarageDesk: its founders need advice from you and me, fast. **Oscar:** Big news. Victor, the owner of Fixpoint, called. Forty franchise shops in three regions. He wants GarageDesk in all forty! **Nina:** On his terms, though. 400 per shop, one contract signed by him, an integration with Fixpoint's accounting system, and the app in Fixpoint colors with their logo. **Oscar:** I almost said yes on the phone. I told him we'd call back tomorrow. **Sofia:** Forty times 400 is 16,000 a month. That's huge! **Alex Tutor:** It is. So first measure how huge. What share of GarageDesk's MRR would Fixpoint be, if it joined on top of October's 37,400? > **Exercise:** GarageDesk's MRR is 37,400 UAH. Fixpoint would add 40 shops at 400 UAH a month. What share of the new total MRR would Fixpoint be, in %? Round to the nearest whole number. ## Revenue concentration: what 30% of MRR buys **Alex Tutor:** Three hryvnias of every ten under one signature. That's **customer concentration**, or revenue concentration: when one customer is that big, its wishes quietly become your roadmap. ![A small boat lists heavily under a single giant passenger on one side while many small passengers on the other side try to balance it.](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/inline/one-customer-too-big-illustration-2.webp) *Many small customers mean no single no can sink you.* **Nina:** The accounting integration alone is about two months of my work. And a white-label version in their brand means two apps to keep up forever. **Alex Tutor:** Two months when the other 64 shops get nothing. And a year later Victor says: “Add this, or we leave.” You'd lose 30% of MRR in one call, so you add it. **Oscar:** And 400 while we're moving new shops to 750. What would I tell the shop across the street from a Fixpoint? **Alex Tutor:** Oscar's question deserves a straight answer. Check this claim. > **Exercise:** **True or false:** a 400 UAH price for Fixpoint's shops is a private deal and won't affect what other shops expect to pay. > **Exercise:** Which are real risks of accepting Victor's offer as proposed? Choose all that apply. ## A franchise is forty owners, not one customer **Sofia:** So they should just say no? **Alex Tutor:** Not at all. Look at who actually pays in a franchise. Each Fixpoint shop has its own owner and its own regulars. Those owners are exactly GarageDesk's niche. **Alex Tutor:** Say in your own words why that matters. > **Exercise:** Why is Fixpoint better seen as forty owners than as one customer? ![A tall uniform building opens into a row of many small garages, each with its own owner standing in the doorway.](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/inline/one-customer-too-big-illustration-3.webp) **Oscar:** Then each shop signs up on its own, with the standard product, and Fixpoint gets a volume price. Say 450 per shop. **Alex Tutor:** Good. No custom work, no branding, and no single contract that can take forty shops away in one day. Shops join as they see results. **Nina:** Victor agreed to start with eight shops in December. > **Exercise:** In December 8 Fixpoint shops join at 450 UAH a month each. Taking the rest of GarageDesk's MRR as 37,400 UAH, what share of total MRR is Fixpoint, in %? Round to one decimal. ## How to answer a big client's special-deal request **Oscar:** I want to answer every one of his requests, so he doesn't feel brushed off. **Alex Tutor:** Right. Each “no” should come with what you can offer instead. Sell what you have today, not what he'd like you to build. **Alex Tutor:** Take the integration request. Two ways Oscar could reply. > **Exercise:** How should Oscar answer Victor's request for an integration with Fixpoint's accounting system? **Nina:** And if Fixpoint really needs data in their accounting system, a monthly report they can download costs me a day, not two months. **Sofia:** So Victor gets a yes, just not the one he asked for. > **Exercise:** Match each of Victor's requests with GarageDesk's answer. ## A revenue concentration limit for next time **Alex Tutor:** Add one line to your monthly page: the largest customer's share of MRR. Count shops under one decision-maker together. **Alex Tutor:** A common rule of thumb for a small business, illustrative rather than a law: keep any one customer below about 10–20% of revenue. Above that, the customer starts running your product. **Alex Tutor:** Now test that line on a future where the volume deal goes well. > **Exercise:** Suppose all 40 Fixpoint shops eventually join at 450 UAH a month, and the rest of GarageDesk's MRR stays at 37,400 UAH. What share of total MRR would Fixpoint be, in %? Round to one decimal. **Oscar:** Many small customers make every sales call calmer. No single “no” can sink us. **Nina:** And I keep building one product, for all of them. > **Exercise:** 8 Fixpoint shops pay 450 UAH a month each, and the rest of GarageDesk's MRR is 37,400 UAH. Oscar says: "The 8 Fixpoint shops pay separately, so they're 8 small customers, not one big one." Reply to Oscar in 2–3 sentences: should they be counted together when measuring concentration, and what share of MRR is that today? ## Module case: ClinicSlot's month **Alex Tutor:** Remember ClinicSlot, Hannah and Leo's booking app for dental clinics in Kharkiv? A year on, they have their own month to make sense of. **Sofia:** MRR, churn, a price rise and a big customer, all at once? **Alex Tutor:** All at once, like real life. Numbers first, then a recommendation they can act on. > **Exercise:** Write a recommendation for Hannah and Leo (200–350 words). > **Key ideas** > > - A big customer's share = its MRR / total MRR including it: 16,000 / 53,400 ≈ **30%** for Fixpoint's original offer. > - **Customer concentration** hands a customer power over your roadmap, price and future; count shops under one decision-maker together. > - Answer with what you sell today: the standard product, a volume price, separate subscriptions, a small start. Fixpoint: 8 × 450 = 3,600, ≈ **8.8%** of MRR. > - Every “no” comes with an alternative, such as a report instead of a custom integration. > - An illustrative rule of thumb: keep any one customer below about 10–20% of revenue. **Alex Tutor:** Next module: GarageDesk grows without an ad budget. We start with shops that bring other shops. - Previous lesson: [Raising prices without losing customers](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/raising-the-price.md) - Next lesson: [Referrals and community](https://productovi.com/courses/bootstrapped-product/referrals-and-community.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.