Securing funding and charting a clear path to profitability requires more than just a great idea—it demands a credible financial projection model. This 3-to-5-year plan translates your vision into actionable numbers, essential for both strategic planning and investor confidence. Here is a practical, four-step guide to building your model.

1. 📈 Revenue Modeling: The Engine

Your revenue model is the heart of the projection. For tech startups, especially SaaS, rely on unit economics rather than vague market sizing. This is the bottom-up approach, which is far more credible to investors than the top-down approach (simply claiming a small percentage of a large market).

Start by defining your key metrics:

• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR): The predictable monthly income.
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): How much it costs to gain one paying customer.
• Churn Rate: The percentage of customers who stop subscribing.

Your model should calculate revenue by projecting monthly customer …