From agency to digital product: why we changed the model
Selling hours has a ceiling. Building products doesn't.
For years Mi Primera Tienda was a classic agency: a client shows up, we build their store, hand it over, get paid, next. The model works, but it has a structural problem: your revenue depends on how many hours you can sell. And hours have a limit.
In 2025 we started to change. Here's what we learned.
What's wrong with the agency model?
It's not that it's bad. It's that it scales poorly.
- Linear revenue: to earn more, you need more clients or higher rates. Both have a ceiling.
- Founder dependency: if the founder doesn't work, there's no income. No real vacations.
- Disposable work: every project starts from scratch. What you learned on the last one doesn't compound.
- One-shot clients: you deliver, get paid, and the client disappears until they need something new.
The pattern repeats across every small agency. Lots of work, thin margins, zero assets.
What changes with the product model?
| Classic agency | Product studio |
|---|---|
| Sells hours | Sells access to tools |
| Revenue per project | Recurring revenue (MRR) |
| Every project is unique | Every project generates reusable assets |
| The client leaves after delivery | The client stays as long as they use the product |
| Grows by adding people | Grows by adding users |
The transition isn't instant. We still do custom projects, but each one leaves something behind: a component, a workflow, a tool that becomes a product.
Despacha started as the shipping solution we built for one client. Today it's an independent SaaS. Cubika was born from a problem we spotted in retail: nobody had a simple tool for planograms. Now it has its own user base.
How do you make the transition without going under?
You don't stop doing services overnight. The realistic path is:
- Identify repeating patterns: if you solve the same problem for 3+ clients, there's a product in there.
- Build the first version inside a client project: the client funds the development, you keep the product.
- Separate the product from the service: give it a name, a domain, a landing page. Even if it's minimal.
- Charge recurring from day one: even if it's a small amount. MRR changes your psychology and your decisions.
- Reinvest service revenue into product: use billable hours to fund product hours.
How far along are we?
Honestly, still in progress. The products already exist and generate revenue, but services are still the bulk of our billing. The goal is to flip that ratio within 12 months.
What matters is that every week the business is worth a little more because there are assets growing on their own. That doesn't happen when you only sell hours.
If you're thinking about productizing part of your business and don't know where to start, let's talk on WhatsApp.
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