[
Creative
]
How Tidewell Studios scaled from agency to product company without losing financial control
Faster monthly close
65%
Increase in profit margin visibility
3x
[
Challenge
]
Two business models. One messy spreadsheet.
Tidewell Studios spent years as a project-based design agency. When they started building their own SaaS product, they suddenly had two completely different revenue models running side by side — lumpy, milestone-based agency income on one hand, and predictable monthly recurring revenue on the other. Their old spreadsheet was built for agency work and couldn't make sense of the new product revenue. The founder couldn't tell whether the product was actually profitable or quietly subsidized by agency cash, and that uncertainty made it impossible to decide how aggressively to invest in the product. "We were becoming two companies in one," said the founder. "And our finances couldn't tell the two apart. I genuinely didn't know if the product was making money or losing it."
[
Solution
]
Both revenue models, finally side by side.
Tidewell connected LEDGE to their billing and accounting systems. The platform separated and tracked both revenue streams clearly — project-based agency income and recurring product revenue — while still rolling them into a single view of the whole business. For the first time, the founder could see the true margin on each side of the business. The MRR dashboard showed the product's recurring revenue trajectory, while the broader view kept the agency cash flow in focus. AI Recommendations flagged where shared costs were being misattributed between the two sides.
[
Testimonials
]
LEDGE untangled our agency and product revenue into something I can actually read. For the first time I know which part of the business is driving us forward. That changed our entire strategy.
Nina Tidewell
Founder & CEO, Tidewell Studios
[
Results
]
Clarity on which business is actually winning.
Monthly close got 65% faster. Both revenue models now live in one clear view, and the founder finally has accurate margin visibility on each. With real numbers behind the product line, Tidewell made the confident decision to lean further into SaaS — backed by data instead of hope. "Now I know exactly how each side of the business performs. We're investing in the product because the numbers tell us to, not because we hope it'll work."
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