Summary of "TinyAffiliate MVP - How it works"

Summary: TinyAffiliate MVP - How It Works

Product Overview & Target Market

Tiny Affiliate is a no-code, zero back-end change SaaS tool designed to help solo founders, indie hackers, and micro SaaS businesses quickly launch affiliate programs. It significantly reduces engineering time, enabling immediate generation of affiliate revenue.

Core Features & Workflow

Affiliate Link Creation

Users create affiliate links by entering three key inputs:
- Product URL
- Affiliate Name
- Commission Percentage (e.g., 15%)
Links are generated instantly and appear on the dashboard.
MVP limitation: Each user can create links for only one product at a time, but multiple links per product are supported.

Dashboard Metrics & KPIs

The dashboard provides real-time tracking of: - Total clicks generated by affiliates - Total sales attributed to affiliate traffic - Total revenue from affiliate-driven sales - Total commissions owed to affiliates - Conversion rate (click-to-sale)

These metrics offer transparency and allow users to monitor affiliate program performance effectively.

Click & Sales Tracking

Clicks are tracked immediately when an affiliate link is clicked.
Sales tracking requires integration with Stripe via a webhook.
Stripe webhook setup involves:
- Naming the product
- Adding a webhook endpoint in the Stripe dashboard
- Enabling specific Stripe events for monitoring
- Installing two scripts on the website (one in the head tag, one on the purchase success/thank you page)
Cookies track affiliate referrals for 30 days to ensure accurate attribution.

Data Export & Reporting

Users can export comprehensive affiliate program data as CSV files, including: - Link ID - Product URL - Total clicks and sales - Revenue generated - Commission percentage and amount owed - Link creation date

This export supports accounting, bookkeeping, and payout reconciliation.

Affiliate Payments

Tiny Affiliate does not handle payouts directly.
Users manage affiliate payments manually through their own finance or bookkeeping systems using the exported data.

Operational Recommendations & Benefits

Enables quick go-to-market (GTM) for affiliate programs without engineering overhead.
Provides a lean startup approach to testing and scaling affiliate marketing efforts.
Supports transparency and accountability with detailed tracking and reporting.
Encourages manual payout management for flexibility but may require internal coordination with finance teams.