After two years of losses, Buffer achieved profitability in 2024 with a net profit of $202,459. Learn about our journey back to profitability, our profit-sharing philosophy, and how we distributed 15% of profits among our 73 team members.

Last year was Buffer’s first profitable year after two years of losses. This turnaround has been a huge accomplishment for our team. Given our focus on long-term sustainability and growing through revenue from customers rather than funding, it was a symbolic achievement in service of the path we’ve chosen.

We closed 2024 with a net profit of $202,459. But perhaps the most exciting part for me of achieving a profit is that we were able to distribute our profit share bonus again.

Read on to learn more about our philosophy as it relates to profitability and profit sharing.

The journey back to profitability

Looking at how we achieved profitability in 2024 tells an interesting story. While we ended the year with over $200,000 in net profit, this journey wasn't a straight line. We entered 2024 with monthly losses, including our highest expense month in March with a loss of over $250,000; largely resulting from the costs of our company retreat. What followed was remarkable: nine consecutive months of profitability, steadily clawing our way back to break even and then profit.

What's particularly noteworthy is that the bulk of our profitability was achieved in the final two months of the year. The first ten months essentially balanced out to break even, but then November and December each brought in over $100,000 in profit, pushing us to that final $200,000 figure for the year. This gives us a strong indication of what 2025 might look like, starting the year with this kind of monthly profitability as our baseline.

Why profitability matters at Buffer

Being profitable is really a fundamental part of what I like to call being a “real business” – a term I first heard from Bryce of indie.vc. For Buffer, choosing to operate long-term means dealing with all aspects of actually making the business run. Without relying on funding (which is generally the approach for tech businesses), we need to be profitable.