The 21st century is the era of technology. It keeps upgrading, and we must adapt to the changes for maximum benefit.
Around 10-15 years ago, the market was dominated by discs. They were an affordable way to transport data. But now they are deserted for good. Since the rise of cloud technology, the process of transferring softwares has wholly changed.
Discs are no longer in use and have been replaced by SaaS’s most popular model of software delivery. It stands for Software as a Service. SaaS allows companies to deliver their softwares through the internet. Moreover, users don’t have to download and install the software. Let’s get to know more about SaaS in the section below.
Demand for SaaS
Some of the famous examples of SaaS products are Zoho, Netflix, Dropbox, and Google Apps. Tech companies are aware of the potential which the SaaS industry possesses. This is why nearly 50% of the IT organizations are planning to invest in it to build their digital ecosystem, as reported by the NetSolutions.
SaaS is a very lucrative market and holds a lot of potential. As stated above, the demand for SaaS is already huge, and therefore, if you wish to step into this market, you must understand everything about it. The knowledge will give you clarity as well as allow you to build your venture strategically.
Don’t worry, reading this article will tell you everything you need to understand before creating a SaaS product.
What is SaaS?
In simple words, SaaS is renting the software on a subscription basis, i.e., pay for the application only when you’re using it. The selling point is the freedom and availability of the software. You can access the softwares anytime and anywhere. All you need is a permanent internet connection.
Nearly 70% of the companies have admitted that they will adapt to the SaaS business model or plan to do it in the coming years. The importance and demand for SaaS will further increase as the COVID-19 has pushed everyone to work from home and made it difficult to use the in-house softwares. If you want to step into the SaaS market, now is the best time to do it.
Now that you know the basics of SaaS let’s take a look at things you must know before you build SaaS product –
Things to know before you develop SaaS products
- Understanding your Target Audience
Building a SaaS product can be very expensive unless a team of expert programmers support you. The production will cost you anywhere between $50,000 to $1 Million, based on the intricacy and development stage. Therefore, before investing your money, time, and efforts into the process, take the smart way, and create an affordable MVP.
A minimum viable product (MVP) is a concept with just the new audience’s mandatory features. It will help you to get valuable feedback and understand your target customers. Of course, the execution is not as simple as it sounds in theory. Finding the right target audience is done through the trial and error method. The only way to find your ideal customer is to keep the persona very precise and keep on trying.
It will take several attempts to discover the right customer profile. But once you succeed, it will be your users chasing you for the product.
- Smart work over hard work
The first step to creating a SaaS product is to build the components that are standard for every SaaS application. Therefore, instead of draining time and efforts in developing these components from scratch, search for companies that offer such modules. This will help you save time as well as eliminate the burden of maintaining the modules. This means you and your team can focus on developing and upgrading your essential features.
Engagespot, ChargeBee, and Algolia are some organizations that can help you enhance your production pace by assisting you with the components.
- Be prepared
Usually, when one is preparing for the MVP, the scale of production is quite limited. But once you have discovered your right product-market fit (which will take a while), be prepared to be bombarded with several customers.
Sudden growth is what most of the new founders don’t expect, which takes away the heat of the moment and freezes the production. Therefore, once you’ve figured out your market, you need to start working on your product’s weaknesses. Once you have finalized the upgradation, increase the scalability, and enhance the architecture accordingly.
- The continuous service
The reason why SaaS products are so widely used is that they are continually upgraded and redefined. Therefore, coding, testing your product, and reaching the audience is just the initial step. Your work for your SaaS product won’t be finished and rightly so. Once your users start working with your product, you will notice issues that your Quality Assurance test might have missed.
It’s completely normal, but the real concern will be how quickly you can solve the issue without disturbing the flow. Therefore, you will need an efficient delivery system. You will require platforms like Travis, Gitlab, Jenkins, and other capable DevOps platforms, combined with your test automation tool. This will allow you to manage the constant release of your product’s new updates without hindering the existing system.
You must be very definite about the theory of SaaS. It is not a traditional software development process where it will run on its own after release. You will need to regularly monitor and update your products to keep your users happy and grow your customer base.
- Analyze and Monitor
This is where most teams fail as they don’t monitor their products from the start. You cannot trust your or your team’s intuitions when it comes to delivering service products. You need data to understand the situation.
Therefore, be sure to use analytics softwares from day one to understand how your customer uses your product. This will allow you to understand your customer’s behavior. In some cases, this has allowed the companies to find significant design errors, ultimately leading to its downfall.
Apart from making you aware of the flaws, analytics can also give you hints on what to add or what not to add in your future updates. Therefore, always use good analytics software to be informed about your product.
These were some of the things you should know before building your SaaS product. Of course, there is no rigid formula, but keep the suggestions in mind as they will benefit your journey in the SaaS market.