10 Amazing Steps For Starting A SaaS Company (With Guide)

Are you planning to start your own SaaS company? then it’s important for you to do the homework.  SaaS or Software as a service is a new way that distributing as well as sell the software.

It’s cloud-based which means there is no need of having physical distribution. If you are interested in starting it as a service business,  the first thing you should do is outline the needs. 

When you know what you need to launch and the information related to that, it becomes a hassle-free and smooth process for you.

And for that, keep reading the article as it might help you.

What Do You Need To Know About SaaS?

SaaS or Software as a Service,  it’s a software licensing as well as a delivery model which allows the software to be licensed based on centrally hosted or subscription-based.

In the past, the person was required to download the software or use the physical disc and downloading file to run the software.

But now there is no need for that, the SaaS model allows the user to run the software using the server that is remotely located, here the person requires access for using the software to the web browser.

Since it reduces unnecessary tasks, SaaS has become popular among users. Behind this, there are some more popular reasons such as :

• It’s much easier to access, as It can be used with the help of any browser.
• SaaS is comparatively cheaper as it’s based on the number of users.
• You can use the software app and select the best fitting one, however it requires research beforehand.
• As a service company, SaaS means that the users have access to software via using their internet browser or the web-based app.
• The software maker acts as a host for the product on their server, And that’s why SaaSproducts are also known as a web-based solution or hosted solution

Steps To Start Your Software Service As A Company

Well starting the business out of it, there are some of the things that you should be knowing.

However, the first problem that people face is knowing that they can start the company without having the technician’s expertise?

To answer that, it’s possible that you can run a successful Saas Company. You can hire a professional who can handle the technical aspects. But here you also focus on keeping learning about it so you can take the right hires.

Even though it takes time, it’s not impossible to learn the coding on your own.

Well now, when you can start the business, here are the steps that you need to follow :

Step 1: Develop A Solution For The Problem

Instead of starting with the basics of business i.e. pricing, building a team, and branding. It’s important for you to know a clear address to the problem and its solution.

Here if you are not solving the problem, your business might not run for long or successfully.

To find the problem that is worth fixing, here are some of the points that can help.

Fix As No Body Else Can Do 

When you are looking for the solution and fixing the problem, make sure you do much better than anybody else.

It should be much better, quicker, and cheaper as compared to what your competitor is offering.

Use The Knowledge You Hold

Your knowledge comes in handy here to find what void cant be filled. When you are from the industry, you know more than anyone else.

You can guess what can be fixed and what is not, and what are the gaps where nobody is looking for.

Solve What You Can Relate

To start the business and make it successful, there is one rule and that says to solve the problem that you have.

Focus on what caused you the issue, and how you didn’t find the solution. When you solve your own problem, you can find something genuine and need a solution.

Step 2: Write Up Your Plan

The next step that is important for you to follow is writing down the plan. There is no avoiding,  but instead of wasting time and putting efforts to complete a 40-page plan.

Write the one-page pitch. The idea is to write and put down your thoughts in a faster way. The first step here is to start the lean planning process.

This one is much more, easier and hassle-free as compared to the traditional methods in planning for your business.

Also, it suits the SaaS business-like models where you need to test new ideas frequently.

When you will write the pitch, it will be the rough covering of your overall strategy, including what you are planning to do. Also, it will add the tactics, i.e. how you are going to do it.

Adding the business model and schedule to make it complete.

To start, here are few things that your pitch should be covering  –

Strategy For Your Business

When you write the strategy for your business,

you need to add –

• One or two-line descriptions related to your business will be the unique value proposition.
• A description related to the problem your business is going to solve will be the product or service you offer.
• A description regarding who are you going to target,  here you can add the different marketing segments you will be targeting
• Adding the competitors,  including a brief description of how you are going to be different related to them.

Your Business Tactics

Here you need to list the sales channels. Describe the selling and how you will do it using the product.

• List out the marketing activities that will attract your customers to purchase the product or service you are offering.
• Add the key partners as well as resources that you might need. 
• List the core team and the roles they will be playing. If you don’t have the team yet, write down the roles you will be hiring based on.

Your Business Model

It’s beneficial that you already have the sales forecast and expense budget as early as you can.  However, it’s not something that is needed before you validate the idea.

When you are at this stage,  you should simply list whatever is your primary revenue stream. Along with key expenses that your business might have.

Later you can come back to create the proper sales forecast, expense budget, and flow forecast.

Also, you need to document how your business is going to make money.

Your Schedule

Here you need to outline the action plan that will move forward for the building of the business.

The action plan also includes the milestones, scheduling the tasks, etc. These also add the responsibilities, dates, and budgets.

Here you are iterative in the nature of planning the business, you can come back with the action plan. Add more steps as it will go on.

Step 3:  Validating The Idea

Your lean plan is basically a list of assumptions. Now here you need to do verifying if those assumptions are right or not.

And then adjust the plan, so you can address what you are learning.

You can do this by attempting to answer the basic yet important question i.e is that going to make your money?

Instead of jumping directly to your favorite idea. This can help you in checking, it can help in determining whether it worth going with or it can turn into a viable business.

To make sure that you are doing this, here are some of the ways that can help.

Talking To The Customers

The best way to know is to talk directly with your potential customers.

Well, the mistake that you can make is checking the secondary market research, instead of doing that primary research.

However, you don’t have to do with this,  by digitally or getting feedback on the topic.

Here the important thing you need to focus on is to get feedback from real people. Set the parameter of your business if the idea is merit or not.

When you talk to the people, they can help you in learning :

• The real and actual problem that they are facing.
• Understanding if your solution is going to solve their problem or not.
• Knowing the right way of selling the services or product and the worst ways.
• What is the right amount that makes your product sensible to purchase?
• What product that they are using for solving the problem.

Conducting The Competitive Analysis

Beyond knowing what your customer really wants, you also should know what the competitors are doing.

When you have competitors in your market, it’s a good sign that a problem has been identified.

Here is the trick that you need to do to figure out what kind of solution your customer is providing.

Creating the Minimum Viable Product

When you are starting the SaaS space, this is an almost necessary method for testing. Here you need to create the minimum viable product or MVP.

This means the simplest version of what you are offering.

This is used by all around the world for testing quick and quantitative products or features

Step 4: Exploring The Price Models & Customer Acquisition

Saas products are usually based on a subscription-based model.

Here the customer paying it for once for lifetime use, your customer is going to pay for an ongoing basis which can be monthly or annually. It can be considered as a software license.

Well, this is one of the popular models which is used for increasing the potential lifetime of your customers.  Here you will need the subscription-based sales forecast scenarios on different modeling options.

Testing To Get The Ideal Price

When you are launching the product, you are going to test different prices to find the best one.

As for the pricing models,   you need to be ready to shift the price until it fits the customer’s requirement.

If you have no idea where to start with, consider your competitors and look at what price they are offering.

Step 5 – Brand Establishment

To stand out, you are going to need a brand that can make it easy to recognize you among others.

You can create your own logos, find the colors, designs, etc. If not then you can outsource it.

Step 6 – Making it Legal

However, even if you don’t have the qualification to do software building, you will still need to comply with the industry where you are going to serve.

Make sure you are aware as well as following the rules and regulations.  And follow the right way to establish your company.

It includes choosing the right business structure and picking the suitable name for your business.

Register the company and do the paperwork to make your business legal.

Step 7 – Financing And Funding The Business

The business requires funds and financial backup. However, you can do the bootstrap for your startup. Here you can do most of the legwork on your own.

You can pitch the angel investor or venture capitalist for getting larger funds. Also, you can consider asking friends or family for help too.

Before you choose the funding make sure you have the detailed financial forecast with you. This will help you in understanding the complete cost, and the idea of the market so you know where and how your funds are going to be used.

Step 8 –  Build The Product You Sell

To the business, you need the product. The basic thing you can do here is to start as soon as you can.

Don’t wait for the end moments, instead of that start collecting the contact information and even do the light advertising.

Here, reach out to the customer as much as you can.

• The best way to start is to go small.
• Develop the important features first for the launch.
• Use the development methodology when you start.

Step 9 –  Develop The Go-To-Market Strategy

When you are planning to market the SaaS Product, you can find different ways for that.  Here you get the wide range that can be paid advertising to affiliate partnership.

You can use content marketing, use social media, etc like mediums too.

• Regardless of whether you have the budget or not. You are going to need to do the PR on your own.
• Participate using the online communities to reach more people and customers who are interested in your solution or the product.
• It’s important for SaaS companies, it’s important to do content marketing. It’s even affordable and effective.
• Try everything, at least you can do a bit of what you think you can handle.
• Your real-life products are important, they should have value so you can market to the right audience. value so you can market the right audience.
• Do the beta testing, use the product and do the marketing, launch the beta product.

Step 10 – Establish Metrics Of The Success

When you are running the business, It doesn’t matter if you like the numbers or not but you have to consider it.

It can be boring, scary, and time-consuming to track the metrics but these numbers are going to be the important factor for success.

When you have the right metrics, you can make the right decisions and reduce the guesswork.

Tracking the metrics helps in understanding how your business can grow in better ways.

Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs)

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