The SaaS market is huge and can lead to massive revenue if done right. So if you have an idea for a product you want to build, now is probably the best time to get started. In order to do it right though, there are essential steps you need to follow.
Read on to find out everything you need to know if you want to build your own SaaS platform.
Test the market
It’s very important to know the market or industry for your product. Create a simple landing page to showcase how your product is going to solve your customers’ needs. Include a short video presentation and a call to action button so that you can collect emails of your visitors in exchange for free content such as an e-book or discount for when your product is available.
To gain exposure, promote your test page on social media – LinkedIn and Reddit being the best, and don’t forget to install Google Analytics to find out more about the location and demographics of your visitors.
Work out your pricing model
Are you going to offer flat-rate or usage-based pricing? Is your product going to be freemium or paid per feature? You need to determine your pricing model by finding the balance between value and profit.
Think about what your product provides to the customers and what your business needs in terms of revenue and pick the model that best suits your idea.
Write your requirements and specifications
Before building an entire application, you should build an MVP – Minimal Value Product. It will contain your application’s core functionality and will let you easily test your product and get valuable feedback. To build an MVP, you should have all your requirements and details for your product written as clear and specific as possible. If you are a non-technical person, it’s better to hire a consultant to help you with this task.
Choose a tech stack
It’s important to pick carefully the technology stack you want your SaaS product to be developed in. Consider whether it’s suitable for your product and does it supports all the features you need, how big is the developer resource pool, would it be possible to integrate with other platforms or products, and everything else that will ensure you pick the right tech stack.
Find the developers to build your SaaS platform
No matter if you need an individual or a whole theme to build your product, they must have a proven track record when it comes to building and implementing web-based applications. Some of the skills you should look for include frontend development, experience with JavaScript libraries, server-side programming, writing database queries.
Market your product
You should begin marketing your product before building it in order to generate anticipation and excitement around it. Start promoting on social media, build a mailing list, get the word out, and create some buzz!
Get involved in the process
While your SaaS platform is being built, keep in regular contact with your developer or team. This way you can clear all the uncertainties that might come up and make sure your requirements are met and your core features are built to spec. Expect to go through several versions of the product before it’s finally ready to be deployed.
Deploy your Saas platform
When it comes to deployment of your SaaS product you can choose between the two main cloud providers – Microsoft Azure and Amazon AWS, that can host your SaaS solution. Before releasing your product to everyone, you can do a private beta test with a selected group of users to make sure there are no serious issues before the main launch and gather valuable feedback on additional features your product might benefit from.
Track the engagement
Your product is finally out in the world, but your job is far from finished! Make sure to monitor user engagement and track KPIs and use all the feedback you receive for the improvement of your SaaS application.