The SaaS business is booming. The industry is estimated to grow to $266.4 billion by 2020 from $73.6 billion in 2018. Therefore, there are great opportunities as well as competition in the industry. Furthermore, there are numerous ways of making mistakes, especially when you’re on a low budget and not capable of absorbing errors till you start generating revenue.

This article discusses tips for building and growing a successful SaaS business, especially essential things to know before starting development. These tips are according to B2B and SaaS marketing agencies like GetUpLead, and others.

Before Starting Solution Development

The tips discussed in this section highlight things you should think about before you spend money on development.

# 1 – Building A Testing-first Mentality

Testing, experimenting, changing, and adapting, are critical to a business’s success. Avoid falling so much in love with your idea that adjusting it or giving it up for a different idea is difficult. It is important to note that an idea is just an idea until you get feedback from the marketplace. If your idea will lose money, finding out fast before adjusting or moving on to a new product incurs the least possible expense.

You’re only going to discover an idea that will lose you money by testing early and continuously. The best tester for your product is the market – it’s not you, your friends, or anyone who is expected to say something nice. Building great software is iterative. Create, get feedback, adjust, and test again.

# 2 – Preparing to Wear Many Hats

You may have one or two business competencies like being a marketer, developer, or salesperson, except you’re a jack of all trades. When starting your SaaS business, be prepared to embrace several roles, including customer support, product development, and marketing.

For instance, as a developer and visionary behind your product or service, you’ll have to spend more time leading the business instead of coding for hours. You’ll have to set aside your development hat and take on new ones like marketing, sales, and finance for a few hours each day at the least.

The biggest and most uncomfortable hat may be marketing because finding customers is a huge priority. Without customers, there is no business. Therefore, you have to meet people, make calls, and network as much as possible.

# 3 – Creating Your Elevator Pitch

Before developing your product, nailing your elevator pitch is crucial. At this point, you don’t need a long business plan, except you’re applying for finance or investment. Nevertheless, clarity of your business direction is essential.

Furthermore, breaking down your idea to the basics is advised. You have to define your audience, the problem you’ll be solving and how you’ll solve them.

Explaining your business in a single sentence is best:
Your {company name} is helping {target market} solve {problem} by providing a {solution}

Explaining your business this way will come in handy. Because you’ll be talking to many people about your business, succinctly explaining your business value increases your professionalism and credibility.

Furthermore, your business explanation gives you what to test. You’ll be able to identify if the problem is peculiar to your target market and if the solution you’re providing is the correct one. It is best to test your hypothesis before developing the product.

# 4 – Identifying Your Advantage

Although your solution will hardly be the first in the market, it is not bad. There’s every possibility that another business has tried solving a problem, especially if the problem is common. When solutions have competition, it shows that there is a genuine problem and a demand for a solution, giving you something to beat.

Your business needs something to stand out, especially when you’re competing with other businesses.

You can make your business stand out by targeting a market section where you’re experienced and providing better services than other businesses. It is also best to ensure your service is quicker, cheaper, faster, and more complete. Other ways of standing out from your competitor are delivering excellent customer service and using a different pricing model, for instance, service vs. product.

# 5 – Testing Your Hypothesis

After finding a problem you want to solve, you have to determine its market. Most SaaS businesses fail because there isn’t enough need for them in the market. The money your business loses will be minimal if and only if you test your hypothesis before starting.

The best way to test your hypothesis involves finding people who need the solution, figuring out the best way to contact them, and contacting them to confirm if they have the problem you think and if they’re interested in your proposed solution.

Reaching out to multiple people is better because some won’t reply. Enthusiasm in your project is all you’re looking for. Although some people may indicate interest in your solution, it may be out of politeness.

Depending on the proportion of people enthusiastic about the project, you can know if your project is on the right track. Therefore, it is best to be in touch with these people because they’ll most likely be your first customers. Also, a continuous discussion will help you know how your customers deal with the problems and how much they value each solution.