5 Tips To Build A Successful SaaS Product

5 Tips To Build A Successful SaaS Product

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by Micah James — 2 years ago in Development 3 min. read
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Globally, the SaaS market is worth more than $145B. Forecasts indicate that it will reach around $171B in 2011.

Altar.io sees this trend. We assist entrepreneurs and business leaders in bringing new tech products to market. More and more of these products are SaaS.

What does it take to create a profitable business within the SaaS sector?

This article will provide you with a 5-step plan that I have developed from my experiences building SaaS products.

1 Craft your Value Proposition

Determining the value it will bring to your users is the first step to building a SaaS product that’s successful is key.

All of this starts with your problem, the people for whom you are solving it, the competition in the market, and the way your solution differs from the rest.

Here are the steps:

  1. First, identify the problem that you want to solve.
  2. How will your SaaS product address this problem?
  3. Who are your target users This is where I recommend UX personas based on demographics, psychology, as well as behaviors?
  4. What are your target users doing to solve the problem? Find out what your competition is doing to reach your market.
  5. What makes your product superior to the existing solution? What do you have that the current solution does not?
  6. Create an Elevator Pitch. Using all the information, create a clear pitch that summarizes everything clearly and concisely.
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2 Establish Your Primary Assumptions

At this stage, your value proposition has some assumptions.

You assume that people have a problem and that your solution is the answer.

Make a list of all the assumptions that you make about your product.

Research is the best way to verify assumptions. To validate your assumptions, start by looking at your competitors to determine if they have proven them.

You will need to validate the other elements by building your product. This is usually done using the MVP, POC, or waterfall model.



3 Validate Your Assumptions

You now need to confirm the assumptions made in the previous step. This is done by building the first version of your SaaS product. This is where I recommend the MVP model.

Use your list of assumptions to determine which features you should create in order to validate them as quickly as possible.

Once you have a clear list of features, it’s time to move to the next stage of development. Choose your tech stack.

You should not only focus on the minimum if you are building an MVP.



4 How to Choose the Right Tech Stack for Your SaaS Product

Non-technical entrepreneurs should consult a technical stakeholder before making any decisions regarding your SaaS product.

These are the most used technologies in the SaaS products technology stack to help get you started.

  • Frontend Javascript frameworks like Vue.js, Angular, or React.
  • Backend development: Node.js and Django
  • Database: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB
  • A SaaS hosting provider: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure
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5 Join a Development Team

Congratulations if you are a technical founder, or have built your development team already because you now have all the tools you need to create your first version of your SaaS product.

There are three options available to you, non-technical founders, for software development for your SaaS products.

You have two options: either hire a CTO/Technical founder, hire a team ( whom you will need to manage), or partner with a software development firm.

This topic is not something I will go into too much detail about. Rui Lourenco (my co-founder) has written an entire article How to Build a Successful Minimum Viable Products on http://altar.io. It covers the topic more in detail.

As soon as you find the right CTO/tech co-founder, hire them.

It is better to get the senior technical stakeholder on your staff as soon as possible.

However, it can be difficult to find the right person. You have other options that can help you keep your time to market shorter. Make sure you hire professionals who are committed to the highest standards of work.

Micah James

Micah is SEO Manager of The Next Tech. When he is in office then love to his role and apart from this he loves to coffee when he gets free. He loves to play soccer and reading comics.

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