A Real-Life Guide to Starting How to Start a SaaS Business
The SaaS (Software as a Service) industry is still growing quickly, and many entrepreneurs are turning simple ideas into software businesses that can grow. You’re in the right place if you want to know how to start how to start a SaaS business.
This guide covers everything you need to know to start a SaaS business, from coming up with the right idea to launching your software and getting your first users. It is based on more than five years of experience working with how to start a SaaS business startups in a variety of fields.
The steps for starting a SaaS business are the same for both developers and business-minded entrepreneurs. Let’s take it apart.
What does it mean to have a SaaS business?
A SaaS company sells software to customers over the internet. You don’t have to download or install anything like you do with regular software. The user pays a monthly or yearly fee to use a cloud-based app.
Some examples are Zoom, Shopify, and Trello. All of these tools work in the browser, save user data in the cloud, and get regular updates.
Why should you start a SaaS business now?
If you’re thinking about starting a SaaS business and want to know if it’s worth it, here are some benefits to think about:
Recurring income: Subscriptions give you a steady stream of money each month.
Scalability: You can serve thousands of customers with just one codebase.
Lower costs: no shipping, warehouses, or physical inventory
Global reach: You can sell your product to anyone, anywhere.
High margins: Once it’s built, it doesn’t cost much to serve each new user.
You can also bootstrap with the SaaS model. You can start a lot of successful SaaS businesses with just a laptop and an internet connection.
Step 1: Find a Real Problem
A problem is what makes every successful SaaS business work. Your job is to find a problem that people are actively looking for a way to fix.
Check for problems in:
Your job or field Communities on the internet, like Reddit, Quora, and Facebook groups Common complaints from freelance clients
Businesses that have to do things by hand or over and over again
You can make a lot of money with a SaaS by solving a small problem, even if you don’t have to compete with big companies.
Step 2: Check to see if your idea is good
Checking your idea before you start building it saves time and money. This is how to test your SaaS idea:Make a simple landing page that tells people about your product and asks them to sign up for your email list.Ask your target audience to take a poll or survey. Start a waitlist
Give people a chance to sign up for a pre-sale or beta accessTalk to people in niche communities
Before they wrote a single line of code, I worked with a founder who got 800 emails just from Reddit and LinkedIn.
When you’re learning how to start a SaaS business with little money, this step is very important.
Step 3: Pick a business model for your SaaS
How you make money depends on your business model. Here are some common choices:
Freemium means that there is a free tier with limited features and paid upgrades.
Pricing by tier: different plans based on features or how much you use them
Pay-as-you-go: Users only pay for what they use.
Per-seat pricing: Based on the number of users or teams
Enterprise licensing: a flat rate or a quote based on the size of the business
If you’re new to SaaS, start with one or two price levels. Don’t make things too complicated too soon.
Step 4: Make a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
A minimum viable product (MVP) is a simpler version of your SaaS product. It should be good at solving one specific problem.
Some of the most popular tools for making MVPs are:
Bubble, Glide, and Softr are examples of no-code tools.
React (for the front end), Node.js or Django (for the back end)
Databases: Firebase and Supabase
Hosting: AWS, Heroku, and Vercel
If you don’t know much about technology, you might want to hire a developer for the MVP phase. You don’t need all the features to be ready; just one that shows value.
Step 5: Make a UI that is easy to use and looks professional
A clean user interface makes people trust you and makes things less confusing.
Things to pay attention to:
Easy-to-understand onboarding process
Design that works on mobile devices
Quick loading times
Easy to use
Consistency in visuals
A good user experience (UX) is often what makes a SaaS stand out from the rest. Don’t make things too complicated; simple is powerful.
Step 6: Build the core infrastructure
Here is what a basic tech stack might look like:
React, Vue, or Next.js on the front end
Backend: Node.js, Laravel, or Django
PostgreSQL and MySQL are the databases.
Authentication: Firebase Auth or Auth0
Stripe or Paddle for billing
Google Analytics, PostHog, or Mixpanel for analytics
There must be security. Use HTTPS, safe login methods, and backups on a regular basis.
Step 7: Come up with a plan for marketing and launching
Even a great product needs to be seen. Plan your go-to-market strategy while you work on your product.
Some good ways to launch are:
Posting about your journey on LinkedIn or Twitter
Making a list of early adopters’ email addresses
Starting on Hacker News or Product Hunt
Writing blog posts about your area of expertise
Making demo videos for YouTube
We got our first 1,000 users for a SaaS that targeted HR professionals just by posting content and interacting with people on LinkedIn.
When you want to start a SaaS business, half the battle is learning how to market it.
Step 8: Set a price and make money
Don’t be afraid to ask for money right away.
A good plan to start with:
Plan Monthly Cost Features
Starter: $19 for basic features and limited use
$49 for growthAll features, priority support
Business: Custom white-labeling, team access, and SLAs
Instead of a free plan, give people a free trial for 7 to 14 days unless you are sure they will buy more.
Step 9: Pay attention to customer support and feedback.
As people sign up, give them quick help. Early users will give you useful feedback and help you make your product better.
Use things like:
For live chat, use Intercom or Crisp.
Slack channels for help from the community
Notion or HelpScout for help files
Forms for feedback and the Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Building long-term trust means responding quickly and adding features based on how people use them.
Step 10: Make your website better for search engines
Focus on SEO early if you want to grow slowly over time.
How to make your SaaS site better:
Put your main keyword, “how to start a SaaS business,” in:
Tags for the title
Meta description
H1 and H2 headings
The first 100 words
Alt text for images
URL slug
Throughout the content (but in a natural way)
Put links to other blog posts that are similar to this one on your own site.
Make pages load faster and work better on mobile devices.
Send your sitemap to Google Search Console.
When you can, use schema markup.
Over time, search engines bring in 50 to 70 percent of users to many SaaS companies. Put money into content early.
Things I’ve learned from real life
Here are some common mistakes I’ve seen and made while working with several SaaS startups:
Adding too many features before launching
Not paying attention to what users say
Selling the product for too little
Publishing content too late
Not making a clear profile of your ideal customer
The main point is to keep it simple, check it quickly, and talk to your users often.
In conclusion, start now and get better quickly.
Now that you know how to start a SaaS business, it’s time to take action. Choose a problem, make a simple version, and get feedback quickly. SaaS is a long-term project, not a short-term one. But almost every great product started small and grew with real customers.
The sooner you start and learn, the faster you’ll be successful.
0 Comments