A complete Guide on SaaS Product Development

What is SaaS?

Software as a service, the most common used tool in the world of cloud computing and you are also using it all the time in your software development.

SaaS offer you:
• Hosted applications
• Developer tools
• Operating systems
• Storage Servers
• SSL/ Firewalls
• Data centers

SaaS allows user to connect to cloud based apps over the internet for example Gmail, Office 365,Dropbox, one drive, Sales Force. Cisco Webex, Slack.

SaaS softwares are:
• Subscription based in which you pay per user.
• You have access to the sophisticated applications like CRM softwares.
• You can access to these cloud based softwares from anywhere.

Some Basic But Effective Principle in SaaS Development

So in this post, we are going to see that how can you start a SaaS product right from the scratch. If you are an entrepreneur and want to build a SaaS business.

To start your brand new SaaS business you need to follow the simple guidelines which we are going to mention.

So before you actually write a code to build the product you got to write a code to build an audience. And that is the main principle in developing a SaaS product.

So every time you need to start a SaaS business you need a blueprint for your business model and especially if you are in the early stage.

So in this early stage usually it is a founder that has a technical background and is at exhaustive tech jobs and really wants to start their own business.

So these principle to build your SaaS business are as follows:

Ideal Customer Profile

You have to be really specific about your Ideal customer Profile ICP. So if know that you want to start a SaaS business but did not want to venture into a backed one business and only want to do a self-sufficient profitable SaaS business that solves a very specific need and that is regardless of what we choose or not on venture down the line or not. And that is how every business starts.

You need to follow the framework mentioned below:

So What is This ICP?

Whenever you are a startup founder, every quarter of the company is different, and in each quarter you have to grow and it’s really an embraced personal development.

And as you will embrace this journey you will find that personal development is never taught to you unless you seek it out. So your ICP is your people who tend to be high achievers.

Macro Trends

So second thing is to identify the macro trends. The macro trend means that what is that big thing that is happening to your ICP. It is a conversation going in your mind and it is a problem they are aware of but there not really a solution for it. For example, people have Sunday scaries or Sunday jitters issues which is the real thing.

And this thing can be the macro trend. And when research is carried on this macro trend it was seen that nearly 80 % of the employees experience Sunday scaries at one point or another and on top of that not only you may feel this Sunday jitter on a Sunday afternoon or Sunday night, the next that you are likely to feel more pressure because of that transition in we work with and so you will realize that if you spend lets ay 30 min or 1 hour to plan your week the right way.

To acknowledge where you stand and to thinks about what worked well in the previous week. And you do this every Sunday you will be able to punch out the Sunday jitters that you were facing earlier and you will be more proactive than earlier. And this is the key thing that actually transforms you to CEO from an employee.

So start planning your weekend on your Sundays to accomplish your goals. So your transformation here is the unstoppable Sunday and to teach people how to plan out their week.

Formulating Manisfesto

Out of the three steps mentioned above, once you figure out your ICP, macro trends and transformation come out the next step is manifesto. Every content, the idea you have in your mind you link with it with your manifesto.

Building Audience

And when you post this manifesto online and run standard marketing practices before writing a single line of code, you will start building an actual audience. And with the growth of your audience, you will have quality customer conversation with your engaged audience.

You will connect them via email, chat, or maybe bring them to webinars and through this, you will be able to carry out the survey with more and more people and finally, your product will start to emerge. And it is the classic strategy.

So that is why it is important to build an audience before building a project. And with this audience, you can figure out their query in your ICP about what is their common problem.

After building an audience and having a conversation with them you get to know what they value most. And they value high achievers and a proactive mindset.

SaaS Development

If you start with these simple processes, you can de risk yourself and you can get save yourself a lot of time in building a right product. And then you can start your journey on building a SaaS business.

And before writing lines of codes, your manifesto shows your point of view on the market about what should exist before you make the software.

Then this manifesto gets readied by the audience and if you are surrounded by the audience you can make out your audience demand.

And with this engaged audience, you are able to acquire the leads at a very low cost because we are not only offering them the software also teaching them something different and with this engage with to solve their problems.

So that is how this all comes together.

Steps to Build Your 1st SAAS Product Right From the Scratch

Market Research

First of all, you should find out if it is a decent concept to construct a SaaS product. Analyze the segment in which you are interested.

If the approach on the premises prevails, analyze the advantages of the model itself. You must examine your business idea’s practicality. Market research is going to help you solve this problem.

In order to do this yod need to find out:
• Target audience
• Your competitors
• Latest trend in market

Your Business Models

The business model acts as a crucial tool to identify the main objectives for the development of SaaS products.

For this you need to identify:
• What makes your product different from your competitors?
• How will you handle the issues of your clients?
• How you will be able to target your audience?
• How to make revenue from your business model?
• Look out for the sources to back up your finances.
• Goal setting for business to grow.

The Essential SaaS Requirements

• Data protection and privacy for the user.
• Secure application software
• Ability to integrate with the existing tools and softwares.

Technology infrastructure for Business Requirement

The technology stack is a combination of software development programming languages, frameworks, and tools. Nowadays, technology provides a vast array of possibilities from which to pick.

Let’s take a closer look at which technology tools are best for each stage of the SaaS development process.

Server Side Development
The server-side is managed through server-side development. It builds the implementation details of your SaaS application and develops its reactivity while remaining unseen to users. In this case, a dependable framework, such as Node.js or Django, php is recommended.

Required Databases
Databases store the data that your applications require. We recommend NoSQL, MySQL and PostgreSQL as database options.

Hosting Services
After this you have to choose the hosting services which you can get from the various hosting providers such as Amazon Web Servicesm (AWS), Bluehost, GO Daddy and Bigrock etc.

Building a SaaS Team

Now this can be a challenging task as finding the right person for right job can be pretty hectic sometime. In the SaaS development you will need to hire graphic designer, Software developer, QA and QC team, BDOs and BDEs and the most important the research team.

Minimum Variable Product

Creating a minimum viable product is a tried and tested technique to evaluate your business model. MVP, contrary to the comprehensive products, has only the absolute basic functionality. It is, therefore, adequate for drawing early responses and feedback.

So finally with all these steps, you can start your SaaS development journey.