More and more businesses are investing in SaaS due to its many advantages, including lower costs, scalability and integration, ease of use, seamless upgrade, high adoption rates, and more.
In fact, statistics suggest that 85% of SMBs will be investing more in SaaS in 2020.
It is also estimated that the corporate mobile market within SaaS will be worth $7.4 billion by 2021. And 73% of organizations said that almost all their apps would be SaaS by 2021.
So if you are a SaaS startup, you will want to get some valuable tips to get off on the right foot. Note that many SaaS companies and products fail within 3 years or so. So you will have to use the best possible strategies in order to be successful.
Here are 5 crucial tips that can help you to kickstart your SaaS startup:
1. Create a minimum viable product
MVP or a Minimum Viable Product is usually used when businesses are not able to tell initially which features users need. Basically, it’s an app version with just enough features to meet the needs of its early users. You can use it to gain the customer’s feedback without having to make a maximum investment.
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Plus, MVP can offer enough value to make the users want to use and buy the product, demonstrate the benefits of the product so as to engage initial users, and get the feedback that can be used in the future development of the product.
You should develop the MVP, keeping in mind the specifics of your SaaS project. For SaaS startups, an MVP can convince your potential investors and users about the potential of your product and prove its value.
Since MVP is a complete and ready-to-use solution, you will be able to analyze whether there will be demand for your product. Apart from that, it can reduce rework time and generate revenue.
2. Go For an Easy Pricing Model
There are several types of SaaS pricing model. The easiest among them to follow while selling a SaaS solution is flat-rate pricing. Here, you offer one product, a single set of features, and a single price. This pricing model is more comfortable to sell as you can focus all your sales and marketing effort on selling only one item. Plus, it is easy for customers to understand.
Another pricing model widely used by SaaS companies is usage-based pricing. It is also a simple pricing model and will benefit you if your subscribers are likely to scale up the use of your product. Initially, this model attracts your users with low pricing and then generates more revenue as they add more users or team-members.
Basically, the structure of the usage-based pricing model changes depending on the number of users using the product. If there is only one member, the price will be fixed. When you add another member, the price doubles, and it continues. Not only is this pricing model easy to manage, but it will also help startups forecast their revenues.
3. Embrace Remote Work
As a SaaS startup, you will have a limited budget and resources, making developing your minimum viable product (MVP) difficult.
And this is where remote work comes to your rescue!
When you embrace remote work and collaborate with an outsourcing firm, you will be able to create an MVP without using your entire budget and without affecting the quality of your product.
Hiring new talent in-house is not only costly but also a slow process. Moreover, it is not easy to build a team that collaborates well. Thus, by outsourcing your work during the development process of a SaaS product, you will get to work with more technical experts.
The benefits of embracing remote work also include affordability, as hiring talent in-house can be time-consuming and costly for SaaS companies. And it will help you tackle the demands of the market faster.
It is vital for SaaS companies to adapt and scale promptly, and outsourcing can help you do that.
While you are hiring, using hiring tools like Spark Hire, Jobma, and HireVue can help create a cohesive recruiting experience.
4. Ensure a Clean and User-friendly Interface
The thing that sets apart your software-as-a-service (SaaS) product from your competitor’s product is a great design. You might have built a beautiful SaaS product, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s usable.
Thus, make sure that your interface is clean and user-friendly to create a holistic product experience, satisfying your customers and turning them into your promoters. Keep in mind that an excellent user interface is going to either break or make your business.
As per stats, 8 in 10 customers are ready to pay extra if they get a better customer experience. And 70% of customers abandon purchases due to bad user experience. So make sure that you are designing your product with user experience in mind.
Here’s a good example from LambdaTest:
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Their web app is a great example of expressive visual hierarchy. Every element has clear functionality, and it offers an interactive user interface as well as a great user experience.
Another great example is the Drift app.
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It is built in a minimalistic design and has enough whitespace and flat illustrations, making it more interactive and user-friendly.
5. Stay Focused on The Core Value of Your Product
Core product value embodies a solution to a real issue that is valuable enough to make users want to buy your SaaS product. Your core product value will be initially recognized when your user uses your product and have an A-Ha moment.
Thus, make sure that you always stay focused on the core value of your product when you design it.
Wrapping-Up
There you have it – 5 effective tips that can help you to get off on the right foot with your SaaS product.
Statistics suggest that 92% of SaaS companies fail even after growth and funding within 3 years. Thus, make sure to conduct thorough market research before you launch your product and create a minimum viable product.
Plus, make sure to follow other tips like embracing remote work, selecting an easy pricing model so that your product sells fast, designing a clean and user-friendly interface, and staying focused on the core value of your product while designing it.
