To start a successful SaaS, you need a few things:

• A product

• A business

• A way to sell

Choose Your Product

The whole idea behind a SaaS is solution selling. Your product should solve a problem that your target audience runs into frequently. For example, if mom and pop bakery is having trouble tracking and managing their inventory, they might be interested in a service that provides them with detailed spreadsheets and stores past data in the cloud. It would solve their current problem and make room for their business to grow in the future.

When you choose what kind of product to make, have your audience in mind. What problem does your SaaS solve? Who does it benefit? If you know who your audience is before you start designing, you're more likely to develop a winning product. You'll know exactly what their pain points are, what features would be most valuable to them and how to communicate the benefits of using your service.

Design Your Business

A lot more goes into product design than just coding and launching a new program. In fact, there are five major steps when developing a SaaS.

1. Research. As we mentioned in the previous section, you have to know your audience before you can start development. Perform in-depth market research to learn about what problems your target audience are facing, what demographics they're in and what other solutions are currently out there. Researching competitors is incredibly important in this stage because it will show you areas where you can set yourself apart from existing services.

2. Write a business plan. This is where all that research will serve you well. As you craft your business plan, clearly write out what pain points your product addresses, who it's targeted to, how it's unique and your target price points. Your business plan will act as a roadmap for you going forward and also help you secure funding from banks and investors if necessary.

3. Build your first version. This is called an MVP or "minimal value product." It's kind of like your software prototype. It should have all the basic functionalities as your final product but doesn't need to be quite as honed. It gives your investors an idea of how the finished software will work and you a chance to fix any bugs.

4. Hire developers. Even if you're a whiz at the keyboard yourself, creating an entire SaaS product takes a lot of time and energy. Hiring a team to help you map it out, choose a tech stack and write the code will speed up your timeline and take some stress off your plate. Make sure you choose people who believe in your product and are excited to be on board.

5. Build your business. Now it's time to start selling! Dig into some marketing techniques and reach out to people you know in the industry to start building some traction for your product. Remember to always stay focused on the problem your product solves as the reason people should purchase. 

The SaaS industry is on an upswing right now (and likely into the future) and ripe for new businesses to get in on the action. It's a great time to start developing your product, helping your audience and getting your foot in the door of this growing market. 

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