Founder and CEO of Enozom, more than 20 years in building software products and SAAS services, and the founder of Day Off.
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Nineteen years ago, I started my first project: a website for learning that made money from Google Ads. This idea worked well at first, but it wasn’t making much money after four years, perhaps because of the decay of Google Ads revenues in general.
Since then, I've wanted to make a software service that people would pay to use, instead of relying on ads or other uncertain ways to earn money. One idea I had was based on the fact that, as a CEO, I often had trouble keeping track of when my team wanted to take days off. I looked at what was available and found most options were too complicated, designed for HR staff and didn’t let employees easily ask for time off or see their leave balance.
This led me to create a tool, which I released as a software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering. Building this product taught me a lot. In this article, I want to share ten lessons for other companies to consider when developing their own SaaS products.
The Name
Selecting an appropriate name for your product is essential. It needs to be easy to recall, reflect your brand's identity and be attractive to your audience. Finding the right domain name for your service can be complex.
A helpful tip is to consider recent domain extensions such as .io, .me, .app and .cloud. These extensions have become more recognized by users, partly because several successful websites now utilize them.
Mobile First
Many product owners believe that mobile versions should only support basic features and not include every functionality of their service. However, my experience shows that offering a comprehensive mobile service can attract a significant number of new users.
Today, people expect to manage their entire business, including account setup and payments, directly from their mobile devices. If budget constraints exist, I would even advise to prioritize developing the mobile version before the web version.
Start Small (MVP Version)
Start with a basic, streamlined version of your product and enhance it gradually. Focus on essential features that are quick to implement and offer significant value to your customers.
This approach allows you to evaluate your product's performance with minimal initial investment.
Payment Methods
Providing various payment options simplifies the purchasing process for your users, enhancing their satisfaction and expanding your audience. If you want to operate internationally, you will likely also need to accommodate a wide range of payment methods.
With a growing preference for mobile wallet payments, incorporating options like Google Pay, Apple Pay and in-app purchases is crucial for success.
Live Support
Users anticipate immediate assistance when they encounter issues with your product. Providing live support ensures they receive help promptly, which is key to maintaining user satisfaction and fostering trust in your service.
In fact, some customers may even assess your product's quality by asking simple questions to your online support team, checking for quick response times.
Online Demos
Showing how your service works through online demos can convince people to use it. Seeing is believing, and a demo can help people understand the benefits of your service. Make sure that your demo link is prominently displayed on your website, as this will make it convenient for prospective customers to see it.
Usability
Usability may sound straightforward, and many claim their product is user-friendly. However, achieving true usability is one of the most demanding aspects of product development, requiring extensive work, testing, monitoring and innovation.
Onboarding
Investing significant resources in acquiring new customers makes it crucial not to lose them due to a complicated onboarding process.
Aim to streamline the introduction to your application with a simple three-to-four-step wizard following registration for account setup. Enhance the experience by selecting default settings that align with their expectations and are popular among users in their region or industry.
Free Version And Simple Pricing Model
Consider providing a basic version of your service, as this can enable you to attract a wider customer base and gather more feedback on your service. Users of the free version are likely to upgrade if they find your service beneficial for their business.
The Pro version should offer additional benefits to subscribers, with clear and straightforward pricing that avoids hidden fees or extra costs. Decide on a pricing strategy, whether it's based on the number of users, transactions or a flat rate. It's important to continually test and monitor the effects of any changes to your pricing model to understand their impact.
New Features And Upgrades
Finally, continuously improve your service with new features and updates to keep it interesting and useful for users. Paying attention to feedback and trends helps you keep your service up-to-date and valuable.
Bear in mind that numerous customers assess the quality of your service by how often you release updates. This frequency serves as a key indicator to them of your commitment to product support and responsiveness to customer feedback.
Conclusion
Sharing these lessons, I hope to help others who are thinking about starting their own SaaS business. These tips can guide you through both the challenges and the successes of creating a successful Saas service.
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