How to begin a SaaS?
My friend and I (both software engineers) began working on a side project earlier this year with the intention of turning it into a SaaS. However life got in the way, moving, finding new jobs, etc, but now that that's all settled we've reconvened on our idea and wanted to pivot a bit and think a bit more seriously about it. We initially developed our idea as a web app, but we believe a mobile app is more suitable for the app's purpose (with possibly using a web app for non-users).
So far, this is what we have:
- An idea, of course
- A rough idea as to what our product should be used for/how users would want to interact with it (haven't done any actual product validation with anyone)
- This was originally just a side project, hence no product validation, but we're not quitting our jobs or anything to focus on this. It's more so for the experience of actually creating and getting a SaaS to market, even if it fails
- A somewhat fleshed out web app version with a shoddy frontend & backend
- Some quick whiteboarded mobile app screens
- A rough list of some new tools to use our lives easier (ie something like Supabase for a BaaS instead of writing our own backend)
So, what's next? Do we just start writing out some user stories and organizing those into epics or something along those lines? Start cranking out some code and figuring it out along the way (which was what we did with the web app)?
Would love to hear any input/advice from this community! Been lurking ever since my friend and I started working on this side project/SaaS :)
I mean, if you are at the point where the web app works even if it’s rough around the edges, then I would say validate the idea. Get it into the hands of some people who would use it. Get their feedback and decide whether to keep going, pivot, or prioritize features. Consider reading a book like http://momtestbook.com/
I’ll take a look into that, thanks!
Yep! I think this is the way to go about this. Get to an MVP of the mobile app as quickly as you can.
It would still be a valuable experience to validate your idea with your target audience because it will also give you a better idea of what features to focus on and what features you might be able to put on the back burner.
And who knows, maybe it will lead to your first customers!
Last but not least, set goals and celebrate milestones along the way. 🚀
What’s the best way to validate an MVP, after actually getting it into the hands of others of course. I’ve let a friend or two use the web app just to give them the gist of the idea, but that was about it. Thank you for your response!
Family and friends are an excellent first step in validating your MVP, as long as you can trust them to be brutally honest with you and your product.
However, look into creating a Persona. I did a quick search and found this tool by HubSpot:
https://www.hubspot.com/make-my-persona
I read the "learn more" sections, and it seems to be a tool that could help you out.
After you've created the persona, you know (part of creating the persona) in what communities your ideal customers hang out. Drop your MVP there, or even better, try to get a couple of one-on-one's to deepen your understanding of your customer and the problem you set out to solve.
Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions. My email is attached to my profile. 🚀
Super helpful, I appreciate it a lot, thank you again!
It seems you think about it more like a engineer than like a startup founder/indie hacker. Don’t focus too much on tech and code.
Validate the idea with what you have right now. Find some users, talk with them and charge them money,imo it’s the best what you can do before writing more code.
You’re spot on with your read on me, I’ve never attempted to startup anything hence the conception of this post lol. I will say I’m hesitant with the “charge them money” thing for something that’s an MVP at best, but of course the goal is to actually have a product that’s validated/actually usable/chargeable eventually.
Just validate and start.