Software as a service (SaaS) is an innovative business model. In the case of a SaaS company, the software is deployed directly to the consumer, and usage is billed on a subscription basis, normally monthly. This model is categorized by the software itself, and so it could apply to companies of different types: internet-enabled applications such as Salesforce.com, traditional applications such as Microsoft Office 365, or anything in between.
Let’s now cover some secrets that can make your SaaS venture a huge success:
1. They Get Funding
Funding is critical to your company’s survival, so you must get enough funding to support the business. The amount of money you need will depend on how much revenue your software as a service (SaaS) company generates per month and how much it costs to run. If you’re unsure, start small and build up your funding over time until you have enough capital for growth.
To get funding:
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Look for the Right Investors
Establish what kind of investor or lender would be best suited for your type of business model by researching their past investments and loans. Look at their website or LinkedIn profiles—investors often give information about themselves online that can help determine if they are likely candidates for investment with your SaaS startup idea.
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Narrow Down your Search for Investors
Narrow down the potential lenders/investors based on whether they specialize in lending money for startups like yours, if their financials are solid (i.e., do not default), etcetera; then send them an email introducing yourself as someone who has an exciting new idea but needs money right away!
This should make them eager to learn more about what makes this SaaS company different than others they’ve seen before.
2. They Really Know Their Markets
You need to understand your market to know how to address it. First, you need to know who your customers are and what they do with the software; this will inform how they use it. Second, you need to understand the market size of that particular sector: is it growing? Is it stagnant? Thirdly, you should understand the market potential (how much revenue can this sector generate?) Fourthly, once you have all these pieces of information lined up and organized into categories by type (for example, demographics or geography), look at trends over time because they help predict where things will head next.
Finally, we’ll look at growth rates between different segments within the industry known as niche markets which are often overlooked but can bring great value if handled correctly
3. They Make Sure their Technology is Scalable
You have to make sure your technology is scalable. The key question to ask is: Can I easily scale my solution? If the answer is no and you have a small team or little funding, it’s time to rethink what you’re doing.
You also need to make sure that scaling doesn’t come at too high a cost, either in time or dollars. For example, if it takes three days for each server deployment, you’ve got a problem on your hands if usage suddenly spikes and there’s no way to deploy new servers fast enough.
Finally, consider how much complexity will be introduced when scaling up; do all those extra servers need access control lists? Are they even needed at all?
4. They Aren’t Afraid to Go Out of the Box
It’s a fact: there is no silver bullet that will help your SaaS company grow. There are, however, several things you can do to make it easier for your business to grow. One of the most important steps in this process is willing to venture out of the box and try new things.
You have to be willing to try new things because growth isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible either!
5. Set Performance Indicators
When it comes to setting performance indicators, it’s important to set them in a measurable, relevant, and achievable way.
Companies will often set targets that are neither relevant nor achievable. If you want your team members to meet their targets, they need the tools and resources available to succeed. If you don’t give them what they need, what’s the point?
If your goal is for people who work in your company (whether employees or contractors) to have an average customer satisfaction rating of 95% on all products/services offered by your company, you may be disappointed if this doesn’t happen because there could be many reasons why this isn’t happening such as not enough time was spent on research before launching a new product; not enough money was invested into making sure that customers were happy with what was being offered; or perhaps the customer service team aren’t trained properly so don’t know how best ways deal with difficult situations when dealing with customers over phone calls, etc.
6. They Offer Free Trials/Freemium
A free trial is a great way to get new customers and feedback on your product. If you are trying to sell something that has a short value proposition, like an app or an online service, then offering the first month for free could be the best way to accomplish both goals simultaneously.
One of the most important things in building successful software as a service (SaaS) companies is knowing when it’s time to charge customers. You want them to pay as soon as possible but not before they’ve given you enough feedback to know what they’re getting themselves into when signing up for your premium plan. Offering them a trial period is the best way for them to understand how much value exists in your product before signing up for anything long-term.
A good time frame for this type of trial might be 7 days at no cost with unlimited access and full support from your team during those 7 days. You can even give away some limited edition features during this time if necessary.
7. They Focus on Brand Advocacy
Brand advocacy is a key metric for SaaS companies. It is the measure of customer loyalty and the strength of your brand, and it also measures customer satisfaction and retention. So if you want to grow your business, it’s important for you as a company to invest in growing brand advocacy among your customers.
However, there are some common misconceptions about what this means.
Brand advocacy doesn’t mean just asking people to recommend you or leave a review—it’s much broader than that. Brand advocates are engaged with your company through word-of-mouth referrals throughout their entire experience using one of your products or services (or both). These kinds of referrals can come from social media posts like Facebook comments or Twitter replies; they can also come from email marketing campaigns where existing customers send out messages on behalf of other users without directly mentioning themselves as being part of “the team.”
8. Introduce a Referral Program
Referral programs provide a way to grow your business by getting others to do the work for you. Here are some reasons why they’re effective:
- Referrals are earned, not bought. When people refer to their friends, they feel honored that someone trusts their opinion and wants to share it with others.
- Referrers get rewarded with some kind of incentive—money or a discount on future purchases—so they have an incentive to continue participating in the program.
- By rewarding referrals with discounts on future purchases (commonly called “upsells”), you can increase customer lifetime value by encouraging long-term loyalty from existing customers who love what you offer but could always use more of it.
9. Create a Strong Partner Network
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Partner with other SaaS Companies
If you’re a marketing automation platform, it makes sense to partner with another company that specializes in social media tools.
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Partner with Other Software Companies
If you have an accounting tool, partner with another company that creates amazing invoices for your customers so they can easily bill their clients for work done using your product.
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Partner with Service Companies
A lot of SaaS businesses rely on outside experts to help them improve their offerings; if you’re one of these businesses, find those experts and let them do the heavy lifting instead of trying to do everything yourself.
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Partner with Other Industries Entirely
If your company is focused on helping small businesses succeed through ecommerce platforms and payment processing APIs (like ours), there are plenty of companies out there who could benefit from what we offer—and we get access to all kinds of valuable data when they sign up as customers.
10. Adopt Product-Led Growth
The best way to grow a SaaS company is by focusing on product-led growth. Growth is a product problem, not a marketing problem. You can’t grow your business by throwing features or content at the wall and hoping that something sticks. You need to focus on building an amazing product that helps people solve their problems, then figure out how to get those people to use your product in the first place.
Once you have this core of loyal users, it’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to make more money from them (and preferably from other customers as well). This involves creating more revenue streams from your customers rather than increasing your customer count through new channels (which are both expensive and difficult).
It is Possible to Be a Successful SaaS Company
Yes, it is possible to make money from Software as a Service (SaaS). It’s also possible to be successful in the SaaS space. In fact, many companies out there have achieved success in this area and made a name for themselves by doing so—just look at Salesforce and Shopify.
But what if you aren’t quite there yet? What if you want your company to become one of those “successful SaaS companies?” Is it possible? Yes!