Start with a Proof of Concept (POC).

 

A proof of concept is the simplest version of your SaaS application. Basically you are proving that you can turn your idea into a workable version of the software. The reason this is a great start is because 

 

Kyros recently launched our own SaaS product, Sidekick Ai. Before we started making improvements to our platform or adding more bells and whistles, we made sure the core feature worked. 

 

Avoid overbuilding at all cost.

 

This sounds way simpler than reality. Because the reality is you will get excited for your SaaS software and start thinking long term, while adding features upon features. Trust us because we did the same thing with Sidekick Ai. 

 

We build this feature called Action Items. This feature took us weeks to build and we actually removed it later in the product life cycle because 1) nobody used it and 2) it was too complex. In theory this made sense to build and hindsight we probably should have not built this and waited for feedback first. 

 

Get feedback really fast.

 

Make sure that you get feedback very fast and be open to criticism. When you get this feedback make sure you don’t bend to every request and try to implement these. Try to collect a pool of feedback, organize it and pick the top most common requests to work on. Don’t build what you want, build what your customers want. Again it sounds super simple, but when you actually are in it you sometimes forget this. 

 

Over budgeting is going to be key for success.

 

When you are building your POC / MVP SaaS, you will need a budget to get the software on its feet. But after you go live, you’re going to need to make improvements on it, add features, remove features and support it. Make sure you have set aside a healthy budget for this or you will be stuck with a product that needs work but no money to improve it. The short of it is don’t spend all of your budget on the 1.0 version (POC / MVP). That is why we recommend building more of a proof of concept before a bigger 1.0 version. 

 

Figure out a pre launch distribution strategy. 

 

Be sure to never fall under the old assumption “if you build it, they will come”. Over our decade of experience building software for clients, rarely does something just take off because you built it. 

 

Instead, try to find marketplaces you can launch on like Product Hunt or AppSumo. We used AppSumo as our initial launching place with Sidekick Ai and it worked out really well. These marketplaces usually have early tech adopters who are okay with buggy software that is more of the POC versions. You can also tap into other networks you have, presell customer contracts and everything in between. Again, just make sure you are planning this before launch to increase your chances of success. 

 

Check out some of our showcases here.