How to Turn Your Hobby into a SaaS Company?
If your hobby is your true passion, then why not consider making it your ideal career. After all, viable businesses are often born out of hobbies. And who doesn’t want to spend most of their life doing what they really love to do?
If you are mulling overturning your hobby into a SaaS company, you can hit the right path after completing a series of steps and gaining a variety of skills.
Use these tips to turn your hobby into a SaaS company.
Set a Realistic Goal
Simply deciding to turn your passion into a paycheck isn’t a goal. Indeed, you want to be working on something you are devoted to, but what else you want from your business venture?
If required, can you quit your steady job and run it full-time? Or are you looking for a side hustle? Or do you want to challenge yourself and give yourself the liberty to make something on your own?
Correct answers to these questions will aid you in looking past your passion and see what you expect to get out of running your own business. When you are able to outline your reasons clearly, it becomes easier to go on the course and remind yourself why you chose to become an entrepreneur in the first place.
Conduct Market Research
Quite often, entrepreneurs get caught up in the trap of being smitten with a business idea or product. When you are starting something that you are really keen on, it can be more perilous. For this reason, conducting marketing research is essential to ensure your business idea doesn’t just appeal to you.
The market research will give you a good idea about your potential customers. Identify your target market and ask questions by analyzing the competition and considering the available market.
That said, don’t get too engrossed in this stage because it can swiftly turn into a barrier that will cease you from getting your SaaS business out of the idea stage. The whole idea behind conducting the research is to verify that you are pursuing something with good market potential. And since you are pretty likely to come back to this step often during the life of your business, don’t worry about perfectly researching every aspect.
Identify Your Business Model
It can be really easy to find a solution to a problem and jump right into product development. But it won’t bear any fruits since you really don’t know how you will make money out of it. Being in such a situation means you won’t ever get your SaaS business idea off the ground.
Simply put, you must know:
- How much it cost to develop your product or service?
- Will it be a subscription model?
- How much your ideal customer will pay for it?
- How much could you sell it for?
- Will it be a one-time purchase?
- Ad-revenue, leasing, franchising, or perhaps crowdsourcing?
These are among the many questions you need to consider if you actually want to sell a SaaS product or service.
Apart from that, find a platform that best fits your customer base, pricing strategy, and business offering. But be sure that whichever platform you choose, you’ll be able to ake more money than you are spending. Simply put, adjust and adapt as you go, but it is always better to start on the right foot.
Test the Business Concept
Starting your hobby as a side hustle won’t be a bad idea to test it out first. Once the proceeds reach a level close to your current income, it may be a good time to quit your full-time job and shift your focus towards your SaaS business.
Be sure to have enough cash flow that you can last at least two years, suggests Usman Tariq, founder of Intact Solutions & DFY SaaS. Mind you, it’s emotionally and financially tough to go from being an employee to a full-time entrepreneur. To evade worrying about rent, salaries, or food on the table, make sure to save up at least two years of expenses. This way, you can smoothly sweep through the early years.
Chart Out a Business Plan
It’s like a blueprint for a business, and it often entails getting a business loan. Even if you aren’t looking to raise funds, don’t skip this step. As per the report published in the Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, businesspeople who have a formal business plan are 16 percent more likely to gain viability than the ones who don’t.
Here’s what your business plan must include:
- Company Overview
- An Executive Summary
- List of Products/Services
- Marketing Tactics
- Sales and Marketing Scheme
- Metrics and Milestones
- Financial Plan
- Managerial Team
If you are doing something to make dollars, it’s vital to take it seriously and develop a viable business plan.
Build Your Brand
When it comes to building recognition, branding is essential. This requires you to have a business name and logo to convey your brand personality and look good on the business card, advertisement, and business card. Pick a color scheme that best resonates with your ideal customers.
Some people can do this with little guidance, while others seek professional help to get the job done proficiently.
Develop Your SaaS Software
Find creative developers to build your SaaS software. Outsourcing the development fully or partially will give you a lot of advantages. For instance, you can focus on the operational side and other processes of the business.
Whatever the case may be, the most important step you should focus on is hiring reliable software development experts. Here’s the list of professionals that should be on your team:
- Business Analyst
- UI/UX Designer
- Software Developers
- Quality Assurance Engineer
- Project Manager
Typically, there are three different ways to finding the best specialists:
In-House Team:
This works best for large corporations and companies with a permanent workload. The key advantage of embracing this approach is that you get full control of the development process.
Freelancers:
Though this is the cheapest way to find qualified experts in specific technologies and fields, but the biggest problem with them is they often fail to manage their workload. Many a time, when the deadline approaches, they suddenly disappear without any intimation and leave you in a precarious if not deadly situation.
Custom Software Development Company:
A development company like DFY SaaS that specializes in building SaaS products helps companies of all sizes with different project scopes. The remote team provides you with high-quality services that aids you take your SaaS idea from fantasy to the next big thing quickly and efficiently. The best part about engaging a custom software development company is you won’t have to manage their work. You simply pay for the actual work done.
Choose a Pricing Model
If it comes right down to the pricing, there are several models for SaaS solutions that can significantly influence the popularity of your product. The best pricing models are adjusted according to the target users’ needs. Here are a few examples:
- Usage-Based Pricing
- Pricing Per Feature
- Free Version
- Pricing Per Active User
- Flat Rate
It isn’t uncommon for SaaS businesses to initially offer their product or services at low or promotional prices if they aren’t offering free trials.
Craft a Perfect Elevator Pitch
To share your business mission, craft a compelling elevator pitch that you could describe in 30 seconds or less. For instance, if your SaaS service business will help businesses seize their next big opportunity, tell them exactly what they need to ace the game. And it can only happen when you know what it takes to capitalize on the opportunity.
More importantly, show them how acquiring your SaaS services can raise their chances of seizing the opportunity.
Create Your Web Presence
Research by Salesforce and Publicis Sapient showed that 87% of the buyers start a purchase online. It means, if your business isn’t online, you will never appear on your ideal customer’s radar.
Creating a professional website and social media pages will help you attract your target audience. And don’t forget to list your business on Google My Business. With the web presence and all the right tools, you can tap into your ideal market quickly.
Come Up with a Marketing Strategy
It’s time to tell the world that you have a fantastic product or service. For this, you need a comprehensive marketing plan, but it doesn’t have to be expensive. You can start with paid Google ads and social media marketing campaigns. If you see a spark, then use search engine optimization (SEO) to rank your SaaS business website on the first page of Google.
It will give you more qualified leads as potential customers will come across your business whenever they search for relevant products or services.
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