So I've got a SaaS idea, What Now?

[SparksCW]

I know a bit of HTML, I manage my own Magento & Opencart websites and I "get by" but I'm no coder and I haven't the time to learn.

I am involved in an industry (construction contracting) I've been doing it for 12+ years and about 6 years in my current role and there is a real need for a specific bit of software.

The software is (in my mind!) relatively straight forward and will cover the core functions required for this need with ability to turn on/off features. It's a calendar based system, think of a calendar merged with Trello. (I'm not going to call it the next Trello!!!) the aim is to cover the real, required, needed issues and ignore the fluff found in most software packages.

It has a specific need and a big value input to businesses, I work in electrical contracting, however this software can be universal so it will be valuable to anyone in contracting - electrical, fire, security, maintenance, building, plumbing, gas, etc. To be honest it could be valuable to anyone who has staff that go places to compete a job so the target audience is quite large.

It's not location specific either so it meets the Scale commandment.

I've found a real pain point in existing software, specifically in why people choose not to opt for new software/systems, and this software completely avoids that, which I feel will make it so much easier to sell.

Sounds great?

But I don't know how to code, have no time (ok, no intention!) to learn and I can't throw $00,000 at it.

What are my options?
Has anyone been here before? If so, what did you do?

 

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[_Will_]

Find a technical partner that believes in your idea and give him/her some equity.

 

[theag]

If you cant code, dont want learn, and dont want to spend much on it, you should probably forget about it. You dont need to throw 6 figures at it at once and instead build it step by step, starting with basic functions and expanding. But code quality costs quality money...

@tafy has gone this way and has a pretty good progress thread on it: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/hotel-booking-startup.53295/

He even has a pretty similar concept (hotel booking management = calendar), so check it out.

I dont think the whole finding a technical cofounder thing is going to work out in 99% of cases, so I would forget about that.

 

[SparksCW]

If you cant code, dont want learn, and dont want to spend much on it, you should probably forget about it. You dont need to throw 6 figures at it at once and instead build it step by step, starting with basic functions and expanding. But code quality costs quality money...

@tafy has gone this way and has a pretty good progress thread on it: https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/threads/hotel-booking-startup.53295/

He even has a pretty similar concept (hotel booking), so check it out.

I dont think the whole finding a technical cofounder thing is going to work out in 99% of cases, so I would forget about that.

Thanks, I can't view that forum unfortunately though .

I suppose really I need to draw out my software idea and then get a quote first to see what my idea will actually cost to get off the ground, it should be relatively straight forward. (It's a bit more complicated than Trello, but a whole lot less complicated than Shopify)

For this one, I'd want to own it 100% so a technical co-founder isn't really my ideal.

A friend of mine has made a similar bit of software, he's invested tens of thousands, maybe hundreds and has full time staff, he uses it in his own business and is now starting to sell it out. Unfortunately it's a world apart from my idea as we did talk about adapting it and white-labelling.

 

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[theag]

Thanks, I can't view that forum unfortunately though .

Ah sorry, its an INSIDERS thread. Should be worth the investment though https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/account/upgrades

I think he paid around 25k for his MVP..

 

[tafy]

Pm me if you need any advice, outsourcing is amazing but risky, you need a good person. Owning 100% is also amazing as I makes it way easier to raise money and still keep a lions share of equity.

 

[IGP]

You are going to have to part with something and that is either cash, equity or time. There is no way around that. Decide which of the 3 is of the least importance to you and move on to the next step.

I have a technical background as I use to build web apps for Fortune 500 companies, so my opinion may be a little biased. With that said, I would part with either cash or equity as time is "our" most precious resource.

Good luck!

 

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[100k]

There is a 4th option. Its called pre-selling.

Hire a landing page designer, hire a copywriter and put together a landing page with nice graphics showing what your software will do, how its different from anything out there, how it will help them save XYZ and increase ABC.... and stick a pre-order button with a 50% discount.

Explain your background and use it to your advantage.

Use your contacts in the industry... send out an info package through normal mail!

Sit back and see if you get sales, follow up after a few days with a phone call and find out why they did not sign up yet and close them ASAP!

That's the over-all concept shared by Dane Maxwell from the foundation.

Get it done!

P.s I'm in a similar situation.... however I decided to outsource the coding of a MVP with just 3 core features.... total cost of development will be no more than $700 (including landing pages/copywriting and all that jazz). You can find hungry, raising stars that are coders/copywriters/designers on upwork.com and fiverr.com.

But realistically you can have your MVP done for $1k - $5k if you just focus on the core features first.

Keep us updated.

P.p.s

Make sure there isn't something already out there that you could just have customized by a coder.

http://codecanyon.net/search?utf8=✓&term=contractors&view=list&sort=&date=&price_min=&price_max=&sales=&rating_min=

 

[SparksCW]

Make sure there isn't something already out there that you could just have customized by a coder.

http://codecanyon.net/search?utf8=✓&term=contractors&view=list&sort=&date=&price_min=&price_max=&sales=&rating_min=

Thanks for this, the Zhen HRM looks really good, it doesn't do what my idea is, but it's not too dissimilar in look, feel and features.

I could spend around £5k on it in the not too distant future, I had no idea that you could get a MVP for that kind of money, I just assumed it would be tens/hundreds of thousands.. I would implement, use and improve the software in my own company first to iron out bugs and make sure it covers everything,

I think a splash page promoting the software with a register for interest form sounds like a good idea to start building interest. I would pull in industry contacts as well.

I want to make running a trades business offline, a bit more like running an e-commerce business. There is more overlap than you'd imagine.

 

[100k]

Thanks for this, the Zhen HRM looks really good, it doesn't do what my idea is, but it's not too dissimilar in look, feel and features.

I could spend around £5k on it in the not too distant future, I had no idea that you could get a MVP for that kind of money, I just assumed it would be tens/hundreds of thousands.. I would implement, use and improve the software in my own company first to iron out bugs and make sure it covers everything,

I think a splash page promoting the software with a register for interest form sounds like a good idea to start building interest. I would pull in industry contacts as well.

I want to make running a trades business offline, a bit more like running an e-commerce business. There is more overlap than you'd imagine.

You should def. consider self fund then.... because I think £5k is a decent enough budget to get a MVP built with.

You can use it for yourself, gather data, then when you're ready to offer it to the competition you can give them accurate data on how much time it saved you, how much that time is worth to your company over the course of 12 months etc. when you can give those sorts of figures it will be an easy sell. What company wouldn't be willing to spend £100/month to save £1000/month ? You get me?

Alright, see you around. I'll stay subscribed and hope to see some updates in the near future.

Good day.

 

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[Mac]

You could start a crowd funding page if you need to generate cash or you can outsource it. Here's a free PDF from the foundation and you could basically use everything that's packed into it to start your SaaS company: https://s3.amazonaws.com/Publicpdf/The+Foundation+eBook

If you want to outsource it but you're low on money, then you can offer the coder some equity in your company in return for their work. You would have to include them in as a partner though and tell them how you plan on actually selling this idea.

 

[garyk1968]

I know a bit of HTML, I manage my own Magento & Opencart websites and I "get by" but I'm no coder and I haven't the time to learn.

I am involved in an industry (construction contracting) I've been doing it for 12+ years and about 6 years in my current role and there is a real need for a specific bit of software.

The software is (in my mind!) relatively straight forward and will cover the core functions required for this need with ability to turn on/off features. It's a calendar based system, think of a calendar merged with Trello. (I'm not going to call it the next Trello!!!) the aim is to cover the real, required, needed issues and ignore the fluff found in most software packages.

It has a specific need and a big value input to businesses, I work in electrical contracting, however this software can be universal so it will be valuable to anyone in contracting - electrical, fire, security, maintenance, building, plumbing, gas, etc. To be honest it could be valuable to anyone who has staff that go places to compete a job so the target audience is quite large.

It's not location specific either so it meets the Scale commandment.

I've found a real pain point in existing software, specifically in why people choose not to opt for new software/systems, and this software completely avoids that, which I feel will make it so much easier to sell.

Research the competition, find out what is already out there. Being blunt here people get wrapped up in their own ideas too much. As a dev I often get people say to me I've got an idea for an app or solution and theres nothing like it. 10 minutes of googling and I normally find similar offerings. Thats no bad thing, it means there is demand and also means you can also fine tune your requirements but at least get a lay of the land.

But I don't know how to code, have no time (ok, no intention!) to learn and I can't throw $00,000 at it.

What are my options?
Has anyone been here before? If so, what did you do?

As someone mentioned you could 'pre-sell' without developing anything. Mock up some screens and get a half decent page put together and then go and find your target audience. Its key to assess its commercial viability before spending out on developing it.

 

[SparksCW]

Minor update to this, I kind of put it on the back burner but recently have found a decent developer who's creating something for my subscription business. We've talked about making this software idea a reality in a simpler form, and I've re-designed it slightly to make it easier to get off the ground.

If it goes further I will create a thread. I don't want/intend this to be my main business, my thoughts are that it could be a low maintenance way of making a steady bill paying income once it's been built up, I've calculated that I'd need less than 500 people signed up at around £10 ea to pay all the bills without "working". That would allow me the freedom to work on the main business.

 

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