Movatterモバイル変換


[0]ホーム

URL:


Skip to content
DEV Community
Log in Create account

DEV Community

Cover image for Validating Your SaaS Idea
Kennedy Rose
Kennedy Rose

Posted on • Originally published atkennedyrose.com

     

Validating Your SaaS Idea

35% of startups fail because there wasno market need for their product. This is alarming since there are a few simple things you can do to protect yourself from this before you even start building your idea.

Product validation is the process of finding customers who are willing to pay for your product, usually before you start building, or in the early stages of building. Here are some common ways founders validate their ideas before they start.

Quick Market Research

Google search your product's domain, plus "market size". For example, if you were building a WordPress plugin for all types of WordPress users, you might search "wordpress market size," and then click on the first few results. This can give you a good overview on the market you're trying to sell in. If the market seems too small, try searching in adjacent markets, or think about charging a higher price if you can.

You should also use sites like Reddit and Quora to find questions about your product idea. For example, if you were going to build a website hosting service exclusively for Drupal sites, you might search for "drupal hosting sucks" and then see why people think it sucks, and see if your idea can solve those problems.

Use Google'sKeyword Planner (it's free) to look at search volume for terms related to your idea. If nothing comes up in those searches, but there is a high search volume, you might have found an under-served market that would pay to use your idea.

Lastly, look at reviews and online community posts of similar products or competitors. What are the common praises, complaints, and requests? Could your idea solve those problems?

Selling Without a Product

This is probably my favorite method of validation. It's quick, cheap, and gives you a clear answer on if there is an interest in your idea or not.

  1. Screenshot your prototype. Your prototype does not have to even work yet. If you don't have one, mock one up with aFigma template, or your design tool of choice.
  2. Create a single page website with whatever quick tool you like. I useWebflow. Include your screenshot and a "contact for pricing" or "notify me when this product is available" form.
  3. Launch it! Submit your site to be indexed by Google. Submit it to Product Hunt, Betalist, and any other sites that will allow listings for your SaaS's industry.

Example validation homepage

Ideally, you want to find your first 10 paying users before you get serious about building your final product. You also want to figure out what your potential customers are wiling to pay for your SaaS if you can. If not a lot of people fill out the form, don't waste your time building an idea no one wants!

If you have a beta version of your product available, make sure you're actually charging for it. We're validating whether or not users will pay for your SaaS, not whether or not they will use it for free. Free and paid customers are not always the same people. Don't worry if you don't have a login, or have to set things up manually for each client.Wistia didn't have a login for 4 years after they launched.

Ask Clients

When in doubt, just ask! If you have freelance or agency clients, just ask them if a product like that would solve their problems, and what they might be willing to pay for it. In my experience, clients love giving their opinion on these kinds of things.

What If Validation Doesn't Go Well?

Sometimes you can often just change your target market to something similar. Maybe businesses don't want your software, but what about schools? YouTubers? Writers? There's loads of other markets out there, see if you can adapt to something else.

Make sure you're listening to all the feedback, complaints, and questions. Do you hear any common trend among them? Can you pivot your idea into something that works for those people?

Lastly, if all else fails, just move on to the next idea! You should be working with alarge list of ideas, so it's no big deal if one doesn't pass validation.

Top comments(4)

Subscribe
pic
Create template

Templates let you quickly answer FAQs or store snippets for re-use.

Dismiss
CollapseExpand
 
nans profile image
Nans Dumortier
Software engineer, what's important to me is to keep learning. Every day.
  • Email
  • Location
    Lille 🇫🇷
  • Education
    Centrale Lille (ITEEM)
  • Work
    Developper at Karbon
  • Joined

Thanks for your article ! It's interesting and it gives motivation to go and test some ideas.

Small remark, one image doesn't seem to render properly :

![[validation-site.png|Example of a pre-sale validation site]]
Enter fullscreen modeExit fullscreen mode
CollapseExpand
 
kennedyrose profile image
Kennedy Rose
AI and SaaS enthusiast. Currently working as the CTO of Smarter Labs
  • Location
    Evansville, IN
  • Work
    CTO at Smarter Labs
  • Joined

Awesome, glad I could help! And thanks for catching that broken image, fixed!

CollapseExpand
 
twillot_app profile image
Simon
  • Education
    China
  • Work
    Developer
  • Joined

Nice post. Learned a lot.

CollapseExpand
 
kennedyrose profile image
Kennedy Rose
AI and SaaS enthusiast. Currently working as the CTO of Smarter Labs
  • Location
    Evansville, IN
  • Work
    CTO at Smarter Labs
  • Joined

Great, I'm glad to hear it!

Are you sure you want to hide this comment? It will become hidden in your post, but will still be visible via the comment'spermalink.

For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/orreporting abuse

AI and SaaS enthusiast. Currently working as the CTO of Smarter Labs
  • Location
    Evansville, IN
  • Work
    CTO at Smarter Labs
  • Joined

More fromKennedy Rose

DEV Community

We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.

Log in Create account

[8]ページ先頭

©2009-2025 Movatter.jp