What I've Discovered Through SaaS Development

Hello dear readers, In this article, as the name implies, I’m going to tell you what I’ve learned so far in the journey of building a SaaS.

if you have read an article of mine before welcome back, if this is your first time, you’re welcome. It’s been a long while since my last article. I just wasn’t able to follow up on my last article in time and well, the blog died. I don’t know if this is going to be more permanent but I’m open to finding out.

Now the catch-up and greetings are out of the way, without further ado, let’s jump right in.

1. You will NEVER be able to have it all figured out
What do I mean, you ask? Let me explain. Before building a SaaS, you would have a vision, right? A plan on how everything will be structured, and how you will integrate this feature and that feature. It looks rock solid, right? NO. While building you will come to realise that the initial way you thought you would handle it was not feasible and now you have to come up with a new plan. You will meet this no matter how much you prepare because it’s simply inevitable. You get clarity when you actually see how it works than when you’re just theorising. So try not to spend too much on the planning phase because at some point, they will let you down. Now, I’m not saying you should jump in head first without knowing your left from right. But while planning, accept the fact that things will not always go according to that plan. That will help you to spend less time on planning and to go right into building.

2. You will have more ideas than what you planned for while in the initial building phase
Let’s say you decide to build a todo app. The plan is simple, users can write and save a todo list on their phone using local storage, that’s it. But while building you start thinking, “What if I add authentication so they can signup and use the app from any device? Then maybe I’ll add some kind of sharing feature so they can share their todo list with their friend and vice versa. And then they would need to have profile pictures, right? And let me “gamify” it so they can get xp after completing a task which will motivate them to do the tasks”. Do you see the issue? You keep on adding and adding new features and the app never hits the market, cause you keep on adding features. My two cents? Stick with your initial plan for the MVP. If and when you get an idea for a new feature, jot it down to be used in later iterations of the app, not at launch. Also keep in mind that not all features are needed in every app, some are just bloat. So figure out if your app really needs that idea before implementing it.

3. It is not easy
You will feel overwhelmed, you will feel disappointed, you will doubt if it is worth it. In all that do not give up. The feeling of regret is worse than any other feeling because most times, it cannot be fixed. You may lose the opportunity you have now, you may never find out if your app was a $10 MRR app or a $10,000 MRR app. I believe it’s better to try and fail than to not try at all. At most , take a break, refresh your body and mind but do not quit.

That’s it from me for now, when I have more to share about my SaaS, dev life, side projects, or maybe just life update, you will see me again.
Oh and yeah, my name is MIshael Enyi and I’m a Front-end developer and soon-to-be a SaaS Founder and you just read MIshael’s.

Catch you in the next one.