How To Generate and Validate Your SaaS Startup Ideas?
Tags: saas, software, development, python
Published: 2022-05-18 15:33:53

The original article was written in our blog: https://www.softformance.com/blog/how-to-generate-and-validate-your-saas-startup-ideas/

How to Generate and Validate Your SaaS Startup Ideas?

All you heard about software ideas generation and validation till this moment – is complete bullshit.

You have to ignore the so-called “product-market fit”.

You have to ignore “chase your passion” advice.

You have to ignore the “scratch your own itch” approach.

All these things rarely work.

Startuppers chasing product-market fit find it in less than 5% of cases.

Hobby lovers chase people not willing to pay or who are not able to afford their software or mobile app.

And with the “scratch your own itch” approach – actually, nobody else might need your product apart from you.

So what to do instead?

In this video, I’ll show you how to become a software ideas generation machine and how to generate ideas in such a way that you don’t need to find a product-market fit after you build it.

Instead, you’ll generate only those ideas that fit the market on day 1.

Let’s dive in!

There are a lot of methods to generate a new product or a business idea.

But since 2011 in our agency, we built around 200 software products for our clients. And I personally witnessed one specific framework that all of our most successful clients did which let them launch profitable SaaS products and tech startups.

So let me show you how it works.

Step #1. Start a new product not a new business

Have you seen my video about 3 types of Sofware Founders?

If not, please, check it out.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/y3k7lyrs1b5bklu44dbu.png)
There I show you 3 types of founders: Business Owner, Startupper, and Employee. And why Business Owner is the most successful.

This software ideas generation & validation framework works only for existing business owners or serial entrepreneurs.

We don’t want to start software as our first and the only business.

Because it’s much easier to build software or SaaS or mobile app just as a new product within your existing business.

All the next steps after this will fall into place pretty easily.

But…

If you don’t run a business at the moment or haven’t been running it for at least 2-3 years, then go and watch my other video I published recently, called:

“Are you ready to do a SaaS startup?”

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/pbilrpi7123qkg0x729m.png)
There you’ll learn what it takes to start a software business or SaaS product. And what you need to do to become Business Owner. Alright?

The main point of this first step of my 3-steps software validation framework is to qualify yourself.

If you qualify – great. Then let’s keep going to step #2.

Step 2: Spot the Opportunity

Now, when we know that you are starting your first software product as part of your existing business and that you come out of the Business Owner category of software founders we’re ready to generate ideas.

In my agency, we want our clients to start making money with their newly launched SaaS products as soon as possible.

That’s why we encourage them to keep serving their existing audience and clients.

That’s the key!!!

A lot of first-time founders come up with new business or product ideas randomly and with some new audiences in mind. Audiences they don’t know yet.

And you know, to become an expert in something new, you have to spend at the very least 10.000 conscious hours practicing. That is 5 years of your life!!!

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/dr3ws9q7qel2yh1arj5i.jpg)
Instead, we help our clients build and launch something profitable within 6-12 weeks.

And guess what?  

You have to build software products for your existing clients or audience. You don’t have time to learn a new niche, new business domain, or new profession. 

This is exactly what Russel Brunson did with ClickFunnels software. He didn’t start the software for lawyers or even for the wrestling industry even though it’s his hobby.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/q84xquvch8wrsd2js76n.jpg)
He’s been serving digital marketers all his life and decided to keep doing so with ClickFunnels product  

The Same thing did Neil Patel, the SEO agency owner.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/3ozb8nfdddl9eu17md4k.jpg)
He started UberSuggest software to serve his existing clients better by giving them a tool to do SEO on their own.

And you have to do the same.

So what do you do in this second step?

Start by reviewing your existing clients or audience list and talk to them.

What do they need? What things you can automate for them with some software? What kind of mobile or web app will make their life easier?

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/ky4yvot2o8ivx89wvjax.jpg)
I won’t go deeper into what kind of specific software apps are good for business owners in this video. It deserves a separate one which I’m going to publish pretty soon.

But below this video, I’ll leave a link for you to the “500 saas product ideas” PDF. It’s free. Use it!

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/kgmjkrpf5b1c5rjtx5co.jpg)
Step 3: Don’t Sell, but UPSELL

Now, when you have your existing business, your audience, and your 1 or 2 potential software ideas generated that your audience will definitely love, we’re ready for our last 3rd step of my SaaS validation framework.

The success rate of selling to a customer you already have is 60-70%, but the success rate of selling to a new customer is only 5-20%

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/nalp18wczr5oxx8368m2.jpg)
In other words, to improve our odds with our new software idea, we want to upsell it to our existing customers before we ever consider it selling to some new people.

That’s the shortest way to get your SaaS product or mobile app to Revenue and to Profit Days.

For example with our product Opesta – Facebook Messenger Automation SaaS, which we launched together with my partner Ethan

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/qv93iwzaslqybf34m3s0.jpg)
We started making sales on day 1 after release.

Ethan did a very smart thing while I was managing our development team and building the MVP version.

First of all, he decided to upsell Opesta to his existing digital marketing agency clients.

And then, he launched FB Ads online course The Flawless Facebook Ads Formula

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/dgxhqgc8axmnzhl290tq.jpg)
Our software Opesta automated a lot of things people had to do manually during that course. So we just started up-selling it to our online students.

We spent no money on selling software. We spent small money on selling online education. And Software Sales were just Upsells.

So I encourage you to do the same.

Software sales are hard. They take time and money.

So, in the previous second step of our 3-step SaaS validation framework, you probably generated 2 or 3 ideas that your audience might love.

Now, choose that software idea, which will be the easiest to upsell to your existing client base.

Let’s Summarize

Okay.

That is my 3 step framework to generate a SaaS startup idea that will be validated out of the door by your audience.

![Image description](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/4f0qdqxoyb2foue4went.jpg)
I hope it’ll serve you well. Because it’s one of the biggest mistakes that first-time software founders do at the beginning of their saas startup journey.

And it is the problem I have to address quite often while talking to our agency’s new clients.

If you run a business and would love to launch your own software, SaaS Product, or mobile app, and if you would love to get my personal help with it, then leave an application in the link below this video and we’ll get back to you within 1 working day.

Otherwise, join my Facebook group Software Founders, and prepare yourself for the tech startup in the best possible way. The link is also below this video.

If you liked this video, please hit the thumbs-up button and subscribe to my channel to get notifications about my new videos.

See you in the next video…

And remember, people need your software…