Starting a SaaS platform
I'm building a platform to help others make their own SaaS site. I have a landing page, a prototype, many things, but I'm trying to organize the ideas and prioritize the work.
What the platform does is to "wrap" a code written in a non-web language. Say, pascal. You have a pascal code, I let you make a SaaS out of it, making an API to you code.
Now, I have a question about the client for the API. The "persona" who could use this may not be a web developer but they could learn fast. So, should I just offer the API and let everybody choose how to build their client? or should I offer a "base" client and let people build their own solution if they want?
Has anyone who has build a SaaS platform care to comment how they choose what clients to build (if any) and why? I'm not sure if I should not build any client until I get feedback and then choose, or choose and then move along the way.
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why does it have to be only one? Why can't you offer the API to those who want it or the base client to those who don't? – Rhys W 11 years ago
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You are right. If I make a client, the API will be there so I can offer both. But should I expend the time to build a client? maybe yes, since it could generate more users. But maybe is a waste of time, because I may be wrong about the type of client, or maybe nobody wants it. – Jbcolmenares 11 years ago
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In that case I think it is definitely worth your time to do some market research, find out what people will want and how big each prospective niche is, and then work on the ones that will pay off – Rhys W 11 years ago
1 Answer
Have you had much interest from 'non web-developers' with regards to the base client?
I say don't over engineer it to begin with and try to have your platform grow organically out of genuine needs that pop up.
It's difficult to predict all of the use cases for your product from the get go, so I would begin by offering the API and test the waters to see how much demand there is for the base client. You may find that the feature set you were initially thinking of does not match the use case people want or that the majority of your customers want something different entirely.
You'd hate to put in a ton of investment only to find you haven't done your market research properly.
