SaaS is a term that gets thrown around a lot. What does it mean and what can it do to help your business?
SaaS stands for “Software as a Service” and is sometimes known as “cloud-based software.” In the past few years, the Saas industry has exploded and is now the default type of software for most business technology. One that differentiates SaaS from other cloud-based technology is it’s focus on products for helping business.
What’s The Advantage Of Using SaaS?
What’s the advantage of using SaaS? There are many! For one thing, since Saas is entirely web based there’s no set up or installation and the software is maintained by the vendors. This allows business owners to focus on using the tools instead of learning complicated systems or maintaining hardware.
Another advantage is that most SaaS systems are paid for with a subscription. This eliminates setup expenses and cuts down on long term costs. SaaS user interfaces are highly customizable, making an easy user experience. These two things make SaaS ideal for small business because it allows them to have powerful, potentially expensive software that could have otherwise been unattainable.
The Three Phases of SaaS
The SaaS business model is split into three parts. Part one is “Setup.” The setup phase is where is where you create the foundation for your business. Either by starting completely form scratch or integrating business data.
Step two is “Growth.” (which says a lot about the effectiveness of SaaS systems.) Once you have new customers, you’ll also have increased data about your customer base, you can then use that information to generate more customers! More customers also means more revenue that you can reinvest into your business.
Step three is “Stabilization.” In this phase you’ve created enough infrastructure that the systems you have in place can keep up with customer increases and you can refocus to other aspects of your business.
What are some examples of SaaS services?
Theres countless SaaS companies but some of the big SaaS companies include Google, HubSpot, MailChimp, Slack, SurveyMonkey, and Spotify. Adobe and Microsoft also have SaaS services available.
Here’s some SaaS companies we use every day:
- Twilio
- High Level
- LastPass
- Click Funnels.
What do you think the essential SaaS companies are?
Learn more about SaaS and business growth from High Level founder, Shaun Clark on our BeGrowthDriven roundtable here!
