If your SaaS business is already well underway, but you realize there are some steps you maybe should have taken already, don't panic. It is possible to build and scale a robust company even if you haven't quite done things in "order." The important thing to note is that retroactively establishing parts of your business is better than neglecting it altogether - so here's how to figure out, and take action, if your business foundation needs a little work.
If you haven't established the business yet
Your company may be having an identity crisis (or is heading for one) if you haven't yet taken the time to establish parts of your business that are important for continuity, branding, messaging, or even solidifying what kinds of terms and services you're offering in your portfolio. Take comfort in knowing that if things feel a little chaotic, taking a step back to now establish these things will add order and foundation to your life.
Evaluate what you have that is working. What parts of your values and culture are most important, and what offerings and/or product features are your customers most satisfied with? Use these things as the starting point for which you build out everything else.
If you haven't corrected your master data
Chances are you're still doing manual reporting, or don't really have a grasp on how your metrics play into performance evaluation. But it's never too late to start getting your data under control.
Seek the right tools with integration capabilities that can help you manage your information. Try to limit the input sources so that you aren't getting bogged down by too much information without properly understanding what it all means.
If you haven't established efficient subscription operations
Again, tools will be your friend. Once you implement the right systems for subscription management, you'll find you can save a massive amount of time and resources that can be put towards more growth focused activities.
Subscription management should be simple and streamlined. You may be worried that implementing new processes into your already established business might be complicated, time consuming, or costly. But if you crunch the numbers you may find that the time and money you save by having a working system far outweigh any investment.
If you haven't started measuring data for growth
Think about it this way: how much time and money are you losing by missing out on opportunities for upsells, renewals and reducing customer churn when you aren't managing subscriptions efficiently? Without doing actual reporting on your subscription statistics, you will be hard pressed to establish the right offerings and pricing tiers that will generate the most revenue.
When you start measuring for growth, you can be better positioned to ensure recurring revenue, and facilitate more profitable subscription terms. Similarly to ensuring that you control your master data, you need to start evaluating what your metrics mean. Figure out the information you need to be able to prove growth, and then you'll even be able to use that data for future forecasting.
What's the point of establishing all of these things in your SaaS business? Opportunities for improvement. Without taking these steps and ensuring consistency, you'll find that scalability will be difficult.
Want to learn more about what each of these steps entails? Download our E-Book for our Five Steps of SaaS success.
