Considering SaaS Development Services, Besides Building A Fastlane Business - Seeking Input

[circleme]

TLDR: Learned a specialized skill → Developed a specialized unit based on the specialized skill → However, discovered that the specialized skill itself has a corresponding demand that I could meet, though it might not have the potential of a specialized unit. Yet, I believe (especially in the early phase I'm in) that I could learn a lot, enabling me to develop better products and create even more value for my users/customers in the future.

Hello Forum,

I had to learn a specialized skill for building my Fastlane business, which I've recently begun transforming into a specialized unit. Specifically, this involves developing a special form of SaaS (Chrome Extensions). By now, I'm already developing my second SaaS product and considering offering the service itself as a product, apart from developing my own products. Reason being, I can't imagine it having similar scaling potential as my SaaS products, but after initial, rough market research, I identified a certain demand for this type of service. Additionally, the development of my current products is taking longer than I'd like, and I want to utilize my time as efficiently as possible and learn as much as possible. Of course, I remain loyal to my products.

I see several advantages here:

1. I connect with other SaaS founders for whom I develop their product and would gain insights like "What works well, what doesn't." I could then incorporate this knowledge into my own SaaS products.
2. My skills in developing this type of SaaS would improve with each project. This would enable me to develop better features for my users in the future, thus creating even more value.
3. It would theoretically be possible, if the demand is high enough, to start a Dev-Agency in the future.
4. Coming from the freelancing realm, selling a service wouldn't be too difficult for me (which doesn't mean it won't be a challenge and won't take time).

The downside is that I wouldn't be 100% focused on my current products anymore, and I'm especially realizing now that I should be very careful about how I use my time since I have to handle almost every task myself. A second "project," even if it's in the same "niche," therefore poses potential danger to my original plan.

I realize especially now that such decisions will have a significant impact on my journey, particularly because they come with relatively large time input from my side. Time input in Project A inevitably leads to less time input for Project B and vice versa. That can't be avoided.

I don't expect hand-holding here or for someone to make this decision for me, but I would appreciate constructive criticism.

 

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[The Racing Driver]

1. I connect with other SaaS founders for whom I develop their product and would gain insights like "What works well, what doesn't." I could then incorporate this knowledge into my own SaaS products.

I think it's great to connect with new people in your area, but I'd ask, do you need more knowledge or is there something you need to be executing on in your existing products?

The downside is that I wouldn't be 100% focused on my current products anymore, and I'm especially realizing now that I should be very careful about how I use my time since I have to handle almost every task myself. A second "project," even if it's in the same "niche," therefore poses potential danger to my original plan.

Are your products in huge need or demand? I only ask this because if you are filling a pressing need with lots of demand and a high expected value I'd see no reason not to just focus on your products.

If not, and you think launching a dev-agency as well would fill a larger gap in the market and be more profitable/fulfilling to you By all means go do that.

 

[circleme]

Thanks for your input @The Racing Driver

I think it's great to connect with new people in your area, but I'd ask, do you need more knowledge or is there something you need to be executing on in your existing products?

I suppose it's a huge benefit to learn from someone else and gain insights instead of trying everything by yourself, which is what I'm doing at the moment. Additionally, there's potential for joint ventures in the near future.

Honestly, these products are MVPs or slightly more than MVPs, and all I have to do now is generate traffic, gather user feedback for additional or improved features, and that's it at this stage of my journey.

Are your products in huge need or demand? I only ask this because if you are filling a pressing need with lots of demand and a high expected value I'd see no reason not to just focus on your products.

They address a specific problem for a niche audience. I understand your point about focusing solely on the SaaS if those two factors exist, but to be completely honest: I DON'T KNOW... :X I have some estimates of how big the market is, but well, those are just estimates. It's also only an early stage, so I don't know when things will take off in terms of user base. Currently, I only have a few hundred users, and apart from good feedback, nothing much is happening. It's kind of frustrating, if I'm completely honest. I love the feedback, don't get me wrong, but I would prefer if they told me things like "if you develop feature X, I'm willing to pay you for it," which is a dream scenario, I know, lol.

If I were already in that position and I knew that the scaling would be so high, the user base would be so large, etc., then I probably wouldn't come up with this thought but rather focus solely on that. I agree with you on that.

So in this stage of my journey, I feel like I should expand my overall knowledge wherever I can. E.g.: going the service route in addition to my product/software route.

 

[The Racing Driver]

So in this stage of my journey, I feel like I should expand my overall knowledge wherever I can. E.g.: going the service route in addition to my product/software route.

Yeah for your situation that sounds like a good idea.

 

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