Building a micro SaaS can be an exciting yet daunting journey, especially if you’re venturing into the tech world for the first time. This blog post is all about my experience as I embark on this path, sharing insights, challenges, and the motivations behind my decision to create a software solution tailored to a niche market. Whether you’re a fellow entrepreneur, a curious reader, or someone considering to start a micro SaaS, I hope my journey can provide some valuable lessons and inspiration.

What is a Micro SaaS?

So, what is a micro SaaS? Quite simply, it’s a small software product that caters to a small audience or that solves a very small problem in a very niche space. This is in contrast to a typical SaaS (software as a service) that targets a broad market with a general problem and, accordingly, a general solution. Micro SaaS products are a small but growing area of software.

Why I Decided to Build a Micro SaaS

My motivation to make a micro SaaS had both personal and professional aspects. As a mum I want to be able to spend as much time as possible with my daughter, but traditional client work has you in constant communication with clients on projects that can take over your life. A subscription software model will give me more control over my work, allow me to work on my own terms, and let me earn while I sleep.

Moreover, I was also coming up against the fact that one of the biggest problems for many clients was lead generation and lead magnets – tools that automatically attract leads. Because they had a problem solving this, I could create software that could automate it in a very useful way for my business, my clients and all my prospective clients.

Identifying the Problem: Lead Generation Bottlenecks

And I’ve noticed that one of the biggest bottlenecks for many entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to learn Growth Hacking techniques is around lead generation. So I found myself asking questions like: ‘How do I create a good lead magnet?’ or ‘What do I give away to get people’s email addresses in the first place?’ ‘And how do I get my lead magnet in front of people to distribute it?’ Even if these sound like ridiculous questions, they are crucial to someone who is just starting out. Until you solve the lead gen issues, you won’t be able to expand your email list. And if you can’t expand your email list, you can’t really expand your business.

So, I thought of building a tool that makes the task of building lead magnets easier. Today we can use AI and automation to help with this problem, so the goal of this tool will be to assist marketing agencies, solopreneurs and creators with quickly developing many lead magnets – for different target audiences.

The Software: Magnetify

The name for my micro SaaS is Magnetify, which pays homage to the lead magnet it will help to create. It will help users create lead magnets, build email lists, and grow their businesses. I’ll help them create better lead magnets faster than normal, as well as distribute those better lead magnets to enhance their company’s lead-generation process.

Building the Product: Minimal Viable Product (MVP)

I am at this point working with a partner developer to build a minimum viable product (MVP) for Magnetify, which will feature only core functionalities so that it can be used by early adopters in the field and their feedback can be incorporated in the final product.

To develop the MVP, I noticed that the main user’s view should be considered. The features I predicted that I should create may not be relevant to the potential users.That’s why I’m going to involve my audience to the process, since I could gather information on what they’re expecting from the product.

The Importance of Community Feedback

It is crucial to involve the community in such types of development. A waitlist for early users can be created to act as a kind of beta test group to refine the software. This will make users feel like Magnetify ‘belongs’ to them too, and will in turn create a larger community to support Magnetify if the software becomes fully fledged.

Furthermore I’m keen to hear from prospective users about what they would like to be able to do with such a tool – an iterative or ‘user-centred’ design process applies user feedback at every stage of product development, ensuring that what is produced will actually be useful to the customers.

Marketing the Micro SaaS

At the same time that I’m working on bringing Magnetify to life, I’m exploring ways to effectively market my software. Better understanding my audience will be integral. I need to get in front of marketing agencies, content creators and solopreneurs who seek easy ways to generate leads and grow their businesses.

A big part of this strategy, for sure, will include content marketing. The blog will be used to share interesting information, tricks and tips about lead generation, in order to draw in people looking for methods to gather leads and entice them to become users. After all, don’t we all need a ‘magnet’ to attract customers? Moreover, this will bring traffic to the Magnetify website, and create awareness about the product.

Challenges and Learning Curves

The process has not been seamless. As a non-technical person, I get lost in the world of software development. I do not know whether I’m making the right decisions or even headed in the right direction, but I don’t think it should be a trivial experience. Living in the unknown comes with the territory.

What’s important is to be comfortable with the fuzziness and to focus on building the process that continues to educate me. Allowing myself to constantly receive feedback and adapt the product and service based on what my users are guiding me towards is what will help me find success. It’s a growth process, and there’s not much that’s more important.

Conclusion: Join Me on This Journey

Join me on my journey and see what it takes to build a micro SaaS, as I learn and improve Magnetify. You’re either an aspiring entrepreneur looking for lessons on how to build software, a professional developer or product manager striving to become a better coder and optimise the way a software business is built, or someone who’s just curious about how software is built.

If you want to be one of the first to use Magnetify, and receive special early-user discounts, please sign up on our waitlist. I look forward to hearing what you think.The purpose of this post is to learn what people might want from the service, and to give them access before it’s available to the general public.

I’ll be sure to write about that, and many other things, in the future. This is just the beginning, and I’m sure there’s more to come as I venture into the adventures of micro SaaS development. Cheers, and thanks for reading!

Want to be an early user? Join the Magnetify Waitlist!