SaaS Ideas of applications for a Profitable Business in 2021

Are you looking to launch a SaaS solution in the highly demanded, non-too-competitive niche? Let us help you with the top SaaS ideas for business in 2021 and some pro tips on introducing your product to the market. SaaS is a business model where a software solution is provided online based on the paid subscription. The solution is stored in the cloud, which makes it accessible for users and cost-efficient for owners. Companies tend to turn to this product distribution model seeking efficient ways to stay competitive, accelerate business processes through automation, and prevent cyberattacks. Our developers share their knowledge on how to launch a SaaS product and what risks should be considered. But let’s start from the beginning.

The Advantages of SaaS Business for Clients

Why should you consider a SaaS format for your project in the first place?

1. Flexible payment model. By subscribing to a SaaS offering, the customer pays for the service monthly via the subscription model. This provides predictable budgeting for companies. The user can unsubscribe from SaaS services at any time.
2. No need to install the software. SaaS applications can be accessed and used through any web browser, with only certain services requiring the installation of plugins or special extensions.
3. High availability. Cloud storage provides access to the application from any computer or mobile device connected to the Internet. And the loaded data never disappears when the user’s device fails.
4. Automatic updates. The SaaS provider automatically updates the application and fixes issues. This reduces the burden on IT professionals in the client’s staff.

Various SaaS projects are now operating in more than 100 countries. From 2015 to 2017, the number of SaaS applications used by global companies increased from 8 to 16. Currently, the annual growth rate of the SaaS market is 18% — and it continues to grow.

Prominent Software as a Service Examples

In terms of revenue, Microsoft is the world’s largest provider of SaaS services with a market share of 18%, with Salesforce in second place (11.5%) and Adobe in third (6.7%).

Revenue: $1,6 billion (as of 2019) Dropbox is a popular “cloud-based hard drive”. The startup provides users with access to free 2 GB of storage. The premium plan “Dropbox plus” open access to 2 TB of memory with additional functions — for instance, the expanded parameters of the general access.

Revenue: $2,6 billion One of the most vivid and popular examples of SaaS in the market. G Suite includes Gmail, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Drive, and more. With these prominent tools, you can create and edit documents, send and receive emails, use spreadsheets and cloud storage.

Revenue: $400 million Slack is a well-proven corporate messenger and CMS system. Among the features of the service — correspondence in a public or private channel, group dialogues, audio, and video calls. File sharing is available, as well as file structuring and storage with the protection of confidential data.

Revenue: $1,58 billion Shopify is a hugely popular ecommerce site creator. Unlike proprietary website builders (like Magento, WooCommerce, and Wix), Shopify doesn’t require any web design skills and knowledge of programming languages. Platform subscribers also don’t need to study the theory of hosting or buying a domain. Subscribing to the platform, you get access to the myriad of features necessary to create and manage an online store.

Revenue: Over $2,9 billion Adobe Creative Cloud is a suite of Adobe Systems applications for graphic designers, web designers, retouchers, and video editors. The most popular SaaS applications examples from the package include:

• Photoshop — for photo editing;
• Illustrator — for vector graphics and illustrations creation;
• Indesign — for pagination of books, magazines, and other text features;
• Flash Builder — for creating web applications;
• Adobe Muse — for building websites.

Revenue: $700 million The well-tried-and-tested email management service easily integrates with leading platforms, CMSs, and site builders. It also enables mass mailing, collection of contact base, user segmentation, preparation of letter templates, automation of sending letters by events, analytics, and a content studio with stock letter templates. Mailchimp is currently used by over 630 thousand companies, among which are Glovo, Barogo, and Oxylabs.

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Revenue: $1,2 billion Jira is included in numerous top-lists of SaaS software examples. The project management service is most often used in IT development. The system can help track open tasks and their current status and offers a choice of Scrum or Kanban methods. You can work with data in the cloud or manage it on your server. Atlassian Jira is employed by more than 65 thousand companies in financial services, retail, software, high technology, automotive, and nonprofit fields. Atlassian products are used by 83% of Fortune 500 companies, among which are the owners and managers of Dropbox, Visa, Nasa, HubSpot, Coca-Cola, Nestle, and Pfizer.

Unique Service Business Ideas

You can launch a SaaS startup for almost any existing industry from accounting to social media marketing. Pro tip — based on the example of the top SaaS service providers, a truly successful product helps fix the lack of the necessary service or software solution on the market. Think like the greats: IKEA came into being because, at the time of the company’s inception, only Swedes with above-average salaries could afford to furnish a house. Today, the other BILLY cabinet is sold every 10 seconds, and the editions of Swedish furniture catalogs published since the early 1950s have long since bypassed the Bible in the print run. The Adidas sports brand became renowned at a time when traditional shoe factories didn’t consider the “sport” category as a possible niche for growth. The company released studded football boots, which have become very popular among athletes. What exactly can you create? Try picking something from the following software ideas.

CRM system

One of the most demanded SaaS examples is a Customer Relationship Management or CRM system. Such solutions allow managing customer profiles and providing a personalized experience. A CRM collects customer information and tracks interactions through various channels, such as website, feedback logs, social networks, and so on. CRM with embedded AI automatically modifies communication-based on the collected data and experience of interaction with the company’s communication channels.

Collaboration or communication solution

SaaS services in this niche range from file sharing and messaging to multifunctional project management tools. For example, Slack is suitable for group and private correspondence and video or audio calls. Google Drive is used for file sharing. You can develop a collaboration solution, too. To make it authentic, integrate it with your website or some other useful third-party services.

Telemedicine solution

Remote healthcare is an especially relevant field right now, in the conditions of a global pandemic. By 2026, the market for remote healthcare solutions should grow over $180 billion in total revenue. So introducing a telemedicine SaaS, you will certainly hit the profitable spot and tackle some good demand. You can create something to provide convenient communication and remote interaction between patients and doctors. In particular, you can consider implementing an e-counseling platform that would help users find doctors and healthcare service providers in the vicinity, remotely book appointments, and connect with medical specialists for consultations and discussions (something like the renowned BetterHelp). Or build a platform dedicated exclusively to video conferences, providing an opportunity to go live with available doctors right away.

Remote workflow management software

Profiting off of highly-demanded right now remote opportunities isn’t limited to remote healthcare. Adapting to extreme conditions, businesses seek ways to organize remote performance and management of employees via accessible software. You can fulfill their remote needs with SaaS help, e.g., assign and track tasks, chat with employees, and automate responsibility management routines. For instance, there is an AI-based platform for forming and tracking objectives and key performance aspects, which helps track the exact time specialists spend in specialized applications. This can be a great inspiration for you to provide beneficial capabilities for businesses and employ a trendy, attention-grabbing technology concept at the same time.

Tech startups ideas in HR and HRM

SaaS solutions in the field of HR provide effective employee management, automation of routine tasks and, as a result, help increase the productivity of both HR specialists or recruiters and individual employees, as well as of entire departments. An HR solution can help:

• hire employees;
• generate new job positions;
• conduct interviews with candidates;
• manage employee attendance, sick leaves, and vacations;
• train staff and boost in-house qualification;
• send automated notifications and create surveys;
• analyze workflow productivity;
• forecast let-outs and reduce employee turnover.

According to Deloitte, a recruiter spends 93% of their time on routine tasks while 65% of these tasks can be automated. For example, the Ideal service views and selects resumes, Dedicated teams, help to assemble a dream team, and GapJumpers conducts online interviews based on the technology of “blind employment”, i.e., with no discrimination based on gender or race, place of higher education, etc.

SMM planner

Social networks are used by 45% of the world’s population or 3.5 trillion people. The average time spent on social networks is 3 hours. Such active interaction with social channels stimulates brands to publish content and promote accounts through these channels. Planners help simplify interaction with users on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and others. They are used for content strategy creation, auto-posting, and communication with the consumer. Outstanding products in this niche are Zoho and HootSuite.

Ecommerce CMS

Such solutions cover the necessary features for running an online business: product and shopping cart management, as well as online payments. You can provide platform services like Shopify, which doesn’t require users to have technical skills to create a store. Or run a full-blown SaaS content management system like WordPress. This category also includes web hosting services. The most vivid eCommerce SaaS examples are Shopify, Volusion, Big Cartel, 3dcart, and BigCommerce.

EdTech product

Along with the healthcare and business sectors, the field of education is in dire need of remote software capabilities right now. Bridging the gap between teachers and students with a universally available software solution is a very demanded initiative. The first thing that comes to mind is a video streaming platform where teachers and educators of all sorts can publish video lessons and conduct live streams (check out the extremely popular Coursera and Khan Academy for inspiration). Apart from that, you can also tackle educational facility management and create a management platform that would help teachers and school administrators easier handle organizational moments. Providing such a solution in the SaaS format will give education workers an accessible way to check and adjust the curriculum, schedule meetings, and keep records.

Live streaming platform

Livestreaming is a trend of its own that should be highlighted separately. Most organizations that required the physical presence of customers/clients/guests now use live videos to cover their audiences in harsh remote conditions. As a vivid example, even church orders live streaming services to conduct remote sermons. With a sturdy live streaming SaaS platform of your own, you can tackle the widest audience of companies and specialists in need that would gladly pay for it.

Tech Startups Ideas: Launching a Business Based on 2021 Trends

According to Gartner, the total SaaS market share is expected to reach $140 million by 2022, twice as much as the IaaS and PaaS share. The COVID-19 pandemic and the unstable situation in the world market have formed the nearest trends in SaaS. According to the report by Blissfully, the demand for cloud applications has increased in:

Source

The trendiest software development approaches include:

Conclusion

Take into account the latest trends in SaaS application development to gain an edge over competitors. It’s never too late to introduce a new idea in the fast-growing world of technology!

Originally published at https://deventor.io on February 15, 2021.