Building a Functional Saas Team: Things To Consider

There is far more that goes into building a Saas team than just having a good idea and the resources to make it a reality. Many businesses fail within their first two years. Even those that have all the funding in the world and mentorship can’t stand stall on a weak foundation.

Building a functional Saas team is more than just hiring smart people and giving them what they need. In this brief article, we go over what it means to build a functional Saas team and not just a collective.

A Good Team Is A Balanced Team

If your Saas is catered towards developing an order taking system for freelancers, there is alot to be said for the types of things you will need to address. On the front end, your copywriters and design team need to be able to make freelancers comfortable. On the back end, your coding team needs to be able to incorporate a uniform method for developing and addressing concerns that make your software limited. 

I use this example because it addresses two things, the possibility of front end and back end mistakes and the need for teams to be able to work together. A balanced team doesn’t mean only in the sense of having complementary skills that are on the same level. It also means the ability for your team to work together effectively and address emergencies/problems collectively. 

Your Foundation Is Your Protocols

From incorporating the best practices for api design to how you communicate with your contractors, these things matter in the long term. As your business scales, it becomes harder to make grand adjustments without seriously throwing off the day to day for your team from the top down.

Having a system is more than just using google docs and email to communicate between members because its cheap. It means incorporating slack and more scalable solutions early on so that you can avoid needing to address a learning curve and see what systems do and dont work before it becomes a problem.

Realistic Expectations

Realistic expectations means a few things. First, it means setting goals that are attainable and being transparent with every member of your team. Startup reddits, forums, and beyond are filled to the brim with stories of people who joined startups, and dedicated resources and an immense amount of work, just to one day be greeted with a succinct “we are shutting down”.

Deeper problems in most Saas startups happen because of a lack of communication and setting realistic goals. Often, startups attempt to take on too much at once, and for that, the team suffers. User goals, system functionality, and most of all revenue have to be on the pessimistic side to be pragmatic. Too many startups blow through their resources quickly because of overoptimistic return projections.

Ultimately, the choices you make now will impact how successful your business is in both the short and long term, and how your team will adapt to challenges.