I’m sure this acronym isn’t common, but it stands for Software As A Service. Have you come across it before now? If you have, great. If you haven’t, I’m going to teach you how to make money online in Nigeria using the SAAS model.
Have you used the insanely popular ChatGPT? I’m sure you have. Well, it might interest you to know that ChatGPT is a SAAS application. What about Gmail? Or one of the numerous tools online that help you to achieve one task or the other, such as converting a PDF file to a Microsoft Word document, or if you are a WordPress developer, a WordPress plugin that adds one unique functionality to your WordPress website.
All these are typical SAAS applications that you have been using, and you probably taken for granted. The thing is, you can make money online in Nigeria using SAAS, for many years to come! Read on.
What is SAAS?
This is a unique application designed to carry out one specific function on a computing platform, like a PC or mobile device. Software applications have become the de facto working tools of any computing platform. Without software, the devices we use every day is nothing but a brick. Useless.
Let’s face it: we shouldn’t overemphasize the role of software in computing platforms today, nor should we underemphasize it. The truth is, software is hardly given a second thought by the millions of people who use it every single day. People just want to get things done, not understand how things work under the hood.
Ever since computers became a thing, software has risen in popularity and has become a thing in our world. Software code can do pretty much anything you want to do with computers.
With software, you can prepare documents, correct photos, edit video and publish, prepare presentations, create graphics, create spreadsheets, adjust audio levels in an audio clip, create photos, convert files from one format to another, and the list keeps going on and on.
The other day I used a free online tool (it’s a SAAS app) to convert PDF files to Word documents, and vice versa. Sites like Tinywow contain a repository of useful everyday tools that people use all over the world. After all, we’re living in the digital age.
So, how can you leverage the power of SAAS to create recurring passive income?
Why SAAS?
As I said, pretty much everything in our world today depends to a large extent on computers to function. The smartphone you are holding in your hands right now is a computer. I’m sure you know this. Have you ever bothered to ask, how does this thing work?
You download apps from the Play Store, open the apps, and get things done quickly. Sometimes you go online and search for a way to get something done, like converting an audio file on your phone from one format (mp3) to another (wav). Once you search, you see a couple of websites that offer this service to you even free of charge. Have you ever wondered how they are compensated for their hard work?
Let’s face it: coding is hard work. If you have experience writing code you will agree with me on this. In this world, people who solve the most difficult problems get compensated the most. This is why you should think out of the box. If you can create software that solves a difficult problem and monetize it, you’re made!
So, I’m going to list some reasons why you should opt for a SAAS online business model below.
Consistent passive income
The SAAS online business model guarantees a consistent and reliable source of passive income for the entrepreneur. You don’t need to keep working long hours on the software, rather you will only need to create it once and sell to customers forever. Cool.
Highly scalable
SAAS business can be scaled exponentially. What this means is that there is room for accommodating new customers over time, without necessarily needing to re-develop the software for that purpose.
High-demand online business niche
The SAAS business model is a high-demand niche. This is due to the proliferation of digital technology in every sphere of human existence. This means that there will always be a huge demand for most software-driven solutions being solved by SAAS.
Global Reach
You are not just selling to a local area; you’re rather selling to the whole world. Imagine having customers scattered all over the world. This may not be possible if your solution targets a specific locality or country.
Lower operating costs
The SAAS business model doesn’t incur so much operating costs, except for file hosting and domain name purchases. There are no physical shops or offices to maintain and pay for; everything is store on the cloud.
High valuation potential
SAAS businesses have high valuation potential, especially if it has been doing great financially over the years. What this means is that you can operate the business for many years, and decide to sell it at an exponentially much higher price to investors. That’s a great way to raise money for yourself.
Great way to become a market leader
If your software platform becomes known globally, that positions you as an industry or market leader in your niche. It comes with various perks such as influence and high reputation as an authority.
How to create a SAAS product
Here are pointers below on how to create a SAAS product:
Research
At this stage, you should spend some time researching a solution you can offer with a SAAS product. In other words, this is where you identify what we call “pain points” of people. Pain points are issues or challenges people encounter in everyday life that a piece of software can solve.
I have said it before now that software can do pretty much anything. With software, anything is possible, as far as human existence is concerned. With the rise of AI (Artificial Intelligence), the possibilities for providing software solutions are endless. Right now, AI is making hundreds of people millionaires online. Think about it.
Back in the day, I struggled with customizing my WordPress installations (I’m a web developer by the way). I thought of ways to improve the look and functionality of my websites, but I couldn’t do it because I didn’t have expertise in programming languages like PHP.
Enter AI. Now, I can easily create the code I want simply by writing a prompt into an AI SAAS platform, like ChatGPT. Out comes the code in seconds! There’s even an AI platform (CodeWP) that codes complete WordPress plugins and themes for you in seconds! Now that’s impressive.
The owners of these platforms identified pain points that web developers face and produced their SAAS platforms to provide the solution, and they get paid. So, what problem can you solve with software? Can you make a software that can allow people to make more money, relax, or shop better? Think!
Build
At this stage, you’re ready to build the software. If you can write code, great! (after all, Zuckerberg wrote most of the code running Facebook back in the day!). If you can’t code, you will need to pay developers to create your SAAS application.
Come to think of it – there are AI platforms today that can build applications for you if you know what you’re doing (a good example is CodeWP which I mentioned earlier). Other AI applications like Microsoft Copilot can produce clean code for any programming language.
The fact is that AI platforms are predicted to replace regular programmers in the future. This is a possibility and it’s already happening.
Deploy
At this stage, the SAAS platform has been thoroughly tested and re-tested for the purpose it was built. The next stage is deployment. This is where you explore hosting options, register a domain name, design the user interface (frontend) website, and it goes live.
Pricing
Several pricing strategies exist, but the most popular include
Freemium
In this case, you offer a basic version for free while charging for premium features. A good example is ChatGPT basic which is free, but if you want the best version of this chatbot, you’ll need to shell out $20 every month. You might think, why should I pay when it’s free?
I guarantee you that you’ll be blown away if you use the paid version of this insanely popular chatbot that’s making waves right now. After all, there’s a reason for that payment.
Tiered Pricing
In this case, you offer multiple plans with varying features. The software may or may not have a free plan (a good example is Mailerlite). They may also simply offer you a trial for a limited time, after which you get to pay (think Shopify). Then there are high plans, with more features added as the price increases. A typical pricing scenario should have a Free/Trial plan, Basic plan, Standard Plan, and the Pro plan.
These terminologies may change, depending on the creator’s choice anyways. He may decide to name it Rookie (Basic), Experienced (Standard), and Maestro (Pro) if the niche is email marketing. My choice of words though.
Pay-as-you-go
This gives the users even more flexibility. They are charged based on usage of the platform. A good example is most of the AI image generators like Leonardo AI, which offer this option, or Picwish SAAS platform.
Marketing
There are a couple ways you can promote your SAAS platform, and I can guarantee you that your product will gain traction quickly if you’re solving a really difficult problem. This means that almost everyone will want to use it, and membership will soar astronomically.
Content Marketing
In this case, you write blog posts talking about the software and its benefits to users. This has great potential to attract customers over the years without fail, as long as the posts are optimized for SEO.
Social Media Marketing
From your social media pages, you can generate buzz and awareness for your SAAS product without spending much. This way, your product can quickly grow in popularity as social media users share your content.
PPC Advertising
In this method, you get to spend some cash promoting your SAAS product. There are numerous platforms offering this service. Some of the most popular are Google, Facebook, Amazon, YouTube, X, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tik Tok.
This method gives you instant results because the ads are targeted at your ideal potential customers. In most cases, the return on ad spend is quite handsome.
E-mail Marketing
This involves building a list and sending promotional emails to your list. This is one of the best channels offering the highest return on ad spend, compared to other marketing channels. The ROAS is as high as 35% in most cases.
Word of mouth
This method doesn’t cost you a thing, rather you gain much more. Your customers will refer their friends and family to your platform, and of course, you’re not paying for those leads! It’s a win-win situation for you.
Types of SAAS Platforms
There are different types of SAAS platforms and sub-niches. I’m going to list just some of them out here for reference purposes. It might interest you to note that most of these platforms are powered by AI.
Productivity
- Beautiful AI
- Quest AI
- Office 365
- Futurepedia
- Noty.ai
- Alan AI
- Quest AI
Writing
- Jasper AI
- Surfer SEO
- ChatGPT
- Grammarly
- Quillbot
- Writesonic
- Prowriting Aid
- Koala AI Writer
- Wordtune
Design
- DALL-E
- Bing Image Generator
- Leonardo AI
- Midjourney
- Canva
- Ideogram AI
- Microsoft Designer
- Adobe Express
- Hotpot AI
Chatbot
- ChatGPT
- Google Bard
- Jasper
- Chatsonic
- HuggingChat
- Bing AI
- Claude
- Poe by Quora
- YouChat
- Kommunicate
Marketing
- Sendinblue
- Convertkit
- ConstantContact
- Mailerlite
- iContact
- Zoho
- GetResponse
- AWeber
- Mailchimp
Video
- RunwayML
- Invideo
- Pictory
- Capcut
- Veed.io
- Filmora
- Animoto
- Deepbrain AI
SEO
- Ah-Refs
- SEMRush
- Moz Pro
- Majestic SEO
- Surfer SEO
- Raven Tools
- Ubbersuggest
- SEO Powersuite
- Mangools
Final thoughts
I once wrote about how a plugin I use on my website (Ez Form Calculator) has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for the owner after being launched in 2014. This plugin helps users create any kind of form inside WordPress, and I’ve used it often to create amazing forms. The SAAS platform was launched in 2014, and has generated 5,811 sales on CodeCanyon so far. Priced at $49, this small piece of code has made the owner about $284,739.
A quick conversion to Naira with an average exchange rate of just 1,000 will give about N284,739,000. This is a side hustle passive income, not the major hustle of the creator! This is a classic example of how SAAS products can change your life. You just need to think differently, and you’ll achieve great things for yourself.
Did this article answer your questions? I’m sure you’re feeling pumped up right now and will implement what you learned here. Leave a comment below to let us know. Don’t forget to turn on push notifications for alerts anytime we publish an article.
