Do’s & Don’ts entrepreneurs should look at when growing their software business

Entrepreneurs, Product Designer, Engineers. Plenty of us has amazing concepts of software the world needs. But how do you operationalize it to build, promote and market software users will love and pay for? We have empowered companies (from early-stage startups to multinational enterprises) in scaling software products and companies. Here are some lessons to keep you on the right track.

Pre-startups must focus on validation.

As an entrepreneur, you have an idea you’d like to work on. Your first challenge is testing if your potential solution solves a particular problem.

• Do: Study your market, interview potential users, pitch your ideas. Check the financial options available to you, from advisors to accelerators.
• Don’t: Quit your day job yet. You need to first develop a business plan to raise funds

How entrepreneurs should go about validating software business ideas

1. Proof of Concept: pressure-test your idea to learn if it is viable.
2. Get yourself a Head of Product to help you make technical decisions. From data storage options to Development/Programming tools and languages, there are many!
3. Find a contractor for your MVP – Minimal Viable Product. You need to beta-test your solution in a tangible product.

Startups should think about stability.

You’ve got a business to run, so time to validate your product/market fit to get money through the door. For entrepreneurs at this stage, it’s all about earning that 1st dollar.

• Do: Refine your product and core features. Even if it means pivoting. Make sure you start tracking basic metrics to learn from your mistakes.
• Don’t: Focus on scaling. This is an experimental stage, where you want to understand who sees value in your offer. You’ll also see your processes taking shape.

How to go about ensuring the longevity of software companies

1. Decide on key metrics, especially the ones that measure user adoption.
2. Make key hires to build your own (core) team. You can still do sales on your own, but need to have your Front and Backend Engineers by now.
3. Choose Deployment, Monitoring, and Analytics tools. They provide you the intelligence you need for product refinement.

Growth-stage companies can afford to think long-term.

Congrats, you almost made it as a successful entrepreneur! You know what you have to do, now focus on doing it well and growing your client portfolio. The goal here is to improve ROI – Return on Investment.

• Do: Shift focus from revenue growth to profitability. This is where you can begin A/B testing everything, from product to processes.
• Don’t: Forget to look out for competition. Other players will copy, expand and improve on your idea and business model.

How entrepreneurs can go about making more money selling software

1. Strengthen your Product and Engineering Teams. Time to hire SRE, QA, Security, and other such specialists.
2. Establish Documentation parameters, if you haven’t done so yet. Time to apply best practices such as DevOps, CI/CD, and collaborative communication.
3. Partner up with Nearshoring specialists. They can both help you look abroad for talent to find stronger talent at better rates, and expand your target market.

Need support in your journey? We can help!And, when the time comes to build your team, Ubiminds will provide you the legal and technical expertise you need to hire and scale product and software engineering teams.

Scheila Farias Silveira

International Marketing Leader, specialized in tech. Proud to have built marketing and business generation structures for some of the fastest-growing SaaS companies on both sides of the Atlantic (UK, DACH, Iberia, LatAm, and NorthAm). Big fan of motherhood, world music, marketing, and backpacking. A little bit nerdy too!