Lessons Learned from Launching SaaS Businesses Around the World

Building SaaS from Scratch

Welcome. If you’re reading this, you’re probably building—or dreaming of building—a SaaS business from scratch. I’ve spent the last 14 years launching side projects and tiny online businesses from all sorts of places: crowded hostels, noisy coffee shops, and rented rooms across New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the UK. I’ve learned that where and how you work shapes not just your productivity, but the very soul of your business.

Let’s get specific about what it really takes to build a SaaS business from the ground up—drawing only from my own experience, the mistakes I’ve made, and the practical steps that have helped me (and can help you) navigate this journey.

Your Environment Shapes Your Work

Your workspace is more than a backdrop—it’s a lever. I’ve coded in hostels with 33 beds, in capsule hostels that were once prisons, and in 24/7 cafés filled with students and freelancers. At first, these places were just cheap beds or a spot with Wi-Fi. Over time, I realized how much my surroundings affected my focus, creativity, and well-being.

There’s a limit to what you can tolerate. Eventually, you crave a space that supports your ambitions. I’ve lived through extremes: hostels where privacy meant a curtain, cities where sirens made it impossible to think, and apartments with just enough calm to let ideas breathe. If you’re a digital nomad or remote entrepreneur, don’t underestimate the impact of your environment. Seek out places that lift you up. For me, Breka and Blenz in Vancouver, or Tosom and Edia in Seoul, became sanctuaries for deep work. Find your own.

Branding: More Than a Logo

Once you have your footing, focus on branding—not just visuals, but the core of your business. Your brand is your business’s personality. Nurture it. Spend at least ten minutes a week (I do it daily) reflecting on your brand: What does it represent? How can you improve it? What feeling do you want people to have when they encounter your business?

Be intentional. Choose a color palette that matches your values and audience. Reds for energy, blues for trust, greys for seriousness—pick and stick to them. Consistency matters, not just in visuals but in your communication style. Whether you’re playful or formal, keep your tone coherent across platforms. Adapt to each network, but don’t lose your brand’s core.

Know Your Customer: Build Real Avatars

One of the most effective things I’ve done is create detailed customer avatars. Not generic “users”—real, vivid personalities. For my SaaS, I have two:

• Pauline, 24, lives in central Paris, loves dogs, shopping, tennis, and socializing. She’s health-conscious, from a well-off family, but wants financial independence and efficiency.
• Romain, 32, a young professor, single, loves cheese, basketball, and a beer with friends. He wants more control over his life and is considering freelancing.

The more detail you give your avatars—their hobbies, dislikes, even birthdays—the easier it is to create content and features that resonate. When you’re unsure about a decision, ask: Would Pauline use this? Would Romain care about that?

Don’t overcomplicate things with too many avatars. Two or three is enough. Make them vivid, almost caricatured, like TV characters. This clarity guides your marketing, product development, and hiring.

Be Your Own Customer

“Be your own user” is repeated for a reason. When you use your own product daily, you spot improvements, understand pain points, and know where to find your audience—because you are your audience.

If your avatars hang out in university libraries, put up flyers there. If they’re on Facebook Marketplace, advertise there. The more you embody your customer, the more authentic and effective your marketing will be.

Tools and Partners: Keep It Simple

Running a SaaS means dealing with paperwork, accounting, and legal structures. I’ve set up companies in the UK, Singapore, and Australia. The UK is by far the simplest for online company creation, with reasonable taxes and straightforward processes. Singapore is more complex—you often need a local director, and accounting fees can add up.

Choose partners carefully. For Singapore, Sleek (founded by French entrepreneurs) is better priced and more responsive than Osome. In the UK, Rapid Formation and Clever Accounts have served me well, though response times can vary.

Don’t let admin distract you from your real mission: delivering value to users. The hardest part isn’t paperwork—it’s solving a real, painful problem for your customers.

Marketing: Focus and Iterate

Your website is your storefront. Like a café with a welcoming atmosphere, your site needs to make visitors feel at home. Use analytics to see where people drop off, and iterate. Social proof—testimonials, live visitor counts—builds trust, just as a busy restaurant signals quality.

Focus on a specific niche. You can’t please everyone. Define your unique selling proposition (USP): What do you do better than anyone else? Maybe it’s simplicity, speed, or a feature your audience craves.

Look at Curvo, a Belgian investment app. They started by targeting young people with a simple, transparent product. They built a community first, listened to users, and only launched an app when demand was clear. Their branding, communication, and product are all focused on their chosen audience.

Start Small: The MVP Mindset

Don’t build a bloated, feature-packed product from day one. Start with a Minimum Viable Product (MVP): the simplest version that delivers maximum value with minimum effort. Launch, gather feedback, and iterate.

In the French startup scene, MVP is sometimes misunderstood as a half-baked prototype. In reality, it’s about delivering real value quickly, then improving based on user input. If you’re not embarrassed by your first version, you’ve probably waited too long.

Less is often more. Focus on doing a few things exceptionally well, rather than many things poorly. Apple’s products may not have every feature, but what they do, they do flawlessly. Strive for a “perfect but incomplete” product, not a “complete but imperfect” one.

Productivity for Solo Founders

Building a SaaS can be lonely and overwhelming, especially solo. Here’s what helps me:

• Forest: A gamified timer that helps you focus by “planting” virtual trees when you avoid distractions.
• Focusmate and Boss as a Service: Accountability platforms where you work alongside others or report your goals to a virtual “boss.”
• Note-taking: I use notebooks to brainstorm, reflect, and plan my week.

Don’t fall into endless consumption—spending all your time reading or watching, and never creating. Aim for 20% learning, 80% doing. Take time each morning to consume quality content, then switch to action.

Embrace Change and Perseverance

Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster. There will be highs and lows, moments when you want to quit. The key is perseverance and determination. Sometimes, the best move is to wipe the slate clean and start fresh—like fertile ground after a wildfire.

Don’t be afraid to pivot, iterate, or scrap what isn’t working. Take notes, reflect, and keep moving forward. The only way to lose is to give up.

Deliver Real Value

Your success depends on delivering real, tangible value to users. Talk to them. Understand their needs and frustrations. Use every email and piece of feedback as an opportunity to improve.

Give generously—share knowledge, answer questions, and build trust. It may feel like you’re giving more than you receive at first, but over time, value comes back. People remember who helped them, who made their lives easier, who solved their problems.

Your unique selling proposition—what sets you apart—should be clear and compelling. Maybe it’s the fastest delivery, the simplest interface, or the most transparent pricing. Whatever it is, own it, and make it the cornerstone of your brand.