saas business plan ppt

How To Create A SaaS Business Plan In 11 Steps: Full Guide

• November 17, 2023
• Fundraising

Software as a service (SaaS) is the fastest-growing market segment of the past 5 years: the overall spend per company on SaaS products was up +50% in 2021 compared to 2018!

Yet, SaaS do require significant upfront investment before they can turn out a profit. Whether you are raising capital or applying for a grant, you will need a solid business plan for your SaaS startup.

Whilst every business is unique, we strongly recommend to follow a clear structure vetted by dozens of high-profile VC firms globally. Having a powerful and clear business plan will maximise your chances of raising capital from potential investors.

In this article we walk you through the 14 sections you must have in your SaaS business plan.

No te: If you are looking for a pitch deck instead, read our guide here . Although business plans and pitch decks are similar, they are also very different in their format. If you aren’t sure what is best for you, we recommend to read our article on the key differences between business plans and pitch decks .

SaaS Business Plan: The Template

If you are creating a business plan for your SaaS startup, we recommend you follow the following structure:

• Executive Summary
• The Problem
• The Solution
• Market Opportunity
• Competitive Landscape
• Business Model
• Intellectual Property
• Marketing Strategy
• Financial Plan

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary is the introduction of your SaaS business plan. This is a section you should spend a lot of time on as it’s the first impression investors will have when looking at your business plan.

The executive summary should fit in 2 pages maximum . Make it to the point, concise, and make sure to answer the following questions:

• What is the problem you want to solve?
• What is your solution?
• Who are the co-founders behind the project?
• Do you have early traction?
• What are you asking for (capital from investors, government grant application, etc.)?

Expert-built financial model templates for tech startups

2. The Problem

This is the “why” of your business. Explain in this section what is the problem you are trying to solve.

The greatest businesses are solving big problems, yet they aren’t necessarily obvious . For instance, if your SaaS startup aims to solve the pain points of HR administrative tasks (human errors, low digitalisation, time-consuming, etc.) make it clear here. Not everyone is knowledgeable about companies’ support functions processes, let alone HR.

Ideally you would list the 2/3 friction points you aim to fix. For instance, digitalisation usually fixes multiple problems at once: it is fast, seamless and accessible (vs. slow, prone to errors and non-readily available / accessible solutions).

3. The Solution

Your startup builds and commercialises a product and/or a service which solves the problem explained earlier.

This section should not explain in detail your product nor how it works. Instead, it should focus on the benefits for your customers .

Ideally, you should compare the pain points explained on section 2 (the Problem) to the benefits your solution brings to your customers. That way,  it is crystal clear to investors your solution really adds value to potential customers .

4. Market Opportunity

Here, you need to clearly identify 2 very important metrics:

• Market size :  how big is your market?
• Market growth:  how fast does your market grow?

If you are operating in a niche market, chances are that you will face some challenges: the information might not be publicly available. In any case, you should be able to make a high-level estimation of your market.  Read our article on market sizing and how to estimate TAM, SAM and SOM for your startup .

When looking for these metrics, you have multiple sources of information: public reports, specialised press, etc. Even public companies publish press releases and annual reports including some of their proprietary market estimates so be sure to look there too.

5. Competitive Landscape

How fragmented is your market.

Are there 3 big players sharing 90% market share or thousands of small players? Here, refer to public market reports and your own understanding of the competitive landscape.

A few questions you could ask yourself, among others:

• Who are your competitors?
• Are they local, regional, national or global?
• Do they have mobile and/or desktop applications?

Where do you position yourself vs. competition?

Is your solution a game changer other competitors don’t have (yet)? Do you have competitors with similar products/services?

Ideally, you would create a small table with, for each type of competitors (e.g. global diversified companies, small pure players, etc.) the main characteristics they share or not. For instance, do they all a global presence? Do they have a on-premise or a SaaS solution? Do they offer both a desktop and mobile app, or just desktop? What is their relative price positioning (expensive vs. accessible)?

6. Business Model

This section is very important. Now that we have clearly identified the problem you are solving and the benefits of your solution, let’s have a closer look at your product.

This is where you clearly explain 2 key things:

How does your product work?

Explain what your product is and how it works. For instance, is it a desktop and/or a mobile SaaS application? Who is it for exactly (is this a FP&A application only for CFOs or a Slack-like collaboration tool for any type of user)?

Pricing model

SaaS businesses have different types of pricing models: per-user, per-usage, flat-tiered, etc. For a full list of the different pricing models, refer to this great article here .

7. Intellectual Property

This section is optional: only include it if you already have a MVP. If so, you have a strong argument for product-driven investors which will give a lot of credit to your tech.

Be careful not to go into too many specifics though: investors aren’t always engineer by training. Do not put things like the programming language you have chosen (e.g. React, Python) or the database provider (PostgreSQL, MongoDB).

Instead, include things such as:

• whether you have a white-labelled solution or a proprietary back-end / database
• how many full time front/back-end engineers you have
• how much you invested already in your tech

8. Marketing Strategy

This section explains how you acquire customers .

Are you selling a SaaS solution to B2B customers? Or is this a B2C product? This will determine whether you have an inbound or outbound acquisition strategy, or both:

• Inbound acquisition : fully digital acquisition. It can be either paid (paid ads e.g. Google Ads) or organic (content, SEO). Essentially, you convert customers from leads who land on your landing page. This strategy is most common for B2C SaaS businesses
• Outbound acquisition : you acquire customers thanks to your sales team who contact potential customers via phone, emailing or in-person sales efforts. This strategy is very common for B2B SaaS businesses

Once you have clearly explained your acquisition strategy and what tools you are using (e.g. Google Ads for paid search, Instagram and/or newsletter for content), ideally you can show, among others:

• Your average Customer Acquisition Cost (only if you have early traction)
• The number of sales people you have today
• How many customers your sales people close per month in average
• Your monthly paid ads budget
• The number of followers you have on social media
• Your newsletter count

The roadmap tells investors where you are going and how is product going to evolve in the future. You can either keep it high-level (e.g. your long-term strategy) or more detailed (e.g. the pipeline of the near-future product features).

Investors do not just invest in your product as it is today. For example, you might only have developed a MVP with limited features for  early-adopters  while your product could be tweaked and serve a much larger customer base in the future.

Note: if you choose to include your product pipeline, keep it very simple. Your SaaS business plan isn’t your product manager’s presentation to engineers.  Instead of features, focus on the additional benefits and customer segments you might target  as such. For instance, if you plan to launch a messaging feature, focus on the fact it will open new growth opportunities (e.g. network effects).

In this section you should focus on the people behind the company. Unlike in the executive summary, the team section of your SaaS business plan should not be limited to the cofounding or management team.

Instead, you should explain the current organisational structure of your company, the different teams, who they report to and their relative size.

For the people, keep it short. Keep biography to a minimum and only to key people (cofounders and management team). As rule of thumb, 5 lines per team member are enough, 10 a maximum.

When it comes to biographies, only include what is relevant: name, position, years of experience and/or previous companies is more than enough.

What about advisors?

Do you have angel investors with significant experience who advise you on strategy? Do you have a PhD who acts as advisor to your SaaS startup (on regulation and market access matters for instance)?

Any advisor should also be included here, with the same level of detail as for the management team.

Demonstrating in your SaaS business plan that not only team members but also experts are advising and/or sitting on your board is a strong selling point.

Note: add a clickable link to the respective Linkedin profiles so investors can refer to a more exhaustive resume for your team members (if relevant)

11. Financial Plan

Along with your product and the team, this section is highly important. Unfortunately, many startups overlook the importance of financial projections in their SaaS business plan.

Think about your audience: investors (venture capital firms or angel investors) are financially literate individuals . As such, they invest in your business to generate returns. Logically, they care a lot about your financials and more especially, the expected financial performance of your business .

Do not expect investors to make up their own plan for your startup if you haven’t. As CEO, founder or entrepreneur alike, you should have a clear idea of where you are going .

As rule of thumb, the more advanced your startup is, the more granularity you should include here. Pre-seed startups might keep it short (1 slide) yet we recommend seed and Series A+ startups to include 2 slides instead.

Common SaaS metrics you should include in your financial plan slide are:

• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
• ARPU and ARPPU
• LTV and CAC

For a complete list of the 8 most important metrics for SaaS businesses, refer to our article here .

{{product_image|medium}}

SaaS Financial Model

Download an expert-built 5-year Excel financial model for your pitch deck

Related Posts

SaaS MRR Calculation and Forecasting: Full Guide [Free template]

SaaS Deferred Revenue: What Is It? Why Is It Important?

The 14 Slides You Need For Your SaaS Pitch Deck

Privacy overview.

The Ultimate Guide to Writing a SaaS Business Plan with Examples and Templates

Explanation: We fact-check all of our content to ensure you have reliable and up-to-date information for your eCommerce business decisions. Learn about our fact-checking steps .

Whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur or a seasoned veteran, there’s no denying that writing a SaaS business plan is a critical step in launching your SaaS startup . In this article, we’ll give you the lowdown on what goes into writing the ultimate SaaS business plan.

Introduction

Did you know that 70 percent of businesses that follow a strategic business plan manage to survive for five years? 

But here’s the deal — the way you write your SaaS business plan differs a little from the way you might write plans for a more traditional “lifestyle” business. There are unique considerations that can help your business succeed or fail.

It’s necessary to validate your business idea and build a compelling case for investors. If you’re starting a SaaS business, there is an even greater need to create a solid business plan because the resources required to fund growth are often higher relative to other types of online businesses. 

An excellent SaaS business plan lays out essential aspects of your business, from mission and values to marketing strategy and financial projections. It also helps you consider any potential risks and create contingency plans.

If you are considering developing your own SaaS business, this guide discusses what a SaaS business plan should include and how to create an outstanding one. 

We’ll cover areas like your business model examination, marketing, financials, and how to make sure your plan doesn’t include any holes.

What is a SaaS Business Plan?

A SaaS business plan is the roadmap for your software-as-a-service (SaaS) business. With this plan, you can specify steps you need to take to make your business succeed. It basically helps you stay organized and keep track of your progress.

When creating a SaaS business plan, you must consider many factors, including customer segmentation, customer acquisition strategy, pricing structure, marketing, and operational costs. It’s also essential to set short-term and long-term goals to stay on track. 

Moreover, the plan is vital for communicating with potential investors and customers, giving them a clearer insight into the product and its value.

Why Do You Need a SaaS Business Plan?

1. increased clarity.

A SaaS business plan creates clarity around your goals and objectives by articulating them in an understandable format. This plan gives you the foundation for making decisions moving forward, helping you identify potential challenges or opportunities down the road. Whether it’s for yourself, investors or shareholders, having a well-thought-out business plan can be invaluable when it comes to mapping out your trajectory for success.

2. Assign Responsibility

A SaaS business plan focuses on the project and keeps it organized, on track, and ultimately profitable. If your organization lacks a plan, you may find that progress is slow. Projects may get sidetracked or confused, and you may have trouble communicating goals to the team.

With a plan in place, your management team can see who’s responsible for what tasks, when those tasks need to be completed, and how their efforts are contributing to the overall project. It makes it easier to measure performance and set up rewards. 

And at the same time, if someone falls behind or is underperforming, it’s also easier to identify which area needs improvement—all thanks to having a well-defined SaaS business plan.

3. Manage Change

When running a SaaS business, you must always be ready for a pivot. Having a detailed plan helps you prepare for any curve balls that may come your way. A plan is also helpful when expanding or trimming staff or services—it ensures that everyone is on the same page and understands your ultimate goals.

4. Secure Funding

Having a business plan is critical if you’re trying to secure funding for your SaaS project. Investors want to know that you have accounted for all aspects of your project. 

Most are particularly interested in seeing your business model and product, competitive edge, customer acquisition strategy and financial projections. These insights help them to determine the potential profitability of your venture. 

Your business plan typically shows investors how much money they will need to invest in getting the project off the ground.

Pro tip! Discover the techniques and best practices of price anchoring , a pricing strategy you can use in your business plan.

Crafting a Winning SaaS Business Plan Outline

We’ve mentioned earlier that a SaaS business plan is the roadmap you need to create a successful software as a service company. With the right plan, you can identify your target market, outline your strategy, and secure the resources you need to get started. 

Here are the ‘must-haves’ in your outline to get started on the right foot.

1. Executive Summary

The executive summary is a “30-second pitch” that encapsulates the key elements and essential information about your business in a few short paragraphs. It’s the first chapter of your SaaS business plan, setting the tone for the rest of your document. 

The executive summary should be clear and concise while providing enough detail to paint a vivid picture of your business concept and goals.

Potential investors or partners should be able to quickly understand your business goals and concept, as well as your competitive advantages and mission. Hence it’s best to keep your text concise.

You should;

• Include all the essential points and briefly explain how you plan to reach your objectives. 
• Communicate why your company will succeed in this space relative to competitors in the market at large. 
• Finally, don’t forget about visual aids—add charts and other visuals that can help illustrate your points throughout your executive summary to strengthen its impact and clearly present information.

                                                                        Image source 

You can see that this very brief executive summary includes an overview of the product, market, and mission. 

Describing your product and market are particularly essential because they provide a framework for writing about your business model in a way that is focused on your target audience and clear to potential investors.

2. Identifying the Problem

The problem statement clarifies why you create your product or service and why customers need it. It should be succinct and designed to establish your company’s unique purpose and value proposition in the marketplace. 

To write a comprehensive problem statement, you need to research and analyze industry trends to identify the unique problems that your product will solve.

Tools such as the Google Trends search engine or the Pew Research Center are excellent resources for conducting industry research. You can use Google Trends to view the relative popularity of search terms over time, while the Pew Research Center provides access to industry-specific survey data. 

Tools like these can help you identify gaps in the current marketplace to help you create a compelling problem statement.

After your research, use straightforward language to articulate the primary issue your product or service addresses. Remember to keep it Simple. Refrain from overloading readers with too much information; keep it straightforward and easy to understand.

3. Asserting Your Solution

Once you’ve detailed the problem, you need to create a case study for why your solution is the ideal one. Solutions in a SaaS business plan typically refer to the product or service your company provides. 

In this section of the business plan, you must clearly articulate how your solution will be better, faster, or cheaper than the competition. 

As you explain the advantages of your solution, provide concrete data, such as customer testimonials, to back up your claims. It is also important to emphasize the value proposition and the differentiating characteristics that set your solution apart from the competition.

Ultimately, convincing potential customers that your product is better than any alternative will be a key part of gaining their trust. The more information you provide in this section, the more likely potential customers are to understand the value of your product and choose your solution over the competition.

4. Market Opportunity

Market opportunity refers to the potential size and growth of the available market for a business’s services or products. It is an important consideration in the business plan as an essential part of determining the potential success of the business concept. To assess and identify market opportunities, you must first understand your target market.

Check out this graph to find out the approximate global SaaS market growth:

Understanding your target market involves researching the product or service, the target customer demographic, and the market situation for similar products or services. Websites like US Census Bureau , Answer The Public , and Statista can help you uncover actionable insights to identify opportunities, such as untapped markets or customer subsegments that may be more receptive to your SaaS product. 

It is also essential to consider any potential trends or changes in the market, such as new laws and regulations, technology, or changes in customer behavior, that could impact the market. Trend research can help inform pricing and marketing strategy for better long-term success.

You can see that this outlines the potential trend and growth of the cybersecurity market following an analysis by IBISWorld. 

5. Competitive Analysis

The next section of your SaaS business plan should be a competitive analysis. In this part, you look at—and compare yourself to—your competition. This survey helps you understand the current market, identify areas of advantage and disadvantage, and develop strategies to help you stand out from the competition.

Writing a good competitor analysis begins with identifying who your competitors are. Tools like Similarweb can help you find direct and indirect competitors who offer similar services or products differently. For each competitor, you listed, describe the services they provide and their strengths and weaknesses.

Next, spell out the differences between your offer and your competitor’s. Analyze their pricing structures too. Are customers willing to pay more for specific product features? How often do copycats come along? Is there a demand for cheaper alternatives? Understanding these dynamics can help you create better pricing strategies for your SaaS business plan. Popular SaaS pricing strategies include penetration pricing , trial pricing , and psychological pricing .

You can also conduct an SEO competitor analysis   to get a better understanding of your competitors’ strategies. This, in turn, will help you craft a more strategic marketing plan to outperform your competitors’.

6. Business Model Examination

Business model examination in a SaaS business plan involves analyzing and defining how the company plans to generate revenue and create value for its customers. This section includes an in-depth study of key elements of the company’s revenue model, such as pricing strategy, target market, cost structure, sales and marketing channels, and customer acquisition strategy.

The business model examination allows you to ensure that your assumptions are solid and strengthen weak areas. It also validates ideas and visualizes how they stand up compared to competitors in the market. Here, you’ll typically answer important questions such as:

• What value does the SaaS offering provide to its customers?
• How will the company monetize its SaaS offering?
• Who are the target customers, and what are their needs?
• What are the key costs associated with delivering the SaaS offering, and how will these costs be managed?
• How will the company acquire and retain customers, and what is the customer acquisition cost?

7. Marketing Plan and Strategy

This section details a comprehensive strategy for attracting and retaining customers by communicating the value of the company’s offering. It outlines the steps the company will take to build awareness and demand for its product and how it will retain its existing customer base.

A typical marketing plan in a SaaS business plan includes the following components:

• Target market analysis : Identify the target customer segments, their needs, and how the SaaS offering addresses those needs.
• Competitive analysis : Identify the competition and assess the company’s competitive advantage.
• Value proposition: Define the unique value the SaaS offering provides customers and how it differentiates from the competition.
• Positioning strategy : Determine how the SaaS offering will be positioned in the market and how the company will communicate its value proposition to its target customers.
• Marketing mix : Define the marketing mix, including product, price, place, and promotion, and how they will be used to achieve the marketing objectives.
• Marketing budget : Establish the marketing budget, including the cost of marketing campaigns and tactics and how the budget will be allocated to different marketing channels.
• Marketing KPIs : Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the marketing plan’s effectiveness and track progress.

To learn more about measuring your marketing KPIs, read our comprehensive guide on essential SaaS metrics to track and improve growth.

8. Timeline and Map

A timeline is a visual representation of the key milestones and events the company intends to achieve in a specified period. 

The timeline should outline the significant events such as;

• product development
• marketing campaigns
• key hires, as well as the expected completion dates for each event. 

The timeline provides a roadmap for the company, ensuring that the business stays on track and meets its goals.

To create a comprehensive timeline in your business plan, determine what you want to achieve with your SaaS business. Next, identify the key events that need to happen for your business to achieve its goals. These events can include product development, launch, marketing campaigns, and key hires.

After identifying key events, assign a realistic time frame for each milestone, considering any dependencies or constraints. This step will help you to determine the expected completion dates for each event. 

Finally, choose a format for your timeline that is easy to understand and visually appealing. A Gantt chart is a popular choice for creating a timeline, as it provides a clear and visual representation of the timing of each event. You can use a tool like TeamGantt to create Gantt charts.

9. Your Team

Your management team, composed of founders, executives, and everyone in between, are responsible for turning your brilliant idea into a reality. That’s why exploring how your team and plan mesh together is essential to create something truly unique.

In this section, you’ll want to talk about the experience and qualifications that your team brings to the table — including relevant work history and industry knowledge. You’ll also want to talk about how roles are divided among team members and how those roles might evolve.

If the company has a board of directors and advisors, this section should describe their background and experience and how they will contribute to the business’s success. The team section should also outline the company’s plans for future hiring and how the new hires will fit into the company’s overall strategy.

10. Financial Plan

A financial plan is one of the essential parts of your SaaS business plan. It lays out your current and future financial needs so that investors know where you are now and understand where you intend to be in the near and distant future. Here are some key elements to include when writing the financial plan section.

• Projected income statement: Provide a detailed projection of the company’s revenue and expenses over a period, usually 3-5 years.
• Projected cash flow statement: Show the company’s expected cash inflows and outflows over the same period as the projected income statement.
• Projected balance sheet: This section should show the company’s projected assets, liabilities, and equity at the end of each year. 
• Break-even analysis: Show the point at which the company’s revenue will equal its expenses and how long it will take to reach that point.
• Assumptions and risks: Outline the assumptions and risks underlying the financial projections, such as changes in the economy, competition, and customer behavior.
• Capitalization table: This section should show how the company will be funded, including equity investments, debt financing, and other funding sources.

In today’s world, the process of creating a business plan has become much easier. You can find freelancers online who can help handle time intensive parts of the process like research and formatting, making it possible for you to focus on what matters most — your business strategy. 

You can also find templates online that allow you to plug in your own information and print out pages with everything you need.

For example, SCORE provides fillable worksheets to help you cover these key pages in your business plan. The US Small Business Administration (SBA) also offers sample templates for both modern lean startup and traditional business plans. Additionally, you can find free templates on PandaDoc . 

Pro tip! Trial pricing method is another pricing approach you can use when writing a winning SaaS business plan.

Final Thoughts

Now you see, you don’t have to be an excellent wordsmith or planner to craft a winning SaaS business plan. The steps in this guide will help you to organize your thoughts and create a comprehensive plan for your business.

Adaline Lefe Mary John

A great researcher and creator, Adaline is responsible for planning and managing content for all our websites. She has over 10 years of experience in creating and managing content.

Show all posts from Adaline Lefe Mary John

Methodology

• Who? We are SaaS experts: Our specialists constantly seek the most relevant information to help support your SaaS business.
• Why? We are passionate about users accessing fair SaaS pricing: We offer up-to-date pricing data, reviews, new tools, blogs and research to help you make informed SaaS pricing decisions.
• How? With accurate information: Our website manager tests each software to add a Genius Score using our rating methodology to each product. Our editorial team fact-check every piece of content we publish, and we use first-hand testing, value metrics and leading market data.

• Sample Business Plans
• IT, Staffing & Customer Service

SaaS Business Plan

Congratulations! You have found an innovative software solution and are on the brink of launching your SaaS business – that is commendable.

Whether it is a new product that you are introducing or looking to revamp existing SaaS software, a sound SaaS business plan is your essential guide to climbing the ladder of success.

We understand that crafting a business plan for your SaaS business can seem challenging. That’s why we’re here with our SaaS business plan template , to simplify the planning process and assist you in creating a roadmap for your SaaS.

Key Takeaways

• A SaaS business plan helps you define your marketing strategy, customer acquisition strategy, retention strategy, and strategies to achieve your business goals.
• Craft an impactful executive summary that outlines the type of your SaaS business, marketing approach, financial outlook, and team expertise to attract potential investors and partners.
• Conduct thorough market research to understand market trends, consumer preferences, and the needs of your target market.
• To ensure efficient daily operations, provide in-depth operational plans that incorporate staffing, additional services, and customer service.
• Create realistic financial projections for sales revenue, expenses, and profit forecasts while considering contingencies & emergencies.

Why do you need a SaaS business plan?

For entrepreneurs who jump into business directly without writing a business plan is like delaying their success. Here are some reasons why you need a SaaS business plan:

Writing a business plan helps you work out and make clear your business strategy. Do you want customers to pay upfront? Or maybe you’re thinking about the “freemium” idea where some stuff is free, but others need a paid upgrade. Writing this down from the start helps your team understand where you’re headed.

Finances are important

Sometimes, it takes months or even a year to cover customer acquisition costs. So, you need a plan with a solid financial forecast. A good plan lets you play with different situations, so you know how much money you need for both the long and short term.

Acquiring customers

A good business plan outlines how you’ll get new customers. It could be a detailed marketing plan included in your business plan or strategies for how to acquire customers.

Retaining Customers

Getting customers is just part of the game for a subscription business. SaaS businesses need to keep their customers coming back, especially in a competitive market.

Knowing Your Market

A business plan lets you identify your ideal customer profile. Knowing your customers is crucial, and having a deep understanding of your customers helps you make the correct updates to your product in the future.

What to include in your SaaS business plan?

1. executive summary.

The executive summary is basically an introduction to the entire business plan. Entrepreneurs prefer to write it at the last because till then, they will have the full knowledge of the business plan.

Start your executive summary by engagingly introducing your business, and include all other elements like

• Saas company brief introduction
• Market Opportunity
• Vision & mission statement
• Target market
• Your products and services
• Marketing strategy
• Management team
• Financial Outlook
• Call to action

For instance here is an example of Saas company’s product introduction with the help of Upmetrics:

Remember, your readers might not read the whole business plan, but they will definitely go through the executive summary. So, make sure to keep it simple and engaging.

Say goodbye to boring templates

Build your business plan faster and easier with AI

Plans starting from $7/month

2. Company Overview

In the company overview section, introduce your business in detail. It includes legal structure, name, location, business history, and everything about your Saas company.

First, provide the basic details of your Saas business – what is the name and what type of Saas business do you own; for example, your Saas business might be:

• Horizontal Saas: This Saas business model allows Saas businesses to cater services to various customer segments.
• Vertical Saas: Here the solutions are created for a particular customer segment of the industry.
• Collaboration Saas: This type of Saas business allows teams to work together. They also enable document sharing, project management, communication, and more such functions.

After that, mention the owners of your Saas startup along with the qualifications. Add the mission statement of your business and do not forget to include business history (if any) & future goals.

This section should provide an in-depth understanding of your business and business owners.

3. Industry Analysis

In the industry analysis section of your SaaS business plan, it is essential to provide a comprehensive overview of the SaaS industry. While this may seem unnecessary, it gives you a deep understanding of your industry which will help you in business planning.

Here are certain questions that will help you in the analysis:

• What is the current size of the Saas industry in terms of revenue?
• What are the current trends of the Saas business?
• Who are the leading SaaS businesses in the industry?
• What is the growth forecast for the industry?

For example, look at this industry and the size of the Saas industry with the help of Upmetrics:

Conduction this industry analysis will educate you about the market and help you prepare marketing strategies according to the market trends.

In short, your industry analysis will provide a clear and comprehensive view of the SaaS market, helping you make informed decisions and easily communicate your business’s positioning and potential.

4. Competitive Analysis

Competitive analysis will help you understand your business better and identify the strong points of your product.

Start by specifying who are your competitors – both companies like yours (direct competitors) and other choices customers might consider (indirect competitors).

Now, let’s focus on your direct competitors, those similar to your SaaS service. Provide an overview of each competitor, including their size and where they’re based.

Next, look at their strengths and weaknesses. Find out:

• Which customer segment do they serve?
• What kind of software services do they offer?
• How do they price their services?
• What are their strengths and strong points?
• What do they need to work on, according to their customers?
• What is their customer acquisition cost?

A better way to conduct this analysis is by seeing things from a customer’s viewpoint. You might even ask your competitors’ customers what they like and dislike about them to better get insights about them.

This way you can get to know the unique selling proposition of your SaaS company. Think about all the areas where you will outperform your competition and make sure to include that in your strategies.

Your USP might be:

• Ease of use
• Customization
• Attractive pricing structure
• 24*7 customer support

In short, through this analysis get to know about your USPs and competitors.

5. Market Analysis

In this section, dive into the market where you will provide SaaS services.

Start your market analysis section by providing the details of your target customers. Your target market can be:

• Small to medium-sized businesses
• E-commerce retailers
• Enterprise level companies
• Nonprofits or NGOs

After mentioning your target market, give a detailed overview of the market size and growth potential of the industry. For example: here is the market size of wages and salary sales workers for a customer relationship management solutions provider software SaaS company:

Now focus on market trends too. Mention what your target customers prefer and what new are they looking for. For example, people might be looking for:

• Remote work solutions
• AI and machine learning integration
• Hybrid cloud solutions

At the end of the market analysis, do mention the regulatory environment your SaaS business needs to follow.

6. Product Offerings

After mentioning your target customers, give details of products that are supposed to make life easier for the target customers. So, make sure your products are easy to use and efficient.

Your product might provide one of these:

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Project Management (PM)
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
• Sales Funnel Management
• Financial Management
• Human Resources Management (HRM)
• Communication Solutions
• Automated Marketing Solutions

7. Sales and Marketing Plan

Writing the sales and marketing section means jotting down all the customer acquisition strategies and the tactics for how to retain them.

First, you need to identify and understand your target market, then need to know your USPs because these two elements will be at the base of all your strategies.

Now it is time to mention your customer acquisition strategy as in whether you will go for inbound acquisition or outbound acquisition.

Inbound acquisition

Inbound strategies are fully digital and are necessary to fully convert potential customers into existing ones.

They include acquiring customers or retaining existing customers with the help of content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, email marketing, etc.

Outbound acquisition

Outbound strategies are all about going to the potential customers directly rather than waiting for them to come to you. This can only happen with a proper sales team by your side.

These strategies include cold emails, cold calls, LinkedIn outreach, direct mail, trade shows, etc.

Once you have noted down how you will acquire customers, then mention below things too:

• Customer acquisition cost
• How many customers do your salespeople close per month on average
• Your monthly paid advertisement budget
• Number of followers you have on social media

8. Management Team

Knowing who is behind your SaaS business will increase the appeal of your business plan.

The management team tells you about the people in charge of the SaaS business. It should explain each manager’s experience, what they’re good at, and what their jobs are.

Here is an example with the help of Upmetrics of how to mention your key managers:

Whether you are going for a traditional business plan or a modern lean plan, do not ignore mentioning your management team. 

9. Operations Plan

This part is like a map that shows how you will make your SaaS business work. It’s divided into two sections:

Everyday Work:

This is what you do every day to keep the business running. Like getting customers, helping them out, and dealing with paperwork. You have to explain how you’ll do all these daily tasks efficiently.

For example here is the purchasing procedure for CRM software with the help of Upmetrics:

These are the important things you want to achieve in the future. It could be reaching a certain number of customers, making a lot of sales, hiring more team members, or launching new features.

Here, you have to show your plan for reaching these goals, including when you aim to get there and what you’ll do to make it happen.

This operations plan is like a guide for handling your everyday tasks and making big dreams for the SaaS business come true.

10. Financial Plan

SaaS financial plan needs to have a 5-year financial forecast. For the first year, break it down into monthly or quarterly details, and then summarize it annually. This forecast should cover your income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow.

Income statement

An income statement, often known as a Profit and Loss statement or P&L, displays your earnings and then deducts your expenses to know the profitability of your business.

When crafting your income statement for SaaS sales growth, you have to make some assumptions. Here is an example of an income statement with the help of Upmetrics:

Balance sheet

Balance sheets display your assets and liabilities. Although they can contain a lot of details, like equity, goodwill, other intangible assets, etc.

Cash flow statement

Your cash flow statement helps you see how much money you need to start or grow your business and avoid running out of money.

Surprisingly, you can make a profit but still face financial problems that could lead to bankruptcy. Therefore, you will need proper cash flow planning to avoid such circumstances.

SaaS Industry Highlights 2023

• Growth forecast: The Software as a Service (SaaS) market was to hit $141.40 billion in revenue by 2023 and is expected to maintain a yearly growth rate (CAGR) of 5.64%, reaching a market size of $186.00 billion by 2028.
• USA’s growth: When compared on a global scale, the United States is expected to generate the highest revenue, reaching $141,400 million in 2023.
• User spending: Spending by end-users on SaaS was to reach $208.08 billion in 2023, making up 35% of all spending on end-user public cloud services.
• Leveraging AI: Around 40% of businesses were prepared to integrate AI technology into their operations in 2021, and the forecasted expansion of cloud AI in 2023 is expected to be five times greater than it was in 2019.

Download a SaaS business plan template

Ready to kick-start your business plan writing process? And not sure where to start? Here you go, download our free SaaS business plan pdf , and start writing.

This intuitive, modern, and investment-ready template is designed specifically for SaaS businesses. It includes step-by-step instructions & examples to help in creating your own SaaS business plan.

The Quickest Way to turn a Business Idea into a Business Plan

Fill-in-the-blanks and automatic financials make it easy.

Write your business plan with Upmetrics

With Upmetrics, you get easy-to-follow steps, templates you can adjust, over 400+ examples of business plans , and AI support to make your business planning simpler.

If you’re not great with financial formulas, Upmetrics helps you make accurate money forecasts for 3 years or more.

Whether you’re beginning a new business or trying to expand an existing one, Upmetrics is all you need to create a successful and pro-business plan that matches your goals.

Related Posts

Web Design Business Plan

Virtual Assistant Business Plan

10 Best AI Business Plan Generators

Best Business Plan Writers

Cost of Starting SaaS Business

A Step-by-Step Guide to Starting a SaaS

Frequently asked questions, where can i find a saas business plan template that investors will take seriously.

To secure funding and impress potential investors, an engaging SaaS business plan is necessary. Here are some resources from where you can find business plans:

• Business plan software
• Government website 
• AI business plan generators
• Consultants and advisors
• Business plan writers

How do I define my target audience in a SaaS business plan?

While defining the target audience of your SaaS company, you have to mention their:

• Demographics
• Physiographic
• Needs & pain points
• Purchasing habits
• Localization

What are common mistakes to avoid in a SaaS business plan?

Here are some common mistakes you need to avoid while you write a business plan:

• Not conducting enough market research
• Poor vision
• Not having proper financial projections
• Wrong pricing model
• Insufficient ROI analysis

What technical details should be included in a SaaS business plan?

Technical elements you should include in your business plan are:

• Technology stack
• Technology architecture
• Data storage and security
• Scalability
• APIs and integration
• Data backups & recovery

Should I focus on the short-term or long-term goals in my SaaS Business Plan?

SaaS businesses need to focus on both short and long-term goals as both are important to know your near and far future goals with financial projections and budget.

About the Author

Vinay Kevadiya

Vinay Kevadiya is the founder and CEO of Upmetrics, the #1 business planning software. His ultimate goal with Upmetrics is to revolutionize how entrepreneurs create, manage, and execute their business plans. He enjoys sharing his insights on business planning and other relevant topics through his articles and blog posts. Read more

Plan your business in the shortest time possible

No Risk – Cancel at Any Time – 15 Day Money Back Guarantee

Create a great Business Plan with great price.

• 400+ Business plan templates & examples
• AI Assistance & step by step guidance
• 4.8 Star rating on Trustpilot

Streamline your business planning process with Upmetrics .