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When my twin brother Eli and I embarked on the journey to establish Bask Health, we had little knowledge of the healthcare sector and an abundance of optimism. We assumed that creating a telehealth platform would be similar to starting any other e-commerce venture — reality proved otherwise.
Throughout the process, we encountered numerous obstacles, faced quick failures, and contemplated giving up more than once. However, amid the turmoil, we developed a strategy that allowed us to create a SaaS platform now empowering over 100 telehealth businesses.
For those planning to launch a SaaS company or an application, here are five insights that I wish I had received earlier in our journey.
1. Launch Before You’re Ready
Initially, I believed that we needed to have a flawless product before we could launch, a perspective that almost led us to financial ruin.
At the outset, we focused on creating a telehealth platform for eyelash enhancement. After spending months perfecting the site and addressing regulatory challenges, we found ourselves without any customers and no means to attract them since we hadn’t validated our concept.
Ultimately, we abandoned our obsession with perfection and released a simplified version of our comprehensive SaaS platform designed for launching telehealth companies. Within a week, we secured paying customers, received constructive feedback, and charted a promising course forward.
If you’re working on a product, prioritize getting it into the hands of users as swiftly as possible. The insights you gain from a single real user can outstrip months of conceptual planning.
2. Differentiate and Simplify
Our initial business attempt was a complete failure; while we had a reasonable platform, we underestimated the challenge of distinguishing ourselves in a saturated market without a unique proposition.
This taught us the importance of differentiation. Rather than being just another telehealth tech provider, we aimed to become the Shopify of telehealth — simple, customizable, and tailored for founders like us. We recognized that launching a more complex solution often leads to reduced competition, presenting a significant opportunity.
Bask was designed to minimize barriers: with self-serve onboarding, intuitive drag-and-drop tools, and API integrations, no developer input or healthcare background is necessary.
SaaS markets are highly competitive; if your offering does not address a particular issue more effectively than others, you risk becoming just another tool among many.
3. Excelling in One Area
In our early stages, we endeavored to accommodate every feature request, which spread our resources too thin as we tried to develop tools that we struggled to maintain and promised customizations we couldn’t realistically support.
It soon became clear that our core product was more than sufficient. By concentrating on optimizing that singular offering, we experienced rapid growth. Word-of-mouth referrals surged, support inquiries decreased, and customer satisfaction grew.
Concentration is key. Develop one solution that effectively addresses a distinct pain point. Once you achieve dominance in that niche, you can begin to add additional features or services.
4. Commit Fully (at Least in the Beginning)
This isn’t advice rooted in hustle culture; it’s simply the reality of startup life. Competing against companies that clock in 40-hour weeks requires you to invest significantly more time — ideally 70 hours weekly — to stay ahead.
During our first year with Bask, Eli and I worked every day without taking weekends or breaks, while still feeling like we were falling behind. This level of dedication enabled us to rapidly develop products, pivot as necessary, and engage directly with customers as we built.
The period in which relentless work is mandatory for your startup won’t last eternally. Yet, opting to outwork competitors in the early stages is a matter of taking control of your fate rather than leaving it to chance.
5. Recognize the Distinction Between Building and Scaling
Creating a product hinges on agility, innovation, and focus, while scaling it requires more structured processes, established systems, and effective delegation.
We came to this realization the hard way. As our customer base expanded, support inquiries surged, onboarding became uneven, and our small team struggled to keep pace. We originally believed that a superior product alone would address these difficulties, but it became evident that it wouldn’t suffice.
Only after we began hiring cautiously and methodically did things start to click. We onboarded skilled customer success representatives who could troubleshoot independently, without needing engineering involvement. We also invested in refining our internal tools and creating documentation. Scaling requires a solid infrastructure, beyond just the software.
Understanding early on that your initial ten hires are essential for building the groundwork for future growth is crucial.
The journey of building Bask has been a transformative experience. We moved from the brink of failure with an unsuccessful eyelash venture to enabling companies to create telehealth brands that serve millions of patients.
This success wasn’t a stroke of luck; it came from learning from our mistakes, engaging with our users, and persevering through adversity.
If you are in the process of developing a SaaS product, remember: success doesn’t hinge on having the perfect concept; it revolves around relentless execution, unwavering focus, and constructing solutions that genuinely meet people’s needs.
When faced with uncertainty, prioritize launching, engaging with users, and continuously iterating.
Source
www.entrepreneur.com