Hosting Vs Saas – Start a SaaS vs Productized Service?

Start a SaaS vs Productized Service?

Hosting Vs Saas

Brian Casel here, answering another reader’s question. You can join my free newsletter and reply with your questions by subscribing at

Kyle asked: “What has your experience / lessons been between starting a SaaS product vs A Productised Service? Can you do both at the same time?”

Each has it’s pros and challenges (not cons).

SaaS Pros:

– More scalable long-term (exponentially scalable)
– More valuable asset
– Potentially smaller team size

SaaS Challenges:

– A lot harder to identify a value proposition (selling a tool, not a done-for-you)
– Requires a much longer runway
– Requires a wide range of technical skills

Productized Service Pros:

– Easier/faster to launch
– Done-for-you is an easier value proposition
– Shorter runway required (can grow revenue and profit much faster)

Productized Service Challenges:

– Customer growth requires team growth
– Dramatic swings in revenue
– Requires a lot more emphasis on processes (I like this challenge, and its why I created ProcessKit).

Bottom line:

I see Productized Services as “the path of least resistance” to transitioning to your first “big” business. If software is something you want to do, that’s a good next step after productized service, but it’s certainly not without its challenges.

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Hosting Vs Saas

Start a SaaS vs Productized Service?