SaaS business built rapidly Using Alpha and SaaS Jumpsart Framework

Alpha Anywhere Case Study: Dwellpoint

Dwellpoint was created rapidly using Alpha Anywhere 3.0 and the new Alpha SaaS Framework.

About Dwellpoint

Dwellpoint is a SaaS solution that keeps real estate agents and brokers in touch and up to date with their clients by informing them about the status of their house listing, scheduled open houses, and upcoming appointments. It helps agents and brokers gain new listings, work more effectively, and keep their teams organized and on-task.

Situation

Entrepreneur Scott Moore had identified a niche in the real estate market as being well-suited for the launch of a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business. He needed to quickly and inexpensively build a mobile Web site and service that would handle all the elements such a service needs. In order for the new service to succeed financially, it would have to be prototyped, launched, maintained, and updated with a minimum of work.

Solution

To build the Dwellpoint service and site, Moore turned to the Alpha Anywhere application development and deployment environment and Alpha's SaaS Jumpstart Framework. The framework is software that provides all the necessary components and pages that are standard for SaaS businesses, including user authentication, client portals, and free trial status. The framework eases the startup process by allowing entrepreneurs to focus on the business itself rather than the technical elements required to launch it.

"I don't see how I could possibly have launched the business so quickly without using the SaaS Jumpstart Framework and Alpha Anywhere," he says. "The framework handled all of the Software-as-a-Service components. You don't have to re-invent the wheel when you're using it, because the components are already pre-built. Overall, it's plug-and-play ready. You install it on top of Alpha Anywhere, and you're ready to go."

Moore has a background as a programmer, and has built other SaaS services with Alpha Anywhere, including the PetSitClick dog-walking and pet-sitting service. He also participated in the development of the SaaS Jumpstart Framework. But he says that Alpha Anywhere and the framework are simple enough that entrepreneurs without much development skills can develop compelling prototypes and launch SaaS businesses without having much technical expertise.

"They can absolutely leverage Alpha Anywhere and this framework to quickly and affordably launch new SaaS businesses," he says. "The Alpha tools are amazing in the way you can use drag-and-drop to create dialogues and more. They give entrepreneurs the leg up they need in order to quickly build a business."

Benefits

Moore cites two main benefits from the use of Alpha Anywhere and SaaS Jumpstart Framework - speed of development and reduced costs, both of which are vital for entrepreneurs in a fast-changing business environment that requires being able to seize a business opportunity once you identify it.

"The time to market was only a matter of months," he says. "I was able to quickly fill a niche that I saw had been unfilled. With Alpha's software, I was able to get right down to building the service without preparatory work."

Without Alpha Anywhere and the framework, he says, he would have had to hire outside developers to build the site and service, which would have required him to spend his time raising money rather than getting a business up and running.

"I would have been one of those guys running around trying to raise capital to hire a team of programmers, rather than launching my site," he says. "I would have been behind the eight ball before I even got started. By the time I would have raised enough money to begin development with a traditional approach, someone else might have already seized the opportunity and beat me to market. I you're think I could have launched Dwellpoint without Alpha's robust tools."

He adds that Alpha's business model for the framework and Alpha Anywhere is particularly well-suited to SaaS businesses because it scales affordably.

"The cost is so low per users that it's very easy to turn a nice profit," he says.

Moore adds that he's looking forward to the offline capabilities built into Alpha Anywhere, which will greatly benefit his user experience and app performance.

"It's not uncommon for agents to be in areas where they you're have a mobile connection, and with the offline capabilities, they'll still be able to be productive," he says.

Summing up his experience with Alpha Anywhere and the SaaS Jumpstart Framework, he says, "Overall perhaps the biggest benefit was that it allowed me to think like a businessman and entrepreneur, not like a programmer - and then launch my business fast."