If you’re an entrepreneur, you know the importance of time to market.

Faster time to market means more sales and more market share compared to your slower competitors. Speed out of the gate can be the difference between becoming an industry leader versus an industry follower. 

It’s no wonder, then, that top entrepreneurs are invested in building a no-code startup.

So what exactly is a no-code startup?

Simply put, it’s a business that requires zero (“no-code”) coding to get up and running. 

The benefits of becoming a no-code startup are abundant:

• Lower investment costs. A no-code startup doesn’t have to worry about paying a costly salary of a full-time software developer. Even if you decide to hire a freelancer, software developers can charge anywhere between $60 and $100 per hour! A no-code tool is the best cost efficient alternative.
• Get paying customers quickly. With a no-code startup, you don’t have to worry about prototypes. You can build and deploy a no-code platform in minutes with just a few clicks of your mouse. Compare this to traditional startups, where prototypes have to be tested and go through multiple iterations and rounds of quality assurance.
• Increased flexibility and scalability. The best part of no-code is that you can scale as quickly as you can go to market. Unlike high-code, which is more rigid because of all the resources invested upfront, no-code allows you to adjust on the fly and make changes when necessary.

This raises the question: How do you become a no-code startup?

In this article, we’ll explain how you can go from idea to revenue without writing a line of code. But rather than just write a list of vendors and links, we’ll explain how to actually build a no-code business from the ground up. Let’s get started.

How to Build a Startup without Writing Any Code

The first step is to fully flesh out your vision. 

As helpful as no-code is, no-code can’t magically transform a “bad” business idea into a great business. In other words, no-code is a tool, not a magic solution. When you have a clear vision for how your business will work, then you can plan how a web-based app can make that vision a reality.

While any business can utilize a no-code platform to streamline efficiency and boost productivity, some of the most popular businesses in the no-code space include:

• Healthcare companies
• Logistics businesses
• Construction companies
• Directory/listing sites
• Online courses
• E-commerce sites
• Job boards
• Freelancing networks
• Consulting and other professional services firms
• And much more!

Just like any other startup, as yourself: What is my minimum viable product (MVP)? Who is my ideal customer? Are there any other businesses doing what I plan to do? If so, how will I differentiate my startup? What resources are needed to build a company infrastructure to realize this vision?

Of course, it’s important to plan for flexibility and adaptability – and that’s exactly why no-code is perfect for startups. Here’s how to integrate no-code into your startup.

Treat Your No-Code Platform Like Your Digital Headquarters

Startups are able to act like big companies without writing any code. 

A no-code software platform such as Blaze allows you to create custom internal tools, applications, and workflows as if you had your own engineering team. You can build dashboards that streamline work, create automated processes, and boost your team’s productivity.

Once you have a vision for your startup, it’s time to think about where no-code fits into your business. In general, it’s best to think about no-code apps from two perspectives:

1. As a behind the scenes tool to automate and streamline your tasks. 
2. As a client-facing tool to improve the customer experience (i.e. a customer portal).

While you don’t need to learn to code, there is still going to be a little bit of a learning curve. By viewing a no-code app as one or both of the above tools, you’ll be better able to integrate it into your business.

First, let’s take a look at how to approach a no-code app as an internal, behind-the scenes tool. 

Chances are that your business uses multiple tools for its processes. For example, you might use Stripe for payment processing, managing subscriptions, and sending out invoices. You might also use Slack for internal team messaging and real-time communication. If you like visual databases you might even use Airtable over Excel or Google Sheets to organize your data. And finally, many businesses use Zapier to ‘connect’ unrelated 3rd party apps and help them communicate with each other.

If that sounds like a lot to manage, it’s because it is a lot to manage.

Not only do you have to individually manage all of these 3rd party apps, but you also have to log into each platform in order to use it.

A no-code app like Blaze allows you to easily sync and connect external data from all these platforms into a single dashboard. The best part? You can drag-and-drop items exactly where you need them on your dashboard.

When we say a no-code app like Blaze is a digital headquarters, we mean it.

Instead of managing various log-ins and going to different sites, you can now manage everything from a single portal. Now that you can view all your data and processes from a single place, you have greater insight and control over your business than ever before!

Using a no-code app allows you to behave, scale, and operate like a big tech company. When you automate your tasks, you are able to spend more time doing what’s most important for your business: Serving your customers. 

How to Use No-Code to Impress Your Clients

Aside from being used as a behind-the-scenes tool, a no-code app can also be a client-facing tool. 

It’s important to note that we’re not talking about a mobile app with native mobile features (such as a gaming app you might download on your phone). Rather, we’re talking about a web-based application that can be accessed from any device, anywhere. 

One of the most impressive features of no-code apps like Blaze is that you can create a customer onboarding portal. New clients will have the ability to set their own usernames and passwords so they can access their portal, review documents, and stay on top of their info.

Again, absolutely no coding skills are required!

Not only does this create a smooth customer experience, but it also helps clients feel like they are in good hands. 

From contract workflow to inventory management, you are creating an excellent customer experience through maintaining a smooth operation. In other words, it’s not just how customers interact directly with your business, but how well you are able to stay organized behind the scenes. 

Even though clients rarely get a behind the scenes glimpse of a business, they can tell the difference between businesses with smooth operations and those that are simply “winging it.”

Whether or not you’re a tech-based startup, any industry can benefit from using a no-code or low-code app. 

Why Use Blaze for Your No-Code Start-Up

While there are many low-code solutions out there such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure, there’s still going to be a learning curve.

If speed, resource management, and scalability are important to your startup, then starting with a true no-code solution is likely the better option. 

At Blaze, we understand start-up culture. We know that you need to invest your resources into creating the best customer experience possible, which is why we designed our platform to be not only intuitive to use, but incredibly cost effective. 

Leverage our implementation team to help you setup and launch your custom application. We can help you turn your mockups and wireframes into a live web app.

Need enterprise security like HIPAA-compliance, SSO, custom integrations, and others? We've got you covered. Just let our team know. 

For more information, schedule your free demo today!