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HOOGResearch & Advisory

Technology & SaaS

TAM, SAM, SOM and Ideal Customer Profile for a Vertical SaaS Start-up

Building a defensible, bottom-up market model and target-account universe for a vertical software company.

Example engagement
Client
Construction-technology SaaS start-up
Industry
Technology & SaaS
Geography
India and the Middle East
Duration
5 weeks
Capabilities
Market Research, B2B Research

Research design at a glance

How the work is structured

India and the Middle East · 5 weeks

  1. 1

    Bottom-up account modelling

    Firm counts by size and specialisation from industry and registry sources.

  2. 2

    Expert interviews

    Industry associations, contractors and technology consultants.

  3. 3

    Buyer interviews

    Project heads and owners at target firms.

  4. 4

    Top-down triangulation

    Cross-check against construction output and IT spend.

Qualitative depth

Interviews, groups & observation

  • Expert interviews~10
  • Buyer interviews~20

Sample sizes are indicative of a typical design for this type of question; real engagements are scoped to the decision.

01

Client context

The start-up was preparing to raise capital and expand sales, but its market size estimate relied on a single top-down figure.

02

Business challenge

Investors challenged the market size, and the sales team lacked a clear definition of which construction firms to target.

03

Research objective & questions

Produce a transparent TAM/SAM/SOM model and an ideal customer profile that sales and investors could both use.

  • How many target firms exist by size, specialisation and region?
  • What share currently use or plan to adopt software for this workflow?
  • Which firm characteristics predict a good customer?
  • What is a realistic obtainable market over three years?

04

Methodology & approach

Bottom-up account modelling
Firm counts by size and specialisation from industry and registry sources.
Expert interviews
Industry associations, contractors and technology consultants.
Buyer interviews
Project heads and owners at target firms.
Top-down triangulation
Cross-check against construction output and IT spend.

05

Sample & geography

  • ~10 expert interviews
  • ~20 buyer interviews
  • Geography — India and the Middle East

06

Key findings

  • The serviceable market was smaller than the top-down figure but more concentrated and accessible.
  • Mid-sized contractors managing multiple concurrent projects were the best-fit segment.
  • Adoption was driven by client and regulatory reporting requirements.
  • Regional differences in project structure affected product fit.

07

Business implications

  • Present a bottom-up market model in investor materials.
  • Focus sales on mid-sized multi-project contractors.
  • Sequence regional expansion by reporting requirements.

08

Outcome

The start-up gained an investor-ready market model, an ideal customer profile and a sized target-account universe.

Example engagement — Shows how Hoog approaches this type of question. Not a specific client project. Findings are directional.

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