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How we got to $1,000 in recurring revenue

blog.idonethis.com

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Re: How we got to $1,000 in recurring revenue

#11

Post by louthy »

Please take this as constructive: I pay for your system for a team of about 10 people. It works and it's been useful to us - but as soon as I get some free time I'm very likely going to roll my own, because I slightly resent the $5 per user per month price-tag for such a simple service; I think it's pretty expensive for the features compared to other single-purpose cloud tools.

I'm not asking for more features, because I like the fact it does one thing and does it well. I reckon it's probably a fair price around $1-$2 per user per month. I can't help but think you'd get more revenue overall with a lower price-tag.

Re: How we got to $1,000 in recurring revenue

#12

Post by smalter »

louthy wrote: post #11

Please take this as constructive: I pay for your system for a team of about 10 people. It works and it's been useful to us - but as soon as I get some free time I'm very likely going to roll my own, because I slightly resent the $5 per user per month price-tag for such a simple service; I think it's pretty expensive for the features compared to other single-purpose cloud tools. I'm not asking for more features, becau…

Definitely constructive, thanks for this.

Re: How we got to $1,000 in recurring revenue

#13

Post by caseyf »

Launching the paid team version was a great idea.

As a personal tool, iDoneThis is neat but it competes with a ton of other tools in a very crowded market. I had already lost interest and stopped using it when they launched the team version and pricing.

...but when I heard about what they were doing with teams it was immediately obvious that this would be great for us. Everyone seemed to like it and get it right away.

Thumbs up to iDoneThis for recognizing their potential as a team product.

Re: How we got to $1,000 in recurring revenue

#14

Post by 1qaz2wsx3edc »

smalter wrote: post #12
louthy wrote: post #11

Please take this as constructive: I pay for your system for a team of about 10 people. It works and it's been useful to us - but as soon as I get some free time I'm very likely going to roll my own, because I slightly resent the $5 per user per month price-tag for such a simple service; I think it's pretty expensive for the features compared to other single-purpose cloud tools. I'm not asking for more features, becau…

Definitely constructive, thanks for this.

I don't use your product, but I feel like the poster above doesn't apply the correct value to your product. You are helping 10 of their employees. 5$'s is a small fee, 2$ is a small fee. Neither breaks the bank. Set your price point at what you're conformable with. Not to the idle promise of "I can do this, so it should be cheaper". They're underestimating the work/effort of creating it and the value it provides.

Re: How we got to $1,000 in recurring revenue

#17

Post by nickconfer »

smalter wrote: post #12
louthy wrote: post #11

Please take this as constructive: I pay for your system for a team of about 10 people. It works and it's been useful to us - but as soon as I get some free time I'm very likely going to roll my own, because I slightly resent the $5 per user per month price-tag for such a simple service; I think it's pretty expensive for the features compared to other single-purpose cloud tools. I'm not asking for more features, becau…

Definitely constructive, thanks for this.

A/B test pricing changes if you do anything. Most companies have a problem of undercharging for a service, not overcharging.

Keep in mind your dealing with programmers on Hacker News, but most non-programmers don't think anything is necessarily simple or easy to recreate.

Great job, and good luck on future sales.

Re: How we got to $1,000 in recurring revenue

#18

Post by asanwal »

louthy wrote: post #11

Please take this as constructive: I pay for your system for a team of about 10 people. It works and it's been useful to us - but as soon as I get some free time I'm very likely going to roll my own, because I slightly resent the $5 per user per month price-tag for such a simple service; I think it's pretty expensive for the features compared to other single-purpose cloud tools. I'm not asking for more features, becau…

Dear iDoneThis team - do NOT lower your prices [1].

As a fellow subscription revenue biz, we've found that lower priced plans invite customers whose support requirements are much greater. And you won't make it up in volume.

Real businesses that value their time will spent $50/month for a service that saves them time without thinking twice. Your early traction proves this out.

The graphic you had in your post about developer thinking makes me think you guys already know this, but I see the lower price advice a lot on HN, and almost always, I think it is the wrong advice.

[1] - This is obviously 100% opinion, and you know your business 1000x better than I do. BTW, our product's subscription price point is significantly higher $12k per annum at the low end, and we just moved this up from $7500 earlier this year. BEST DECISION WE EVER MADE.

Re: How we got to $1,000 in recurring revenue

#19

Post by nickconfer »

1qaz2wsx3edc wrote: post #14
smalter wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely constructive, thanks for this.

I don't use your product, but I feel like the poster above doesn't apply the correct value to your product. You are helping 10 of their employees. 5$'s is a small fee, 2$ is a small fee. Neither breaks the bank. Set your price point at what you're conformable with. Not to the idle promise of "I can do this, so it should be cheaper". They're underestimating the work/effort of creating it and the value it provides.

Agreed. Most businesses actually don't care what a service costs if it does two things..

1) something useful they need 2) cost is low enough that they don't need to get approval

Re: How we got to $1,000 in recurring revenue

#20

Post by tagabek »

asanwal wrote: post #18
louthy wrote: post #11

Please take this as constructive: I pay for your system for a team of about 10 people. It works and it's been useful to us - but as soon as I get some free time I'm very likely going to roll my own, because I slightly resent the $5 per user per month price-tag for such a simple service; I think it's pretty expensive for the features compared to other single-purpose cloud tools. I'm not asking for more features, becau…

Dear iDoneThis team - do NOT lower your prices [1]. As a fellow subscription revenue biz, we've found that lower priced plans invite customers whose support requirements are much greater. And you won't make it up in volume. Real businesses that value their time will spent $50/month for a service that saves them time without thinking twice. Your early traction proves this out. The graphic you had in your post about de…

I second the notion to not decrease your prices. There may be a few people that have the time and are willing to produce their own alternative product, but iDoneThis is definitely worth the cost (probably even more).

As with many subscription products, I feel that iDoneThis will become the product that business owners get used to paying each month.

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